RickInOz

I’m sure you’ve heard the adage before. It applies rather aptly to Australia. This is a continent surrounded by water, with the majority of the population living on the coastline, yet is the driest inhabited continent. At the same time the population is increasing and with it consuming more and more resources.

Water is a scarce resource here; there is no doubt about that. Yet at the same time Australia as a nation seems inexplicably oblivious or perhaps even ambivalent about this. The Victorian culture of having a manicured green lawn seems to be ingrained and householders waste water as if there is an inexhaustible supply.

Adelaide, since it’s foundation, has relied on the Murray River and lakes in the surrounding hills to supply drinking water. This plan was fine when Adelaide was a small city and rainfall was reasonably consistent, but now the population has swelled to in excess of 1 million and the state is in it’s fifth consective year of drought. Yet despite that residents have their heads firmly wedged in the sand. I remember reading comments in the local paper last summer about how annoyed residents were that they were only allowed to use their sprinklers for 6 hours on the weekend. One contibutor’s comment stood out in particular: “I run my sprinklers for the full 6 hours whether the garden needs it or not”. I was astounded by that utterly selfish attitude, but I’m sure it is not isolated. At the same time there is much rhetoric thrown around, yet sadly that it doesn’t translate into action.

The media continues to report the ailing condition of the state’s water supply and rumours circulate about how there are insufficient reserves for next year. Yet it doesn’t seem to have altered the individual or national attitude. For one reason or another the government has been adamantly opposed to the use of desalination. It is perhaps because these plants are very energy intensive and would almost certainly require nuclear power stations to be cost-effective. Australia still has a nuclear power hang-up after the tests conducted by the UK government on it’s soil. It’s a shame as Australia has plentiful reserves of uranium.

There are a number of feasible alternative options for conserving the water supply. Desalination is an option, but an expensive one, and has potential environmental consequences from returning highly salinated water back into the sea. A more reasonable option would be to recycle waste water. The UK has been doing it for years and proved that the processing of sewerage is effective. It too is resource intensive and expensive, but it must be a better option than the current model. Right now 80% of the waste water from the city is simply pumped straight out to sea. The remainder is used for irrigation. Thus a huge potential source of potable water is literally flushed away. Fortunately some local councils are starting to introduce recycling schemes, but it will take a while to overcome the prejudices of using “dirty water”.

Water conservation in the home is underused. Taking showers rather than baths, fitting low flow taps and shower heads, reusing grey water from sinks and washing machines all contribute. Many houses do have rainwater collection tanks, but this has only recently become a legal requirement. The house here at Brown Street doesn’t have one, so we try to do our bit by collecting the waste water from our washing machine and pouring it on the garden.

Unfortunately there is a worryingly Nimbyish attitude here. The Murray has always managed to supply Adelaide, so people believe it always will. To make my point, here is a picture of the Murray’s river bed taken (by someone else) last summer.

I have a genuine concern that one day in the middle of next summer the supply will simpy run out. We will turn on the tap and nothing will come out. Perhaps then people will come to their senses and something will be done about this crisis. Fortunately it might seem I’m not the only one who has noticed, as that eventuality could be easily avoided.