Regards,

Kate

Re: the council and “contamination” and “public risk” I think they were concerned about risk from contamination in wash water and people eating the food and getting sick. Potentially the council could be deemed liable as the food had come from their land.

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Happy composting,
Miriam Baxt
Convenor
Permaculture Melbourne – South East Suburbs Group

Some industries like gyms and hotels use heaps of unnecessary liters of water (guests take baths and long showers) and they are not always fitted with water saving and water recycling devices.

Also, The only way to make people change their habits is to make water much more expensive and at the same time educate the people on how they can easily save water, so their bill doesn’t necessarily increase.
1)Take a shower (with a water saving shower head), not a bath-this saves water and energy (gas/electricity),
2) wash with an energy saving washing machine on a water saving washing machine program at low temperature (max 40,or cold) on high spin setting-no dryer needed, just a bit of wind or sun on the washing line
3)Collect rain water via roof and gutters and waste water from washing machine (watch what sort of powder you are using),
4) have a bucket in your shower where you collect the water that’s normally going down the drain while you wait till the water is warm enough and use in the yard. A note on this: I’ve noticed that in a lot of apartments/flats it takes quite long for the water to turn warm. All the liters of water wasted as they often don’t have gardens one can empty full buckets of water in! Older style apartments flats often also have warm water heating via electricity instead of gas. What a waste! Maybe it’s a good idea to make a tally of all those water wasting properties and also finally put individual water meters in FOR EVERY ONE, and make the user pay for their water consumption. otherwise these users will never be confronted with their water usage at all! Target 150 just doesn’t make an impression to them as they don’t get confronted with an individual water bill, like their mobile phone bill or electricity/gas. I can assure you this will make a difference.
5) don’t leave the tab running when brushing your teeth etc, don’t brush teeth under the shower
6) only use dishwasher when full, or better, use small dish washer bucket to do the dishes
7) don’t put more water in the water kettle then necessary: saves water and electricity
water saving toilet flush and tabs and in all new building projects compulsory grey water use for toilets systems
9) The water restrictions already take care of watering times of gardens and the cleaning of cars. Now it’s just a matter of people to be kept to the rules. Too often I notice when walking through neighborhoods that people are watering at times they shouldn’t… and they do not necessarily use rainwater…..For them a high water bill, due to the expense of water, will change their habits…
10) Water education for people young AND old, the disadvantaged and the rich and lead by example.

Responsible water behaviour consumption should not be an option, as I think is still the case, both for individuals and the (building) industry. But since water behaviour is hard to regulate for individuals, the only option is to educate, over and over again and implement changes where possible.

Thank for you this fine article. I would add that more stormwater-capture and water-recycling will also allow us to leave more water in our precious rivers – which are suffering badly from the combination of dry conditions and over-extraction. Last year the average water flow in the Yarra River was only 11% of the long term average. The only truly-sustainable water supply options are those basis primarily on stormwater capture (from the manmade impervious surfaces) and water recycling.

Best wishes
Yarra Riverkeeper Ian Penrose