Weekly water update 26 October 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 712 million litres, which was below the forecast of 716 million litres.  Since 1 July 2018 we have used 73 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 137 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 47 warnings and 42 fines this week.  Since 1 January 2018, we have taken a total of 6855 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 7823 actions for the same period in 2017.

Annual rainfall

Perth has received 736.6 mm of rainfall since January this year.  The cumulative average rainfall for January to December is 732.8 mm.

General water news

As National Water Week draws to a close we’re taking a big deep breath here at the Water Corp.  It’s been a big week with our Minister Dave Kelly making visits to the new innovation hub in Subiaco and new interactive visitor centre in Craigie. 

Minister Kelly also sent out media statements about our new irrigation controller rebate program, waterwise schools celebrations and how we are over our forecasted water use target.  

Our new demand management campaign – Nature Knows Best - also started this week and is certainly getting lots of attention on social media.  It uses humour to encourage you to change your water use habits.

As the weekend fast approaches we look forward to recharging our batteries, and with the nice weather, it will be a chance to get outside and do some waterwise gardening.

Our top gardening tip this week is to mulch.  A good layer of mulch (at least 5 to 10 cm thickness) can do wonders to stop evaporation.  We recommend a chunky course mulch and products that have the Waterwise and Smart Approved WaterMark symbols.