Metro weekly water update - 31 August 2018

Note: 1 billion litres = approx. 400 Olympic swimming pools.  Please note these figures are rounded (except for rainfall) to the nearest whole number.

Water use

Average daily water use over the last week was 596 million litres, which was above the forecast of 541 million litres.  Since 1 July 2018 we have used 36 billion litres of water - this is about three billion litres above what we had forecast.

Dam levels

The dam storage level has increased by 5 billion litres over the last week and they are now at 58% of full capacity.   Please note some dams are filled from three different sources and this change may include the transfer of groundwater and desalinated seawater from treatment plants as well as streamflow (that comes from rainfall).  The change also reflects water that has been supplied to customers from dams this week.

Streamflow (total for the metro’s 15 dams)

From 1 May 2018 to 30 August 2018 the dams have received 98 billion litres of streamflow. For this same time period last year the dams had received 66 billion of streamflow.  The post 1975 average for the May to August period is 107 billion litres.

Sprinkler roster compliance

The Winter Sprinkler Switch-off still applies, and our team of inspectors issued 135 warnings and 27 fines this week.  Since 1 January 2018, we have taken a total of 6136 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 7221 actions for the same period in 2017.

Annual rainfall

Perth has received 664 mm of rainfall since January this year.  The cumulative average rainfall for January to December is 732.8 mm. 

General water news

Winter Sprinkler Switch-Off

The Winter Sprinkler Switch-off ends on 31 August 2018, but Western Australians are urged not select ‘automatic’ on their sprinkler control boards just yet.

Instead of turning automated sprinkler systems back on, householders, businesses and councils are being asked instead to monitor their gardens and only manually operate sprinkler systems or hand-water as needed – methods that result in less water use than switching on automated sprinkler systems.

Because of good winter rainfall the ground is damp, meaning lawns and gardens will cope with warm weather without needing to be watered heavily or frequently in Spring.