Busselton local ‘drops’ water use as temperatures sizzle
Posted: 23 January 2019
The late start to summer has been welcomed with open arms by Broadwater resident Karen Hann who is making sure every little drop counts this hot season.
Karen has recently revamped her front garden – swapping roses to native tucker – and reducing her watering times from 15 minutes to just six in the process!
“I did love my roses, but I’m a stickler for saving water so it only seemed right to replace the front garden with a native one,” Karen said.
“It was a natural ‘next step’ for us too. We hate wasting water – for years we’ve been using waterwise shower heads, we turn taps off when we brush our teeth and we’ve been collecting the cold water in a bucket while waiting for the shower to warm up.”
Busselton Water CEO Chris Elliott congratulated Karen and her family on doing everything they can to reduce their water usage and said that it’s important for the local community to consider their water practices all year round, but especially during these summer months.
“Based on previous summer water usage and production across the Busselton area, we’re expecting close to 20,000 kilolitres will be used each day this summer. That equates to 8 Olympic sized swimming pools,” said Mr Elliott.
“Climate change is also an impacting factor, so as a community we need to do what we can to preserve our local water supply – making sure every drop of water we use counts.
“From planting a native garden, going to the beach instead of having a backyard water fight and having a shorter shower – you can do your part to make sure the little drops count,” said Mr Elliott.
To protect Busselton’s precious water supply, the state-wide two-day sprinkler roster is in place over the summer and on allocated days, sprinklers and reticulation should be set to only water once – either before 9am or after 6pm – or households could risk a fine.
To calculate your watering days, look for the last digit of your house number on the roster. For example, 12 Rose Street would water on Thursday and Sunday as their last digit is 2.
For properties who are yet to be assigned a house number, please use your lot number.
For more information on the sprinkler roster, or to download a copy for your fridge, visit www.busseltonwater.wa.gov.au or Busselton Water’s Facebook page, @BusseltonWater.