When you read the research material, it is clear that some people are struggling to not be alarmists. There are some areas of Australia that could literally become inhabitable if the rate of population growth coupled with the dry conditions does not change. That is why the government has placed some strict limits on the use of water for non-household use such as irrigation in various regions. Melbourne and the surrounding area is just one of those regions.

Blowing with the Wind

Australia has some of the most variable rainfall in the world. This is created by a climate condition called the Southern Oscillation. The Southern Oscillation is a major shift in air pressure that occurs between the east Pacific and the Asian regions. In the extreme it is called El Niño which most people are familiar with since it’s in the news all the time.

Actually drought is monitored from four perspectives in Australia. There is localised drought, normal drought period that is El Niño related, drought that is short and intense and related to a normal but strong El Niño, and a long lived drought that is caused by a severe and not normal El Niño and many other factors.

What does this mean to your day-to-day activities? It means you need to create a household plan for reducing the amount of water consumption which includes taking steps like installing a hidden tank for outdoor water usage and reducing your indoor water consumption. If you do it and your neighbours do it and your city does it and your state does it then soon the accumulated water usage reduction will have a real impact on the preservation of natural water supplies.

Greening Your Home with Water Savings

“Go green!” is the battle cry of water conservationists. Greening your home requires a complete review of what you buy and how you use natural resources like water and power. In Australia, conserving water takes the top spot simply because Australia is the driest inhabited continent on the face of the earth.

A water savings plan in Australia will include both the inside and outside of the house. On the inside there are many ways to create water savings. In your plan, you will look for ways to reduce the amount of consumption whenever water is required. This can include making new appliance installations or simply changing your behaviour.

On the Inside

The best way to begin developing a water savings plan for the inside of the house is to do a thorough inventory.

• Insure the house water meter reads usage correctly
• Check for plumbing leaks and make necessary repairs
• Determine energy efficiency of the house appliances
• Review types of fixtures in place such as showerheads and taps
• Analyse family practices involving water

Though it may not be financially feasible to replace current appliances and fixtures with state-of-the-art products, anyone can change their behaviour to realise water savings.

• Don’t put off repairing plumbing leaks
• Flushing a toilet uses up to 1.84 litres of water with each flush so don’t use the toilet as a disposal for cigarettes or other items
• Insulate your pipes so water heats up quicker
• Don’t let water run from the faucet when it’s not needed, i.e. while soaping hands, brushing teeth, shaving, rinsing dishes, or cleaning items
• Take short showers
• Install water saving attachments to faucets when not able to install new fixtures
• Maintain a supply of cool drinking water in the refrigerator
• Operate your washer or dishwasher only when it’s full to minimize the number of loads washed

As you can see, water consumption on the inside of the house is about paying attention to when water is running or leaking. But you have many outside uses for water also, and that means a water savings plan for a household must include lowering the amount of water consumption used for outside needs.

On the Outside

Lawn and garden watering accounts for a major use of water. You invest a lot of money in your landscaping and letting it dry up is not a pleasant thought. When you create a water savings plan for the household, you will also need to make sure you include a plan for water conservation for these types of needs.

One of the most advantageous steps you can take to reduce the amount of treated water used, while still being able to maintain your lawn and gardens even during drought conditions, is to install an underground water tank. The number of hidden water tanks in Australia is growing rapidly as the drought conditions continue to worsen due to climate changes and a growing population.

Water conservation methods for exterior water use include the following.

• Only water your lawn when necessary
• Water in the early morning or late afternoon to reduce the amount of water that evaporates
• Water down to root level and then stop watering before the water begins to puddle around the base of the plant due to ground saturation
• Use native Australian plants that are drought hardy
• Mulch around plants to reduce evaporation
• Don’t water where water is not needed such as your driveway by being careful where you place sprinklers
• Wash your car only when truly needed to protect its exterior
• Don’t use water to complete chores than can be done ‘dry’ such as cleaning the concrete walkway
• Fix leaks around faucets or hose connections

Once again, you can see that a water savings plan for the household is mostly about being alert to how you act when using water.

Saving Water a Drop at a Time

Tanks like those sold by Hidden Tanks enable you to collect rainwater to use for all the outdoor activities requiring water. You don’t use a drop of treated water, and every drop saved is a drop that can be used for drinking water within the water utility system. These tanks are custom built and can be adapted to virtually any property configuration making them an ideal addition to a water savings plan.

The Australian government is committed to water conservation. For example, Melbourne already recycles 21.5% of its sewage into water for outdoor use such as watering gold courses and vineyards. But the only way Australia will truly be able to handle its water shortage is if each household creates a water savings plan for the household – inside and out!

