21 October 2010

Water restrictions end on 1 November

| johnboy
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[First filed: Oct 20, 2010 @ 9:29]

water!

Some of us thought we’d never see the day, but ACTEW have announced an end to water restrictions from 1 November 2010, skipping level 1 entirely.

Before you break out the Pol Roger though, bear in mind we now have Permanent Water Conservation Measures legislated. So perhaps keep it to a bottle of Omni

The measures are enforceable with fines and are:

    — A hand-held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle, a bucket or a watering may be used to water lawns and plants at any time.

    — Sprinklers and other irrigation systems may be used to water lawns and plants before 9am and after 6pm on any day from 1 September to 31 May (inclusive). No time limitations apply to watering during winter.

    — Vehicles may be washed at any time on a lawn or other porous surface using a bucket or watering can, a high-pressure low-volume cleaner or a hand-held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle.

    — Paved areas may be cleaned at any time using a bucket and mop or a high-pressure low-volume cleaner.

    — Windows and other external parts of buildings may be washed at any time using a bucket and mop/brush, squeegee or a high-pressure low-volume cleaner.

    — Private fountains may be filled or topped up using a bucket, a watering can or a handheld hose fitted with a trigger nozzle.

    — Public ponds and fountains may only be filled or topped with an approved exemption from ACTEW.

    — Pools and spas with a capacity of 3,000 litres or more may be topped up before 9am or after 6pm on any day provided that a cover is fitted when the pool or spa is not in use and the pool/spa is registered with ACTEW. Filling of new pools requires an exemption from ACTEW.

    — Water storage tanks, dams or lakes must not be filled or topped up using potable water.

    — Water may be used for dust or pollutant suppression or earth compaction in greenfields sites but only with a hose fitted with a flow cut-off device or vehicle fitted with sprinklers and provided that an exemption has been lodged and approved.

    — Government and commercial customers, including but not limited to organisation that manage public pools, sports amenities, parks, or commercial market gardens, nurseries, and turf growing businesses may be required to complete a Water Efficiency Management Plan in order to continue general business operations.

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AG Canberra said :

CanTurf, here I come!

My neighbour, whose yard has been a barren wasteland for the past few years, has just had the bobcat in to rip up his entire yard, cover it in topsoil and is currently in the process of laying turf. Given that this would have taken a couple of weeks to arrange, he must have had incredible foresight to know that water restrictions were about to end.

Interestingly, he happens to be working on the new dam for ACTEW.

AG Canberra said :

Suggestions please – poison or turf cutter to get rid of a yard full of capeweed?

Personally, turf cutter. This is because some poisons will kill lawn (some types of lawns are in fact weeds). Best to consult your local gardening specialist.

My favourite weed-removal tool here.

The report is now out that the drought is official over, after NINE years.

I’m looking at my front lawn right at this moment: patchy, weedy, and generally sick looking.
The road to recovery will not be short… *sigh*. But rich green healthy lawn, here I come!

Round up. Leave for a week, get rotary hoe, dig up. Lay top soil. Canturf. Water.:)

I add – if you are starting from seed rather than Canturf – lay top soil, wait for 1 or 2 weeks, roundup again. Then seed.

Suggestions please – poison or turf cutter to get rid of a yard full of capeweed?

Round up. Leave for a week, get rotary hoe, dig up. Lay top soil. Canturf. Water.

🙂

Yeah, i’d go this route too. Probably install underground drip irrigation too at the same time. Then even if water restrictions come back no one will be able to tell you’re watering your lawn anyway.

CanTurf, here I come!

Suggestions please – poison or turf cutter to get rid of a yard full of capeweed?

Good thing I never sprung for that several $1000 water tank and system my wife was always on at me to get. My reasoning was that it will (in the foreseeable future) be far cheaper just to use the tap. Her counter argument – but what if you arent allowed to use the tap due to water restrictions.

Me FTW.

GardeningGirl9:06 pm 20 Oct 10

I’d like to see two dozen Eastern Rosellas playing under my sprinkler again.

lobster said :

AWESOME!
Time to get out the old “Slip-N-Slide” (AKA, The Rash-Maker, Widow-Maker)

Party at yours!

lobster said :

AWESOME!
Time to get out the old “Slip-N-Slide” (AKA, The Rash-Maker, Widow-Maker)

+1

Kids are looking forward to general mucking around under the sprinkler too.

homeone said :

The Press Release stuff always says –

“Vehicles may be washed at any time on a lawn or other porous surface using a bucket or watering can, a high-pressure low-volume cleaner or a hand-held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle.”

My concrete driveway is porous….. Those with a glass driveway might have to look out 🙂

KB1971 said :

JC, acres & acres of green grass is just not a sustainable option in the Southern Tablelands/Monaro. Im agraid the heady days of mega water wastage are over.

We have a nice garden but everything that is alive today (with the exception of our newly landscaped front yeard) has had to survive on its own for the last five years & it still looks good. We have only been watering a dozen odd pot plants.

