Metro weekly water use update 19 October 2018

	Target	Actual
October water use to date	13 billion litres	13 billion litres
Dam storage levels	N/A	59 per cent
Cumulative streamflow into dams	165 billion litres (Post 1975 May to October average)	134 billion litres
October rainfall to date	38.7 mm (October mean rainfall 1994-2017)   51.5 mm (October average rainfall 1876-2016)	35.4 mm

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 703 million litres, which was above the forecast of 681 million litres.  Since 1 July 2018 we have used 68 billion litres of water - this is about 5 billion litres above what we had forecast for this period.

 

Dam level (total for 15 dams)

 

The dam storage level has remained steady over the last week, remaining at 59 per cent* of full capacity.

 

*Please note some dams are filled from different sources and this increase may include the transfer of groundwater and desalinated seawater from treatment plants as well as streamflow (that comes from rainfall).  The percentage of full capacity number can also go up or down depending on how much water has been supplied to customers this week from dams.

 

Streamflow (total for 15 dams)

 

From 1 May 2018 to 11 October 2018 the dams have received 134 billion litres of streamflow.  The post-1975 average for the May to October period is 165 billion litres.

 

Sprinkler roster compliance

 

The two-day-a-week sprinkler roster now applies across Perth, so make sure your sprinklers are programmed for your rostered water days and only to come on once, either before 9am or after 6pm.

 

Our team of inspectors issued 71 warnings and 49 fines this week.  Since 1 January 2018, we have taken a total of 6,766 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 7,695 actions for the same period in 2017.

 

Annual rainfall

 

Perth has received 732 mm of rainfall since January this year.  The cumulative average rainfall for January to December is 732.8 mm.

 

General water news

 

We have some exciting news this week as our new demand management campaign will start on Sunday.  While we cannot say too much as it’s under wraps until then we’re pretty sure it will grab your attention!  The new campaign uses humour to encourage the community to change their water use habits.

 

You’ll see the campaign in your social media feeds, YouTube, catch-up TV and free-to-air TV and buses from this Sunday onwards.

 

The start of the campaign coincides with the beginning of National Water Week.  This year’s theme is Water for me, Water for All and encourages the community to think about how we use water and how we can protect it so we have it in the future.

 

Happy National Water Week from everyone at the Water Corporation!