The Australian Government sums it up well in its definition of drought. On the government’s website the introduction to a discussion on drought says:

“A drought is a prolonged, abnormally dry period when there is not enough water for users’ normal needs. Drought is not simply low rainfall; if it was, much of inland Australia would be in almost perpetual drought. Because people use water in so many different ways, there is no universal definition of drought. Meteorologists monitor the extent and severity of drought in terms of rainfall deficiencies. Agriculturalists rate the impact on primary industries, hydrologists compare ground water levels, and sociologists define it on social expectations and perceptions.”

Reading this closely you will quickly understand that how people use water and their social expectations and perception affect the existence, the length, and the future possibility of a drought. That is the larger picture. The smaller picture is a question of what each person can do to avoid making an uninformed contribution to drought conditions. And let’s face it – avoiding the summer drought in Australia takes real effort!

Creating a Drought

As the Australian government website makes clear, humans can literally create a drought in an area through their actions. That is hard to believe when people are inundated with reports that global warming is to blame for all of the world’s developing water shortages.

But consider this fact. It takes 2.8 tonnes of water to manufacturer one t-shirt made from cotton. To make a kilo of milk takes 4 tonnes of water. These are just two examples of the enormous amount of water it takes to produce just one kilo of commonly used products. Then you can also consider how much water is used, and also wasted, in your home.

Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, and Perth are 4 areas that have a documented trend of decreasing average rainfall and increasing population. The more people there are then obviously the more water will be required. There are efforts being made to develop desalination plants as long-term alternatives but that won’t help you avoid that next summer drought. What can you do then to insure there is enough water available to run your household and also avoid contributing to the development of drought conditions?

No Drought in My Home!

You can install an underground water tank like one of the ones sold by Hidden Tanks. The tanks are custom built tanks that can be designed to hold 20,000 to 200,000 litres of water to be used for your household and landscaping water needs. These activities include the following.

* Lawn and garden watering
* Exterior home washing
* Driveway maintenance
* Auto maintenance
* Pet care
* Small farm needs such as providing water for animal troughs

But there is another aspect to hidden or underground water tanks. Preventing or reducing the severity of a drought means using less water and having a minimum impact on the environment. Hidden Tanks can help you accomplish both goals.

First is the fact you are able to collect rainwater and make good use of it instead of letting it run into stormwater systems. But you can also make a contribution to the environment by NOT impacting it in a negative manner. The underground water tanks are completely hidden except for the access lid. But even that is at ground level and can be covered with grass and soil like the rest of the tank lid.

One of the biggest impacts on water flow is natural and man-made obstructions. Ground erosion can contribute to drought conditions by diverting water in an unnatural manner. There are plenty of yards and gardens that have been inadvertently destroyed because of poor landscaping planning which included the installation of water flow impediments.

When you install a hidden water tank, there are never any worries about creating an unfortunate consequence such as ground erosion. The tanks are completely underground and custom fitted to the size and shape of the area where they are installed.

Environmentally Sound Action

If you want to avoid the inevitable Australian summer drought then installation of a hidden water tank should be the first step. This is how you change your perceptions of water, your impact on the environment, minimize your contribution to the development of drought conditions, and be as prepared as possible for an Australian water shortage.

Drought is a lot more than low rainfall, and that’s precisely why you need to take action and install a rainwater collection system. It is an environmentally sound action any way you look at it.

The only way the water shortage can be adequately addressed is if each person takes personal responsibility for water conservation. Water used for outdoor purposes is a natural first focus, because it is relatively easy to collect rainwater for re-use.

When you decide it is time to make an action plan to reduce your water consumption, the first step is learning how to determine current water usage. Up to 30% of all household water is used outdoors. Outdoor water is used on lawns and gardens, to wash autos, top off swimming and decorative pools, and for cleaning driveways or the house itself. Choosing the right sized underground water tank depends on correctly calculating your water needs.

Typically Speaking

Typically speaking, watering a lawn for an hour takes 1,000 litres. Yes…it takes a 1,000 litres to run a sprinkler for an hour. So if you are watering your lawn several times a week, it is easy to see how large quantities of water can be used regularly.

Even just washing the car can use 200 litres. Hosing down the driveway or washing the gutters out on the house may use 100 litres each. A few hundred litres here and there soon turn into thousands of litres of water.

When you are trying to decide what size tank you need to install for collecting rainwater, the first thing you have to do is calculate your total outdoor water needs. While you are doing this it is also important to consider ways you can reduce your water consumption. But the fact is you need to purchase a tank that is adequate for your current outdoor water consumption purposes or you will not have enough water to keep your yard and gardens healthy.

In addition, when it rains in Australia, it can literally pour. You want to have a large enough tank to collect as much rain as possible, because you never know for sure when it will rain again. By installing the right size underground water storage tank, you know you will be storing all the rainwater possible for future use.

