Water bills for average WA household should be lower, WA watchdog says

Western Australia's three State Government-owned water utilities are charging more for water than it costs them to provide, a report has found — and it has recommended changes that could save the average household $400 a year.
An Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) inquiry has found the Water Corporation, Aqwest and Busselton Water were all recovering significantly more revenue than they were spending on supplying water services, including wastewater and drainage.

The ERA said as a result, the State Government was set to receive $338.4 million more in revenue from Perth customers alone.

The watchdog has recommended changes to the way bills are structured.

Under the changes, the fixed service charge would be cut and, in turn, the per unit price for water would increase to $2.41 per kilolitre, in an attempt to encourage smarter use.

But it would also mean households that use a lot of water would face higher bills.

Give people incentive to save water: scientist

Environmental scientist and gardening presenter Josh Byrne has long been arguing for such a change.

He and his family live in one of Perth's most water-wise homes.

They have a rainwater tank, collect greywater to use on their garden and share a bore with another house on their block.

As a result, they use about 90 per cent less mains water than the average WA household and, for most of the year, they only pay the service fee on their water bill.

Dr Byrne said if West Australians were charged more based on consumption, it would drive residents to use water more responsibly and would also serve as an incentive for people to invest in water-saving technology in their homes.

"I think what we need to look at is how else can we value the role of these technologies," he said.

"There's probably an argument to rethink the service charge component of bills for those people that are taking the strain off the infrastructure."

But UWA water expert Anas Ghadouani was not convinced that was the best approach.

"People have tried it in other places with fairly mixed reviews," he said.

"Maybe it will even send the wrong message — 'if you can pay it, you can use it' — which is not necessarily what we want."

In July, the Government increased water services charges by 6 per cent, with a further 6 per cent increase to be imposed in 2018-19 and increases of 2.5 per cent each year thereafter.

Treasurer Ben Wyatt said more work needed to be done before any changes to tariffs could be made.

"The Government would, for example, be keen to see the distributional consequences of any proposals," Mr Wyatt said.

"The ERA's recommendations will be considered as part of the 2018-19 budget process."

Earlier this year, a Monash University study concluded that Perth residents used twice as much water per capita as those in Melbourne and Brisbane — but the Water Corporation disputed some of the findings.

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New developments save precious water resources

The State Government has announced a new water-pricing model to be introduced on July 1, 2018 that will aim to charge higher water prices for those households that they label ‘water guzzlers’.

Under the new model, a planned increase to the fixed service charge will be reduced and those households in Perth that use more than 500 kilolitres of water per year will receive an average water bill increase of around 16 per cent.

In country areas the model will target those that use more than 300 kilolitres a year with a 10 per cent increase.

In announcing the new model, Minister for Water the Hon. Dave Kelly pinpointed some of the suburbs that are WA’s main water guzzlers.

He said the western suburbs were home to many of Perth’s biggest household water consumers.

According to the government, the highest water consumers make up less than seven per cent of Perth households but use a significant 17 per cent of Perth’s residential water.

Not surprisingly, many of the highest water usage households are located in established suburbs where water saving was not a priority when those areas were designed and built.

This is as opposed to new land developments that are raising the bar significantly when it comes to saving our precious water supplies.

According to the Water Corporation’s water-use calculator, newer areas such as Alkimos, Eglinton and Forrestfield all recorded water consumption levels below the Perth average in 2016-17.

That is because overall, newer areas have smaller lot sizes with less lawn areas and primarily include drought-resistant or native planting both in private and public spaces.

The majority of developers also implement water-sensitive urban design principles into their planning and development, which maximises opportunities to reuse storm water and recharge groundwater.

This means households and public open spaces use less water, which has a significant impact on our water supplies.

UDIA is providing leadership in ensuring our water supplies are sustainable by encouraging developers to certify their projects under our EnviroDevelopment program.

EnviroDevelopment requires projects to meet extremely high standards in order to receive accreditation under the water element of the program.

Projects receiving certification must implement measures which reduce potable water use across the project beyond regulatory requirements, including promoting the use of alternative water sources, water-efficient appliances, fixtures and fittings and water-efficient landscaping in private outdoor spaces and common areas.

Overall, it is encouraging to see new development is leading the way in saving water for future generations.

Read more: Original Article

Study suggests Perth uses double the water of other capitals, but is that the whole story?

