Recently, I attended a talk on how the Water Corporation is investing a lot of resources, trying to solve water shortage issues. But did you know that 42% of household potable water is used/wasted on gardens?
Some of the methods used include collecting and storing surface water (rain), desalination plant (harvesting freshwater from seawater) and recycling water (waste water is filtered and disinfected).
Some of the shortfalls in thse methods are summarised below:
Collecting surface water relies on rain events which may be erratic and my not always be reliable. The reservoirs are also exposed and water loss by evaporation can be high.
Desalination uses large amounts of energy to produce and the water that is returned to the sea will be more saline than normal; this will have adverse effects on the sealife.
Recycled water may not be fully safe. Chemicals and hormones may be in levels undetectable by current means, but may pose biological threats to animals including fish, amphibia and invertebrates.
Is there a simpler, quicker, more environmentally friendly solution?
Increasing water charges so that it will encourage consumers to be water wise?
