Weekly water update 30 August 2019

 

	Target	Actual
August water use to date	17 billion litres	18 billion litres
Dam storage levels	N/A	49 per cent
Weekly streamflow into dams	N/A	19 billion litres
August rainfall to date	122.1 mm (August average rainfall 1994-2017)	105.2 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 597 million litres per day, which was above the forecast of 579 million litres.

 

Daily water use for the last five days
Date	Actual water use (million litres)	Forecast (million litres)
30/08/2019	556	582
29/08/2019	611	582
28/08/2019	623	582
27/08/2019	602	582
26/08/2019	634	573
Note: water use is calculated up to 8am each day for the previous 24 hour period

 

Since 1 July 2019, we have used 35.6 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 49 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 19.2 billion litres of streamflow.  The post-1975 average for the May to April period (called the streamflow year) is 187.2 billion litres.

 

Sprinkler roster compliance

 

The Winter Sprinkler Switch-off is now in place. This means you need to ensure your sprinklers are kept switched off until the end of winter.

 

Our team of inspectors issued 101 warnings and 20 fines this week.  Since 1 January 2019, we have taken a total of 5998 actions (warnings + fines) compared with 6136 actions for the same period in 2018.

 

Annual rainfall

 

Perth has received 501.4 mm of rainfall since 1 January 2019. The cumulative average (1994-2017) rainfall for the January to August period is 572.2 mm.

 

General water news

 

Water Corporation’s current residential water use study has just won the national ‘Data Insights Innovation of the Year’ award at the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) iAwards.

 

We are carrying out research using smart water meters, cloud computing and big data analytics to provide new insights to how everyday water use in Perth has changed over the past 10 years.

 

We are using the most advanced technology available, making it the first of its kind in the world for a water utility.

 

The outcomes of this study will help us to better predict, plan and provide our services in the future.