A Monash University study has concluded that Perth residents use twice as much water per capita as those in Melbourne and Brisbane, but the water authority says that is not the full story.
Associate Professor Jo Lindsay conducted a national survey and held focus groups to examine attitudes to water and shortages following the millennium drought, which affected most of southern Australia from 1996 to 2010.

She concluded that in Brisbane and Melbourne residents had a sense of the crisis, whereas in Perth access to water from desalination plants and ground water meant people responded less actively at a household level in reducing their consumption.

The survey found households in Perth used 340 litres per person per day, compared to 166 litres in Melbourne and 194 litres in south-east Queensland.

Dr Lindsay told ABC Radio Perth the difference might be due to Perth's long-standing dry conditions, whereas drought had come as a shock for the eastern states.

"Perth people are very accepting of desalinated water and recycled water and recharged aquifers," she said.

"But the downside is that there hasn't been as much attention as there has been in the eastern states on saving water at a household level.

Does Perth really use THAT much water?

But Sue Murphy, the chief executive of Western Australia's Water Corporation, disputed some of the figures and conclusions from the Monash study.

Ms Murphy said the research averaged water use in Perth and included business and industry use.

She said the correct per capita figure for households was 246 litres per day.

And when indoor water use was compared, Perth residents used about the same amount of water as those in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, she added.

"It's outside the house that the difference comes in.

"That's largely because we have larger block sizes and fewer people living in apartments. We have beach sand in the ground instead of clay in our gardens.

"Most importantly, we have usually no rain from November to March, whereas in Melbourne the wettest months of the year are March and November.

"Our wet weather is all in winter normally and that is why outside the household use is significantly higher than on the east coast."

She said state governments from both sides of politics recognised the importance of not letting gardens die during summer.

Water and politics

Furthermore, Ms Murphy said there was evidence to suggest Perth residents were making more efforts to reduce their consumption than their eastern counterparts.

"It is absolutely true that the people in Melbourne and Sydney and Brisbane use less water per capita than the people of Perth, but since the end of the millennium drought in 2010-11, water use in every one of those capital cities has gone up," she said.

"Our water use since 2001 has come down and down."

It was a declining consumption trend that Ms Murphy hoped to see continue.

But Dr Lindsay said her focus group studies indicated that Perth residents would be unlikely to accept aggressive water restrictions.

"There was definitely the sense when we talked to Perth residents in focus groups that anybody who wanted really strong water restrictions would have a political death wish," she said.


Read more: Original Article

WA Budget 2018: Perth’s worst water guzzlers to cop a whack

PERTH’S worst water guzzlers — typically homes in the leafy western suburbs and in the Hills — will be hit with a 16 per cent price rise from July 1.

Heavy water users in country WA haven’t been spared either, with their charges to rise 10 per cent for all water they use over 500 kilolitres a year.

For families who use water wisely, bills will increase an average 5.5 per cent in 2018-19.

The standard fixed service water charge for all households will go up 3 per cent, half of what was forecast in the last State Budget.


Figures from Water Minister Dave Kelly’s office show almost 40,000 Perth households use more than 500kl of water a year, double the average (240kl).

Typically, Perth’s biggest water users are from Perth’s affluent suburbs, such as Peppermint Grove, Dalkeith, City Beach and Mount Claremont.

Gooseberry Hill, Bedfordale, Darlington, Henley Brook and Iluka also feature in the Government’s list of heavy users.

Mr Kelly said while water guzzlers accounted for just 7 per cent of households, they made up 17 per cent of Perth’s total water consumption.

“This equates to 27 billion litres,” he said.

“That is two billion litres more water than the Water Corporation banks on each year from rainfall run-off into our dams.”

Under the Government’s new pricing structure, to be revealed in Thursday’s State Budget, the first 150kl will be charged at $1.78/kl, $2.37 for consumption up to 500kl, and anyone using more than 500kl will be slugged $4.44/kl.

Mr Wyatt said this week he hoped higher prices for the biggest water users would prompt these households to use the precious resource more wisely.

He warned that if that did not happen, it was more than likely within the next few years that WA would be hit with a $1billion bill to fund a new desalination plant, in addition to current facilities at Binningup and Kwinana.

“What we need to do is make decisions around usage to hopefully delay and push out the need for a new capital investment for a new water source,” Mr Wyatt said.

“Dave Kelly has raised with me a few times that he has received advice that potentially in the next five years we will need to move to planning for a new desalination plant.