Filling the Tank

The calculation for filling your underground concrete water tanks is simple. You can figure that every 1mm of rain water flowing from on square meter of roof area will create 1 litre of stored water. You can figure the size of your roof and then multiply that by the amount of rain that falls on a typical basis.

Installing an underground water storage is a great way to make your personal contribution to the protection of natural resources while also being able to maintain your property. Anyone can easily calculate their typical outdoor water usage and then choose the right tank size.

Australia is a land of people who have always been able to meet every challenge. There is no doubt we will be able to continue to do so in the future.

A public education program is underway in all of the Australian states and territories. UNESCO predicts that a water shortage will exist in most countries by the year 2020, so Australia is not alone. But Australia is ahead of the schedule because of the natural continental climate conditions.

The fact is that every person living on earth needs to contribute to water conservation. Households should reduce their average water consumption. Manufacturers and retailers need to make products available which offer solutions to the problem. For example, the underground water tank makes it possible to collect precious rainwater every time it rains. That rain can then be re-used for watering the lawns or washing the car.

Easy Solution to a Difficult Problem

Finding an easy solution to a difficult problem is something that is not always possible. The tough problem of how to continue to care for your outdoor property can be solved through innovative solutions. The underground water tanks really do make it easy to collect rainwater. The installation of the water tank makes it possible for people to maintain their property without further threatening the availability of water for human consumption.

When you invest in a water recycling tank, you are also reducing the amount of energy used. It takes energy to treat water at a main plant. The more water that is used, the more energy consumed. It really is that simple.

Looking Ahead to the Big Picture

The need for long term water conservation has reached a critical stage. The low rainfall means streams, lakes and reservoirs are dropping. There is less water available to treat at the treatment plants. In some areas of Australia the water storage areas are only a third full. Every drop of water must be dedicated to human consumption.

The periodic heavy rains which fall in Australia make ideal conditions for collecting rainwater for yard and garden watering purposes. You can adhere to local council water restriction regulations while also maintaining your investment in your property. You can also sleep well at night knowing you are making an important contribution to the preservation of water supplies.

Talking about water conservation may not be “sexy”, but it is crucial. The impact of the El Nino ocean conditions has increased the urgency for water conservation. El Nino is related to the ocean currents and winds which bring hot dry air to an already normally dry continent.

Investing in long term water conversation can be done in two ways. First, you can do everything possible to lower your overall household water consumption by changing water wasting practices. For example, you can make sure you never leave water running when it can be turned off. Second, you can install water conservation devices such as tap flow restrictors and underground water storage tanks.

Water conservation is not an issue that applies to just certain people. It is a human experience issue.

Australia is dry and getting dryer due to a persistent drought. Every concerned citizen should look at ways they can personally reduce water consumption, and the amount of water used to care for the yard and gardens is a great place to start. Water is no longer a luxury that can be taken for granted.

Green Lawns On Less Water

Thousands of gallons a year can be wasted watering outdoor plantings and yards. Many homeowners really do not understand how careless watering practices can lead to unnecessary water usage. That precious commodity called water must be protected in every way possible and simply changing some watering procedures can lead to big water savings.

There are many reasons why lawn watering can lead to wasted water. One of the primary water wasters is over watering the lawn. You only need to water your lawn until the ground is wet approximately 15 to 20 cm down. That is deep enough for lawn and plant roots to access the water you are supplying. When you see pools of water on top of the soil or around plants, the water is being wasted.

Another typical way water is wasted when caring for outdoor plantings is watering when it is windy or hot. It is estimated you can lose up to 50% of your water to evaporation of sprinkler water on a windy day. As much water can be lost due to evaporation on a hot day. To prevent water waste due to evaporation, you can water in the early morning or late evening hours.

Choose Your Plantings Wisely

When you are deciding which plants or grasses to plant, it is important to keep in mind that certain varieties require less water than others. In Australia, you should try to plant native plants and drought resistant grasses. These plants are acclimated to the dry conditions typical in Australia.

When Australians plant non-native plants, the plants often require additional watering to maintain. This wastes water that could have been conserved. You can help the ground hold water also by placing mulch around them to prevent evaporation. Also, when planting grass and decorative plants, you should try to develop areas where single watering events can handle a lot of area. If you spread your plantings out, it will require a lot more water than should be necessary. You should also avoid planting grass in small areas requiring special watering care.

Other ways water is typically wasted include watering when it is not really needed and leaving sprinklers operating too long.

Installing an underground water storage tank can make it possible for you to have a steady supply of recycled rainwater for your outdoor watering needs. But even with a recycling tank, it is important to minimize water consumption for the purpose of maintaining the yard.