I would love to see both you & Sepi survive on tank water only.

Who said anything about acres of grass? I was talking about gardens and having pride in them. Sure yes grass does play a part, but just a part, it is all about balance.

homeone said :

The Press Release stuff always says –

Whereas the more formal documents and, I assume, the regulations themselves say –

The fire service does the same thing, the press stuff and PR pamphlets have a list of regulations that I couldn’t find anywhere in any legal document — mind you, how do you ever know if there’s a legal document which applies but that you can’t find?

AWESOME!
Time to get out the old “Slip-N-Slide” (AKA, The Rash-Maker, Widow-Maker)

Sgt.Bungers said :

Give it a year, it’ll be a requirement of trigger nozzles sold in the ACT that there be no clip to enable a person to walk away from the hose with the water still flowing.

Such devices will be deemed illegal and will be confiscated and destroyed.

Well given no matter what level of restrictions we were on, you could walk into bunnings and buy a sprinkler, despite their use being banned, I can’t see a crackdown on trigger mechanisms happening any time soon.

Excellent. The gravel on the drive always looks a lot nicer with a regular sprinkle of water.

The Press Release stuff always says –

“Vehicles may be washed at any time on a lawn or other porous surface using a bucket or watering can, a high-pressure low-volume cleaner or a hand-held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle.”

Whereas the more formal documents and, I assume, the regulations themselves say –

“If not washed at a commercial car wash, any vehicle should be washed on a lawn or other porous surface wherever practicable and then may only be washed, not more than once per week, by using … “

Note the ‘should be washed on a lawn …” and the ‘wherever practicable’.

Reads to me as saying if you’ve got a porous surface please use it – ie if not you can wash your vehicle anyway.

Sgt.Bungers said :

Give it a year, it’ll be a requirement of trigger nozzles sold in the ACT that there be no clip to enable a person to walk away from the hose with the water still flowing.

Such devices will be deemed illegal and will be confiscated and destroyed.

Bollocks – missing the clip wouldn’t make a difference. You’ll just end up with a bunch of angry gardners increasing their spending on gaffa tape. Either that or the next episode of ‘The New Inventors’ will have someone toting an after market attachment.

I can see people just thinking water restrictions are over and going nuts with the hose, i doubt some will read into the “Permanent Water Conservation Measures”

captainwhorebags said :

At the height of restrictions, water charges were increased to make up for the shortfall in revenue.

Will we now see this reversed? Doubt it.

Prices are set by an indpendent regulator, so if the restrictions are removed then prices should come down.

My cannabis cropped will be pleased…..

So is the picture in the CT today. And the CT woman is watering in broad daylight, on her lawn – also currently not kosher.

It goes to show that most people have been completely ignoring restrictions for ages anyway. The only people abiding by them are those of us who really love our gardens, and have actually looked up the restrictions.

Living on tank water doesn’t mean not having a garden. In my experience it means shorter showers and no baths, but still having a decent vegie garden etc.

captainwhorebags11:47 am 20 Oct 10

At the height of restrictions, water charges were increased to make up for the shortfall in revenue.

Will we now see this reversed? Doubt it.

The picture is missing something…

Captain RAAF11:23 am 20 Oct 10

or we could just water the damn trees and kick the water restrictions to the kerb?

None of my trees died!

sepi said :

pity about all the 30 year old trees that died too.

the govt is blaming the removal of a lot of street trees on the drought. it would have been a lot easier to just water the trees once a week, rather than the expensive tree removal and replacement program they have planned.

and we;d still have a canopy of trees, instead of pissy little sapling for the hoons to break in half.

Or we could plant trees that suit the environment that they are living in……..

JC, acres & acres of green grass is just not a sustainable option in the Southern Tablelands/Monaro. Im agraid the heady days of mega water wastage are over.

We have a nice garden but everything that is alive today (with the exception of our newly landscaped front yeard) has had to survive on its own for the last five years & it still looks good. We have only been watering a dozen odd pot plants.

I would love to see both you & Sepi survive on tank water only.

pity about all the 30 year old trees that died too.

the govt is blaming the removal of a lot of street trees on the drought. it would have been a lot easier to just water the trees once a week, rather than the expensive tree removal and replacement program they have planned.

and we;d still have a canopy of trees, instead of pissy little sapling for the hoons to break in half.

The fact we skipped stage 1 says something. That is the restrictions we had in place the past year or so have been 1 level too high. So about time they have now finished. The new permament conservations meassures are pretty common sense. Only thing is doubt we will ever have people care for the gardens like they used to, so the place will continue to look like some 3rd world African shit hole. Oh sorry forgot in those places they have water and pride…

Give it a year, it’ll be a requirement of trigger nozzles sold in the ACT that there be no clip to enable a person to walk away from the hose with the water still flowing.

Such devices will be deemed illegal and will be confiscated and destroyed.

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