Perth Weekly Water Update - 22 July 2022
| Target | Actual | |
|---|---|---|
| July water use to date |
13.2 billion litres |
12.6 billion litres |
| Dam storage levels | N/A | 52.3% |
| Monthly streamflow into dams | N/A | 2.18 billion litres |
| July rainfall to date | 167.7mm (July average rainfall 1876-2016) | 85.8mm |
| Note: 1 billion litres = approximately 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 past week was 604 million litres per day – slightly below the demand forecast of 638 million litres per day.
Daily water use for the last five days
| Date | Actual water use (million litres) | Forecast water use (million litres) |
|---|---|---|
| 20/07/2022 | 599 | 635 |
| 19/07/2022 | 697 | 635 |
| 18/07/2022 | 603 | 635 |
| 17/07/2022 | 535 | 641 |
| 16/07/2022 | 565 | 641 |
| Note: water use is calculated up to 8am each day for the previous 24 hour period. | ||
Since 1 July 2022 to date, we have used 12.09 billion litres of water – which is 0.7 billion litres above the forecast target for this period.
Dam levels (total for 15 dams)
The dam storage levels are slightly up on last week and are sitting at a combined 52.3 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 2022, the dams have received 5 billion litres of streamflow. The post-1975 average for the May to April period (called the streamflow year) is 173.9 billion litres.
Annual rainfall
Perth has received 316.8mm of rainfall since 1 January 2022. The average (1876-2016) rainfall for the same period to the end of July is 543.6mm.
General water news
The cooler months often lead to many of us spending a little longer in the shower - it's hard to step away from that warmth and back into the reality.
But did you know that showers make up almost 22% of the average household water use, making it one of the best places to reduce your water use in the home.
If you're finding you're often stepping out with wrinkly fingers, it might be time to consider implementing some handy water saving tips in the shower:
- Aim to get your shower time down to 4 minutes or less. Use a shower timer or your favourite 4-minute song to time your showers. Need a little help to stay on track? Pick your favourite track to listen to in the shower from our waterwise shower songs playlist on Spotify.
- Momentarily switching off the shower when you don’t need the water to flow, like when you’re soaping up, shampooing or shaving can also save you lots of water.
- Install a water efficient shower head - your household can save up to 20,000L of water per year. Make sure to look for the stars on the WELS label. The more stars, the more water efficient the showerhead is.
For more water savings tips in and around the home, check out our waterwise advice.