1 November 2006

water, water etc.

| S4anta
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ACTEW, via ABC have reminded the socially aware that with the intreoduction of Level Two water restrictions you can now shit-can your neighbours without having to throw rubbish over their fence or pour round-up on their vegie patch.

Unfortunately, the stats that have been trotted out to support this are disturbing. 3.8mm’s for a months that usually yeilds 68mm is not a pretty picture to paint. So it is justifiably so.

So fellow rabid commentors, rather than watch the neighbours water usage like a pack of vultures chasing lost tourists in the Veldt, apart from the old chestnuts of dish/washing and grey water onto the ornamentals, and smacking a hole in neighbours water tank up the hill; Have we actually got any salient, vaguely relevant ideas that anyone else hasn’t caught onto yet?

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Maybe we should learn from Canada – when I was there recently everything in the restrooms was automatic – the toilets flushed when you stood up, the taps ran when you put your hands under them – no water was wasted – although if you moved off the seat of the toilet too soon, it flushed and this was a very cleansing experience!!!

That sounds good Thumper – does it work? There would be demand for a small business goign around doing that I think.
It is sad that the ACT govt’s Arboretum antics have now got people so annoyed that they are using water wastefully as a warped way of getting back at the govt.
Anyone who spends any time outside of Canberra in the dustbowl that is our region would find it harder to waste water. My family has just had to sell off sheep for $2 each due to lack of water/grass. 🙁

Another tip for the keen is the Goulburn Handwash:

Wet hands. turn off tap. Apply soap. waswh hands.
turn tap back on to rinse briefly.

James-T-Kirk11:35 am 02 Nov 06

Thunper: “And to put it simply, the government really doesn’t care. It is so much easier just to slap on restrictions than to actually do anything concrete to alleviate the problem.”

Yes, lets look at when the government laid concrete to solve the problem:

Cotter Dam – 1912 – Raised 1951
Bendora Dam – 1961
Corin Dam – 1967
Googong Dam – 1979

If we look at the gaps between when these dams were built:

Cotter – Bendora – 10 years
Bendora – Corin – 6 years
Corin – Googong – 12 years

Looks to me like they needed to develop a dam every 10 or so years…

Then the ACT government hapened – and the dam that should have been built in about 1990 was missed.

Gosh – Another interesting task would be to look at the increase in population between 1951 and now, and compare that the the availability of long term water storage.

Me still thinks that they need to build another dam. No amount of “water restrictions” will solve the problem in the long term. Mr stanhope can’t expect to obtain increased revenue from ever increasing land sales, while not bothering to provide the infrastructure forever..

Damm piss-weak government.

and i want to play under a sprinkler.

Vic where do you live?

My dog needs to do a dump.

This must be why they’ve installed fake grass next to the new Dept of Industry building in town (just next to electric shadows). Seriously.

Vic Bitterman9:04 pm 01 Nov 06

My neighbours and I are in it together.

We give each other a sly nod over the fence, a wink, and then crank our sprinklers to the max. Every day, and for longer periods in summer.

Fuck govco and their restrictions, they don’t apply to us.

I love my lush, green lawn, it’s a ripper.

Terubo, in my place we use a bucket to catch the water in the shower when it’s heating up. It’s an easy way to save some of the water without needing to redirect plumbing.

Hmmm, that’s a thought S4anta – my place is almost adjacent to a bus stop…

“i wouldn’t listen to my advice, so I advise you not too either.” – thats not half a comment worth keeping 🙂

Christoph Zierholz3:57 pm 01 Nov 06

How about “save water by drinking more beer”? And if you spot your neighbour drinking water, offer them a beer instead as a positive, community building exercise. Please note my advice is based on over 9 years as a professional in land and water conservation…;-)

terubo – shower under your hose. preferably near a bus stop. It used to cause chaos at uni during b&s season.

Absent Diane of the Imminent Present2:37 pm 01 Nov 06

just cut the pipes and attach new pipes that lead outside.. for extra style you could attach a shower head at the end of the pipe leading out into your garden.

i wouldn’t listen to my advice, so I advise you not too either.

Last night I extensively watered both front and back gardens/lawns with my sprinklers. I figured hey, it’s the last day for a while.

Anyone know about plumbing? I reckon there’s a million to be made, diverting shower water onto the garden. Tried it once, but flooded the bathroom…

I have a small water saving tip:
keep a 2 litre juice bottle by the sink and fill it if you are running the water to get hot. At our place the bottle is almost full by the time the water is hot, and previously all that water was going down the drain. Now it goes on the front yard.

Absent Diane of the Imminent Present1:59 pm 01 Nov 06

they the guys who take too many vitamins?

AD, only for members of the Green Party so far.

Absent Diane of the Imminent Present1:48 pm 01 Nov 06

you mean it isn’t already?

When will it become compulsory to drink your own urine?

Well I’ll continue to wash my ute and water my lawn. I’m taking no notice of these commie water restrictions. Set a market price for the friggin thing and let people be free to choose as to how they use and pay for it.

“….actually do anything concrete to alleviate the problem.”

Great idea, Thumper: if we all concreted the whole area around our houses, we wouldn’t ever have to worry about watering again!

Also, it’d give everyone a great spot to erect a Jim Morrison statue!

then vote for the LDP

barking toad1:17 pm 01 Nov 06

the communist manifesto

spy on your neighbours

and report them

I wonder how a policy reliant on informing on our neigbours is supposed to be “building our community”

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