Perth metro weekly water update 18 October 2019

 

	Target	Actual
October water use to date	13 billion litres	14 billion litres
Dam storage levels	N/A	52 per cent
Weekly streamflow into dams	N/A	41 billion litres
October rainfall to date	38.7 mm (October average rainfall 1994-2017)	9.64 mm
Note: 1 billion litres = approx. 400 Olympic swimming pools. Please note the figures in this table are rounded (except for rainfall) to the nearest whole number.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water use

 

Average water use over the last week was 770 million litres per day, which was above the forecast of 732 million litres.

 

Daily water use for the last five days
Date	Actual water use (million litres)	Forecast (million litres)
18/10/2019	793	745
17/10/2019	768	745
16/10/2019	751	745
15/10/2019	795	745
14/10/2019	825	714
Note: water use is calculated up to 8am each day for the previous 24 hour period

 

Since 1 July 2019, we have used 70 billion litres of water – which is over the forecast for this period.

 

Dam level (total for 15 dams)

The dam storage levels have remained stable this week and are sitting at a combined 51.7 per cent* of full capacity.

 

*Please note some dams are filled from different sources - dam levels include the transfer of groundwater and desalinated seawater from treatment plants as well as streamflow (that comes from rainfall).  As we use many different sources of water, dams are no longer an accurate indicator of the health of Perth's overall water supply situation.

 

Streamflow (total for 15 dams)

 

From 1 May 2019 the dams have received 41 billion litres of streamflow.  The post-1975 average for the May to April period (called the streamflow year) is 183.9 billion litres.

 

Sprinkler roster compliance

 

The two-day a week sprinkler roster now applies. Since 1 January 2019, we have taken a total of 6837 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 6766 actions for the same period in 2018.

 

Annual rainfall

 

Perth has received 551.64 mm of rainfall since 1 January 2019. The cumulative average (1994-2017) rainfall for the January to October period is 697.9 mm.

 

General water news

 

Monday marks the start of National Water Week. With this year’s theme being ‘It’s time to change the world’ we are encouraging everyone to take small steps to become more waterwise and make the world a better place for generations to come.

 

September in Perth was the hottest on record and driest in more than four decades. With this trend expected to continue for the rest of the year, we urge everyone to consider how they can help save precious water, especially in the lead up to summer.

 

So far this year, Perth’s dams have received just 41 billion litres of streamflow from rain compared to the pre-1975 average of 420 billion litres a year.

 

To find out ways you can take small steps to help save water, visit www.watercorporation.com.au/save-water/water-saving-tips