“So therefore we need to make decisions to push that out as far as possible around usage.

“Although this (price increase) only applies to about 7 per cent of water users, these are suburbs who still use a hell of a lot of water.

“I’m not expecting this as a revenue initiative. Ideally, what we want out of this is usage of water to decline.

“I am expecting behavioural change will eliminate any revenue expectations, which is fine if we can push out the need for a big capital spend for a new water source.”

Mr Wyatt said the water measures and a $28 increase to the Emergency Services Levy to help fund the Rural Fire Service were the only substantial hikes in household fees and charges.

“We have made a particular effort to keep the increases to a minimum,” he said.

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Perth weather: Western Australia’s South West and Peel regions receive between 30mm and 39mm of rain

Thousands of properties were without power and dozens were dealing with water damage after a storm swept through Perth and the South West overnight.

A Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokeswoman said there had been 26 call-outs since 6pm yesterday, 19 in Perth, most due to water damage.

“Most are water ingress – water coming in through the ceiling, through light fittings, windows,” she said.

One caller from Cardup reported two large holes in the roof, caused by lightning.

Lightning strikes knocked out power to about 7000 properties across Perth and north of Perth this morning, with the most affected areas Kelmscott, Woodvale, Kingsley and Sawyers Valley.

A Western Power spokesman said the outage happened about 7am and by 9.30am about 5000 properties had power restored.

Areas still without power include Serpentine and Byford.

The South West and Peel regions copped a drenching in the past 24 hours, with rainfall of between 30mm and 39mm.

There is more expected too, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting between 50mm and 60mm in some centres south of the Perth.

Highest falls recorded in the past 24 hours were in Mayanup (39mm), Balingup (35mm) and Waroona (32.6).

Closer to Perth, Rottnest Island received 13mm.

Up to 3mm was recorded in the Perth metropolitan area, with forecast rainfall of up to 30mm in the city today.

Bureau duty forecaster Jun Chen said centres south of Perth, such as Rockingham and Mandurah, could receive between 20mm and 40mm today, with some places receiving between 50mm and 60mm.

Today’s forecast for the South West is 15mm to 30mm of rain, with up to 50mm in some places.

Miss Chen said rainfall in Perth was expected to continue throughout the day and overnight, with isolated showers tomorrow and clearing on Tuesday.

Read more: Original article

New developments save precious water resources

The State Government has announced a new water-pricing model to be introduced on July 1, 2018 that will aim to charge higher water prices for those households that they label ‘water guzzlers’.

Under the new model, a planned increase to the fixed service charge will be reduced and those households in Perth that use more than 500 kilolitres of water per year will receive an average water bill increase of around 16 per cent.

In country areas the model will target those that use more than 300 kilolitres a year with a 10 per cent increase.

In announcing the new model, Minister for Water the Hon. Dave Kelly pinpointed some of the suburbs that are WA’s main water guzzlers.

He said the western suburbs were home to many of Perth’s biggest household water consumers.

According to the government, the highest water consumers make up less than seven per cent of Perth households but use a significant 17 per cent of Perth’s residential water.

Not surprisingly, many of the highest water usage households are located in established suburbs where water saving was not a priority when those areas were designed and built.

This is as opposed to new land developments that are raising the bar significantly when it comes to saving our precious water supplies.

According to the Water Corporation’s water-use calculator, newer areas such as Alkimos, Eglinton and Forrestfield all recorded water consumption levels below the Perth average in 2016-17.

That is because overall, newer areas have smaller lot sizes with less lawn areas and primarily include drought-resistant or native planting both in private and public spaces.

The majority of developers also implement water-sensitive urban design principles into their planning and development, which maximises opportunities to reuse storm water and recharge groundwater.

This means households and public open spaces use less water, which has a significant impact on our water supplies.

UDIA is providing leadership in ensuring our water supplies are sustainable by encouraging developers to certify their projects under our EnviroDevelopment program.

EnviroDevelopment requires projects to meet extremely high standards in order to receive accreditation under the water element of the program.

Projects receiving certification must implement measures which reduce potable water use across the project beyond regulatory requirements, including promoting the use of alternative water sources, water-efficient appliances, fixtures and fittings and water-efficient landscaping in private outdoor spaces and common areas.

Overall, it is encouraging to see new development is leading the way in saving water for future generations.

Read More: Original Article