I am very sad indeed today. We received our council rates notice and along with that, we have a water fact sheet telling us how much water we have been using and how it compares to last period.

I feel like bawling!

Somehow we have increased our water consumption 75%!

Now for those of you not in Australia, most of this country is desert. Along with that the El-Nino effect has made sure we haven’t got a steady rainfall for a very long time. The dams in my city are down to 39% so water restrictions apply. This government both state and local have really done wonders here (though they could do a bit more) The restriction involves a ban on watering gardens with sprinklers & hoses and minimal hosing with buckets at certain times of the day. Pool covers are mandatory and it is recommended we only take 4 minute showers. The state government are giving rebates for people purchasing water saving washing machines and there are some concessions for the installation of rainwater tanks.

I called the council office nearly crying (I held it together very well) wondering how on earth we could be using so much water. Poor Annette at the Brisbane City Council was very concerned. Not so much about my water consumption but by the fact that I was on the point of sobbing about it. It didn’t help me much (or it could very well have  helped me a great deal who is to know?) that I am suffering from a horrible laryngitis and cold so my voice sounds like it’s breaking pretty much all the time.

Annette was very helpful.

“Oooh 75% now that’s a BIG increase isn’t it, dear?”

“YES! I know and I don’t know HOW that could have happened” *voice breaks* *sniffles*

“Have you perhaps installed a pool?”

“A pool? No we haven’t. Is that how much water we’ve wasted? POOL SIZE?” *sniffle*”I can’t imagine how we could have used so much water. I am so upset about this.” *voice breaks*” I mean we bought a dishwasher and I thought those were supposed to HELP with the water stuff and oh I don’t know the children have longer showers but I didn’t think they were THAT long what am I going to do I am so sorry.” *voice cracks*

“Do you mind if I just put you on hold for a minute so I can check on my screen here if there is anything I can do..white van perhaps, dear?”

Turns out I will need to check my meter for leaks. I must turn off all water in the house, check the meter reading. Check it again in an hour (without turning any taps on obvs) and compare the readings. Ok. That’s easy enough. So if the meter reading hasn’t changed then it means there is a CONSUMPTION problem. If the reading has changed, there is a leak somewhere and we need to call a Magnum PPI – plumbing private investigator.

I have done this – meter reading has not changed which means we are actually USING WAY TOO MUCH WATER. This is tragic, really. We’ve been pretty lax lately to be honest but I had no idea how lax we were until I sat down and thought about it:

1. The boys get more than 4 minute showers – we lost the timer thingy and even when we found it we haven’t been using it as strictly as we once were.

2. I am showering once a day compared to my usual once a week.

.

.

.

.

.

I kid!

.

.

.

.

.

Really

3. Dishwasher – now I thought that dishwashers were meant to be water savers but if you are RINSING the plates under running water like we do before putting them in to be washed, you aren’t really saving much water at all. We need to wipe them down with a sponge.

4. I don’t think I am doing more clothes washing than normal but I will have to be a bit more strict and not wash things that really only need folding and putting away.

It’s going to be a pretty vigilant Tasmiya this next quarter.

WATCH OUT.

« »