Perth weekly water update - 5 February 2021
| Target | Actual | |
|---|---|---|
| February water use to date | 5.2 billion litres |
5.6 billion litres |
| Dam storage levels | N/A | 45.1 per cent |
| Monthly streamflow into dams | N/A | 0 billion litres |
| February rainfall to date | 12.5 mm (January average rainfall 1876-2016) | 0.0 mm |
| 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 1,111 million litres per day, which was above the forecast of 1,042 million litres
Daily water use for the last 5 days
| Date | Actual water use (million litres) | Forecast water use (million litres) |
|---|---|---|
| 5/02/2021 | 1,030 | 1,038 |
| 4/02/2021 | 1,093 | 1,038 |
| 3/02/2021 | 1,127 | 1,038 |
| 2/02/2021 | 1,158 | 1,038 |
| 1/02/2021 | 1,158 | 1,046 |
| Note, water use is calculated up to 8am each day for the previous 24 hour period. | ||
Since 1 July 2020 to date, we have used 175.11 billion litres of water – which is 0.05 billion litres above the forecast target for this period.
Dam levels (total for 15 dams)
The dam storage levels have decreased slightly this week and are sitting at a combined 45.1 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 2020 the dams have received 42.5 billion litres of streamflow. The post-1975 average for the May to April period (called the streamflow year) is 175.79 billion litres.
Sprinkler roster compliance
Since 1 January 2021, we have taken a total of 764 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 1096 actions for the same period in 2020.
Annual rainfall
Perth has received 0.20mm of rainfall since 1 January 2021. The average (1994-2019) rainfall for the same period to the end of February is 12.1mm.
General water news
In case you missed it, Water Corporation this week announced a $15.5 million investment to secure Karratha’s water supply through an improved cyclone-proof water storage tank.
The new 20 million litre tank will replace one damaged by Cyclone Damien last February. With concrete walls and roof, it will better withstand severe weather events and require less maintenance.
Also this week, we announced 30 roles will soon be brought in-house at Water Corporation as part of a new-look water metering team.
This team makes close to 4.5 million visits to properties across the metro area each year. We read water meters every eight weeks to ensure customers are accurately billed.