Would you like a horticulturalist?

Jumpingjack, you may be remembering the Australian-economy-wide ABS stats, such as from the Water Account. 2004-05 figures there are:

“In 2004-05, water consumption in the Australian economy was 18,767 GL, with the agriculture industry consuming almost two-thirds (12,191 GL or 65%), households 11% (2,108 GL), water supply industry 11% (2,083 GL), manufacturing 3% (589 GL), mining 2% (413 GL) and electricity and gas 1% (271 GL).

Of the 12,191 GL of water consumed by agriculture in 2004-05, dairy farming accounted for 18% (2,276 GL), pasture 16% (1,928 GL), cotton 15% (1,822 GL) and sugar 10% (1,269 GL).”

The ACT is a different kettle of fish compared to the national picture. Household water was 56% of total ACT use in the Account. Details follow:

“Water Account Australia 2004-05
Australian Capital Territory
– The Australian Capital Territory consumed 56 GL of water in 2004-05.
– The majority of water was used by households which consumed 31 GL or 56% of total water consumption in the ACT.
– Household water consumption per capita and per household was among the lowest in Australia at 95 KL and 248 KL respectively. These measures have decreased from 115 KL per capita and 298 KL per household in 2000-01.
– There was a very low incidence of rainwater tanks in the Australian Capital Territory, with only 3.2% of households having a rainwater tank in March 2004, the lowest rate in Australia.
– Other industries consumed 17 GL or 31% of total consumption. Other industries include industries such as wholesale and retail trade, accommodation, cafe’s and restaurants, finance, property and business services, government administration and defence, education, health, culture and recreation, and other services.
– A small amount of water (1.2 GL) was used for agriculture, all from a self-extracted source.
– Manufacturing in the ACT used 639 ML, the largest component of which was for food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing (196 ML).
– There was only one water provider in the ACT who supplied 77 GL of distributed water. System water losses were the lowest of any State or Territory at 3.6 GL or 5% of distributed supply.
– Approximately 30 GL of distributed water was supplied for environmental purposes (environmental flows).
– 2,189 ML of reuse water was used in the ACT in 2004-05 by the water supply, sewerage and drainage services industry and other industries.
– At 30 June 2005, there were 82 GL of water was stored in large dams in the ACT, which represented 68% of total capacity.
– There were 153 water access entitlements in 2004-05 with an entitlement volume of 66 GL.”

Biggest household usage maybe,(I think the washing machine in our house!!) however I read somewhere (ABS?) household water usage is only 8-10% of the total water usage in the ACT.

They’re not getting into my garden unless they’ve got a security clearance

What a wank!

Having killed thousands of tress, ruined thousands of gardens through emptying the dams and imposing mad water restrictions the ACT Government has the bloody hide to say we will have horticultural consultations. Damn them and give us our dams back!

Sounds like the clear felling tree loggers saying they want to promote native vegetation… sorry, that’s unfair … at least those people plant some tress. We don’t get compensated for the trees and lawns and plants in our gardens which Mr Corbell and Mr Stanhope have killed off through their mad mismanagement of ACT water supply.

Their salaries ought to be restricted to nil until they give us our water back and at a half reasonable price.

Spectra said :

There is no way that the single biggest use of water in the ACT is people watering their gardens.

ACTEW disagree with you, but then what would they know about water compared to an expert like yourself?

From the pamphlet here: “Every day during summer, more than half the household water use in Canberra is on the garden.”

Given that household water is the vast majority of water use (this has been covered several times in previous threads), I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that gardens represent the single biggest use.

(Okay, they’re only talking about summer, but that in itself is by far the majority of our water use).

My position as an armchair expert is clearly unassailable. I just find that stat incredibly surprising. I just don’t see households using half of their water on their gardens.

I’d love to know who is watering their gardens. Certainly not me. All of my sprinklers left home years ago. I don’t water the lawn I just wait for the rain and right now it’s looking very green. Same for the trees and plants.

A web page advertising the service, but only a downloadable PDF which you have to manually complete and post/fax?

Damn. I didn’t realise we’d gone back to the 1980s.

There is no way that the single biggest use of water in the ACT is people watering their gardens.

ACTEW disagree with you, but then what would they know about water compared to an expert like yourself?

From the pamphlet here: “Every day during summer, more than half the household water use in Canberra is on the garden.”

Given that household water is the vast majority of water use (this has been covered several times in previous threads), I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that gardens represent the single biggest use.

(Okay, they’re only talking about summer, but that in itself is by far the majority of our water use).

ACT Labor really has run out of useful things to do with their time, haven’t they.

thatsnotme said :

Jethro said :

“Watering the garden is the single biggest user of household water”

Bollocks. We haven’t even been able to water the garden for the past few years.

Umm…bollocks? Water restrictions may have restricted the times, days and methods you were allowed to water, but we haven’t been in a ‘you will not water your garden’ stage.

I guess I’m speaking as a former Brisbanite, where we got to Level 6 restrictions and couldn’t water our garden.

That being said, I stand by my bollocks statement. There is no way that the single biggest use of water in the ACT is people watering their gardens.