Water

Water Saving at Home
Installing a Rainwater Tank
Reusing your Greywater on your Garden
Waterwise Gardens
Links

Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. Here in the Illawarra recent rains have been small relief after several years of very low dam storage levels.

Image: Illawarra residents are leading the way in saving water in the home and garden.

Water Restrictions have recently been eased, yet the reality is that we cannot afford to keep flushing high quality drinking water down the drain.
At present, Illawarra households use on average 245,000 litres of water per year. This ranks us among the highest water users in the world! Grab your latest water bill and find out how do you compare?

As our city’s population grows, we need to think more carefully about how we use water in order to ensure a sufficient supply of fresh, clean water for the future.

Water Saving at Home

Have you installed water saving devices in your house?

Do it Yourself
With a FREE DIY Water Saving Kit from Sydney Water and save 9 buckets of water a day, straight away! Register online

Send me a Plumber!
WaterFix will send a qualified plumber to visit your home to install water saving devices, including a water efficient showerhead. From just $22* you get up to $180 worth of plumbing services
You can save up to $55 in water and energy costs each year.
Call1800 995 886 or download the brochure to register.
Reduce your water use by about 21,000 litres of water a year!

Download this list of other things you can do [PDF, 45kb]

or take our Online Challenge

Installing a Rainwater Tank

Using a rainwater tank to catch the water that falls on your roof makes so much sense its seems unbelievable that we aren’t all doing it already.

Rainwater Tanks can benefit us and our environment in a number of ways.
They:

Reduce stormwater run-off during peak flows that would otherwise cause flooding;
Reduce stormwater pollution, contributing to cleaner beaches;
Save energy (and greenhouse gas emissions) that would otherwise be needed to pump water to your home;
Prevent the need for new environmentally damaging dams;
Solve water shortage problems in times of drought;
Save you money in the long-run;
AND can be installed with minimal fuss on most residential sites in the Illawarra!

Rainwater from your tank can be used to flush toilets, in the washing machine, water gardens and wash cars.

Sydney Water offers rebates of up to $1500 for installing rainwater tanks on your home. Click here to find out more.

Keep checking back for Special Offers from our partners on Rainwater Tanks!

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Reusing your Greywater on your Garden

Greywater is the wastewater generated from your washing machine, shower, bath and basins which, when used safely, can replace drinking water for watering lawns and gardens. Water from your kitchen can also be reused as greywater if the correct treatment process is put in place.

You can help to play your part in securing Sydney's water supply by using greywater for both indoor and outdoor purposes. There are three ways that greywater can be reused:

manual bucketing - small quantities of water are collected from either the washing machine or the shower in a bucket for reuse outside on gardens or lawns
greywater diversion devices - involves the installation of a greywater diversion device to redirect greywater to the garden or lawn via a sub-surface irrigation system. You will need a plumber to install the device. Council approval is not required if the conditions of Section 75A of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 are met
greywater treatment systems - enables you to use treated greywater for toilets and washing machines, and on gardens and lawns. Council approval is required and you will need a plumber to install the system.

Download

NSW Household Greywater Guidelines [PDF, 619kb]

or check online http://www.deus.nsw.gov.au/water/Greywater/Greywater.asp

Greywater Diversion Devices [PDF, 154kb]

Choosing the right Greywater System for your needs [PDF, 147kb]

Irrigating with Greywater [PDF, 306kb]

Keeping Plants and Soils Healthy with Greywater [PDF, 96kb]

Maintenance of Greywater Treatment systems and Diversion Devices [PDF, 100kb]

Waterwise Gardens

Using water wisely in the garden helps with plant health, pest control and water conservation.

Smart gardens:

minimise lawn area
reuse greywater or rainwater
comply with water restrictions
are watered in the early morning or evening
contain the right plant in the right position
are mulched to reduce evaporation and maintain soil moisture
are always improving soil condition through adding compost

Need help?

Sydney Water's Love Your Garden service will help you get the most from your garden while saving water. Extensive trials have shown that most participants could save water and improve the health of their garden even during the current drought.

Links

The NSW Government’s Water for Life website is a fantastic source of inspiration and information.

Here you can

Download Factsheets and browse other information
Visit the Interactive House to explore ways to save water at home and in the garden
Find out about NSW’s plans for our water future