Water conservation in the pipeline?
July 9, 2010 at 12:03 pm Leave a comment
It is great to see that Capacity is fixing water leaks, but we could be doing so much more to conserve water and save residents the cost of a $142 million dam.
Other councils are looking forward and taking innovative pro-active water conservation measures. They are offering rebates on water saving devices, making them mandatory in new developments, and providing advice to consumers. Kapiti, for example, has made it mandatory that new houses have dual flush toilets and they have an eco-advisor to help families or businesses save water.
While council owns the water infrastructure, and let’s hope it stays that way, they should show some leadership and make sure we get the most value out of it. It is calculated that Hutt City residents use more residential water than Wellington or Porirua at 250 litres per person per day. Education would go some way at improving how much is used.
High water users would often be willing to reduce water use if given good advice. For example, the local lawn bowls club spends significant amounts on commercial water rates each year to keep their greens in good condition. They would probably welcome advice on installing rain water collection tanks. There are some flash new tanks that could fit under their deck and wouldn’t even be noticed. The cost would quickly be recouped from the money saved on water rates, or if rebates were available for water saving devices. Yet, without assistance, it may never happen because they don’t have the technical knowledge. They are not the only one in this situation. Schools, industry, and other high water users would benefit from some advice on water savings.
It is time for new ideas and new ways of doing things. Implementing low or negative cost measures should be happening now. Setting realistic targets would be a good start. We can do better with what we have without needing new dams, or selling assets to balance the books.
For more information on the debate
http://greeningwellingtoncity.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/its-our-water/
Entry filed under: Water.
Hutt Chick 
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