The Forum > Article Comments > Confronting our water challenge > Comments
Confronting our water challenge : Comments
By Malcolm Turnbull, published 11/8/2006The simple fact is this: our cities can afford to have as much water as they are prepared to pay for.
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The reason why rainwater tanks are not a significant source of water supply in Goulburn is because NSW Government policy throughout the 20th century was to discourage them. 30% of households outside Sydney have rainwater tanks but only 3% in Sydney.
Now, the Government requires all new houses in NSW to reduce mains drinking water consumption by 40%. The Government considers that installing rainwater tanks in existing houses is too expensive and therefore the law only applies to new houses and major renovations.
However, if all houses were required to reduce mains drinking water consumption by 40% at point of sale, with rainwater tanks deemed to comply, there would be a significant drop in the cost of installing rainwater tanks in new houses. All house owners – new and existing – would benefit.
The cost of supplying, installing and plumbing (including with pressure pump) a 5KL rainwater system for an average house in Goulburn (and NSW), would be under $3,000. Houses are sold on average every seven years. Almost all houses in NSW will change ownership within a decade.
Drought stricken Goulburn is a good case study. Rainfall in the City of Goulburn for the 12 months to 31 July 2006 was 573MM. A 5KL rainwater system would have provided 60KL of water for an average Goulburn house (175m roof area) when used for hot water, laundry, toilet flushing and external uses. As part of the plumbing package, an automatic switching valve is installed for returning the household to mains water the instant the tanks run dry, and back to tank at the next rain event.
Several extreme rainfall events in Goulburn meant that a 5KL rainwater system would have overflowed by about 27KL in the 12-month period. The impact of Goulburn’s level 5 water restrictions is that every person currently uses 150 litres of mains drinking water per day, compared with 380 litres per day in Sydney.
Based on current rainfall and per capita consumption, rainwater tanks would have supplied 40% of Goulburn’s drinking water needs in the last 12 months of record-breaking drought.
Greg Cameron