Greater Western Water, Melbourne Water, South East Water and Yarra Valley Water have united this month to launch the ‘Make Every Drop Count’, empowering Melburnians to help protect the city from future water shortages.
The campaign engages the community and water conservation experts to share mindful water saving hacks.
It will also help Melburnians take small, but collectively high-impact, steps to reduce their average daily individual water usage from 159 to 155 litres a day, in line with the Victorian Government’s Target 155 water conservation program.
The joint initiative comes in response to recent survey, Saving Water in Melbourne (SWiM) conducted by Melbourne’s water corporations, which found:
- Melburnians think water conservation is very or extremely important (80 per cent), yet almost a third admit they don’t think they are doing enough to save water (29 per cent).
- Common methods used by Melburnians to save water include limiting their shower time (38 per cent), installing a water-saving shower head (57 per cent), and always turning off the tap while shaving or brushing their teeth (63 per cent).
- Most Melburnians admit they don’t know the recommended amount of water usage per person per day (61 per cent) or their actual usage per day (62 per cent).
Speaking on behalf of Melbourne’s water corporations, Yarra Valley Water Managing Director, Pat McCafferty, said: “We know Melburnians want to conserve water for future generations and will no doubt rise to the four-litre daily saving challenge. We can’t wait to see the creative mindful water-usage tips shared that will collectively make a huge difference.”
With the city’s population forecast to almost double by 2051 and the changing environment affecting water storages over the next 30 years, the 155-litre target is just one of many actions to help secure Melbourne’s water supplies for the future.
Parliamentary Secretary for Water Harriet Shing has commended the four water corporations’ efforts to help Victoria become a leader in water conservation.
“As Melbourne grows and we face the challenge of a drier climate, we need to help protect our precious water supplies so we can continue to supply critical needs during dry periods and ensure we have enough water for agriculture, cultural values and green open spaces,” she said. said.
“Thanks to the contribution of the Victorian Desalination Plant, and recent wetter than average rainfall, our water storages are currently healthy, but we know we have to do more into the future, including saving water where we can.”
Melburnians can share their water-saving tips on social media using the hashtag #MakeEveryDropCount, or they can submit their tips directly through the Make Every Drop Count website.
