Do your bit on hot days to save our drinking water

Households across Melbourne use more than two-thirds of our city’s water and, with a growing population and less reliable rainfall, we need to make every drop count.  

“We had a dry spring with the volume of water flowing into our streams across the season around 43 per cent below the 30-year average in 2024,” said Melbourne Water Head of Water Supply, David Norman.

“Since 2020 however, Melbourne's water consumption has risen by more than 7 per cent or 32 billion litres, and a lot of this extra water gets used during summer.

“Throughout the year, our city consumes an average of 1,250 million litres of drinking water a day but in hot weather we see it rise to two billion.

“Following a run of hot days it’s important to think about how you can reuse and reduce water, especially when there is a high demand on the power grid at the same time that we need to pump more water.”

Ben from Coburg, and his 10-year-old son Dean, are saving water with a range of measures around the house like installing water-smart taps, keeping a bucket in the kitchen sink to reuse grey water, and building a drought-proof garden, that can go without water for up to six weeks.

Dean doesn’t remember the water restrictions that were in place during the Millenium drought, but their family of three use around 200 litres each day, well below the voluntary target - introduced in 2011 - of 150 litres per person, per day.

“After having a bath, I use the water for our tomatoes and, if I don’t finish drinking my glass of water, I put it in the fridge for later; just simple things like that,” said Dean.

“Water is our most precious resource," said Ben.  "By making a few simple changes around our home, we have been able to save about 10 to 12 litres each day. Every bit of water that we can save now will be there for us in the future.”

Ben and Dean water the garden with recycled water, January 2024 (photo credit: Melbourne Water)

You can capture rainwater from your gutters, downpipes, and drains with a raintank to water your garden. This is a great way to reduce your water use, saving our high-quality water supplies for drinking.  

When you are updating your garden, replace non-indigenous plants with Australian varieties to save water. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth and our native plants evolved to thrive here. Building a raingarden to filter stormwater runoff can also help to protect our local rivers, and creeks, from pollution.  

To make every drop count, make simple changes like:   

• Taking a minute off your shower time.  

• Brushing your teeth with the tap turned off.  

• Watering your garden after sunset.  

• Fixing leaky taps.  

• When doing laundry, running a full load.  

• If you have a dishwasher, scraping plates instead of rinsing.  

• Placing a plug or container in the sink when preparing vegetables, washing fruit, or doing dishes.  

• Using a broom to clear your driveway instead of a hose.  

Tomorrow, we may need the water we save today. A small step can make a big difference to protecting our quality of life, as our city grows.  

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