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Water Conservation

Think about conserving water all of the time not just when the rainfall is low. It is a precious global resource and we are very privileged to have Palmy Pure.

Despite a generous rainfall most years the city requires a water conservation programme, especially during summer. There is a common misconception that water is free. Actually it costs - every drop of it! Conservation of water is important, if only for economic reasons.

A water conservation brochure is available free from the City Council's Customer Services centre. This brochure specific conservation measures for the: kitchen, laundry, bathroom & garden. It also provides some consumption data and a few geographical points about our planet and water resources. A set of two water conservation posters are also available free of charge from the City Council along with 'water stop' toilet control systems which are periodically available.

Guardian Article - March 2005

Homai te waiora ki au. Give me life giving water.
By Adie Leng

It was World Water Day last Tuesday 22 March and other than when we are thirsty or when we are told that we have to have hosing restrictions in the urban areas we do not usually have to think about how we access, or are using, copious quantities of lovely clean water. Living where you rely on tank water brings in new aspects of thinking and behaving especially when it hasn’t rained much, which it hasn’t on our coast this year but, at a cost, tanked water can be brought in from another area. Of course living where you are not even sure that you can access any water for drinking, let alone clean water requires another level of thinking that most of us haven’t had to endure at all.

So as you go about your daily or weekend tasks have a good think about when and where you are using water. We use water in the house, for our personal hygiene, for work, our vehicles and in our gardens. It would be hard to think of not having any available but it could happen, after floods, earthquakes and extreme droughts.

Any increase in population also puts pressure on water resources and, to truly conserve water, behavioural changes need to be practiced daily. These changes are not just for short-term reduction = to hosing during summer dry months then forgetting about it for the rest of the year, or when you are on tank water versus when you are on town supply. 

They are needed to protect our supply. Reducing demand because of limited supplies is something we need to be aware of and controlling use in lots of areas of our lives – electricity and gas use, petrol consumption and of course water.

Let’s start by turning taps on only for the amount of time being used; brushing paths, instead of hosing them down and reusing any grey water on the garden instead of just washing it down the sink. Water belongs naturally in rivers, lakes and wetlands or held in the soil rather than washed down the river.

Also, think about priorities for water use - watering trees will have more long term value than watering lawns.

Whatever you are doing, think of how you can conserve water, ensuring only clean water is washed down storm water drains and that your practices are not contributing to pollution of any streams or waterways.