Page 4482 - Week 10 - Thursday, 23 September 2010
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consumption levels at the outset of the audit and then again 12 months later. Those that can show a reduction in use become accredited. For the others, the ASSI—or Australian sustainable schools initiative—officers go back to investigate why water consumption did not reduce and what can be done to make it happen.
The results are impressive. Comparisons between baseline data and data collected after 12 months for the 22 accredited WaterWise schools shows a combined reduction in water consumption of 30,000 kilolitres over that period. As well as saving this precious resource, they have also saved the schools $61,000 in water bills.
Public schools have also benefited from significant water efficiency through retrofitting and upgrades. Over the past five years, water efficient taps, dual flush toilets and time flush urinals have been installed in many schools. Water consumption has been reduced by managing building water usage and reducing the irrigation of grassed areas. The government is investing more than $2 million in the installation of rainwater tanks, which will substantially reduce water use. In total, ACT public schools have reduced their water use from 600,000 kilolitres in 2007 to less than 375,000 kilolitres last year.
Getting to the issue of household actions, one of the great aspects of the schools initiatives and programs is that the behaviours and knowledge learned can often be carried into the home, where a range of other ACT government initiatives allow families to save water. Two of the main programs are ToiletSmart and GardenSmart.
ToiletSmart has been introduced to assist ACT residential property owners to replace single flush toilets with water efficient dual flush ones. Eligible pensioners are able to receive a dual flush toilet worth almost $500, supplied and installed for free, with discounts of $100 available on other selected models to all other program participants. Since its launch in May 2008, ToiletSmart has replaced almost 5,000 single flush toilets with dual flush models. When you realise that ToiletSmart can lead to annual water savings for an average Canberra household of 36,500 litres, that is a significant water saving.
In July this year, the government added a plus element to the ToiletSmart program. This is available to all ToiletSmart participants and offers the additional benefits of water efficient shower heads, tap flow restrictors, repairs to leaking taps, the replacement of leaking outdoor taps and a free home water audit, all in a single visit.
ToiletSmart deals with the bathroom, generally the second largest user of water in any household. The largest component of water use is the outdoors, in particular gardens. For this, the government offers residents GardenSmart. Like ToiletSmart, it is a free service and provides people with tailored, practical advice on reducing water use in their garden, while giving it the best chance to stay healthy.
This program has of course had particular relevance during the drought period. From 2008 to 2010 more than 1,900 GardenSmart visits were carried out. The recent rains have made this program more, not less, relevant. People still need to know the best plants for their garden and, because we cannot count on the wet weather continuing—indeed, it will not—maximising water efficiency remains of paramount importance.
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