Where does water go?
Most of our potable (mains or tap) water currently comes from water tapped from catchments, but some states (such as South Australia) have been using recycled water for some time. The prolonged, twelve-year drought we currently suffer has seen a reduction across the board in both the amount of water we use in South-east Australia and the water that falls in our catchments.
Australia's last water account reports that in 2004-05, Australia's total water use was nearly 80,000 gigalitres (1 gigalitre = 1,000,000,000 litres = 1000 megalitres). About three-quarters of this water was returned to the environment.
Who uses the water in Australia?
In 2004-05, the total water consumed (not returned to the environment) was 18,767 gigalitres. The sectors of the economy that used this water were:
- Agriculture: 65% (12,191 gigalitres, mostly for crops and pastures)
- Household: 11% (2,108 gigalitres, which equals about 104 kilolitres per person per year or 285 litres per person per day)
- Water supply industry: 11% (2,083 gigalitres)
- Other industries (including electricity and gas): 7.4% (1,330 gigalitres)
- Manufacturing: 3% (589 gigalitres)
- Mining: 2% (413 gigalitres)
Due to ongoing limited water availability, there has been a continued trend of declining water use, particularly across the agricultural and household sectors (the average household is now using 20% less water than they were 10 years ago in 1999). Equally, greywater re-use, rainwater harvesting and recycled water use have increased in this same period.
Water-use by the average resident in the City of Port Phillip
Direct water use at home accounts for just 7.64% of the total water use per person inside and outside the home.
So where do we use water at home? Of the average 65 kilolitres (kL) used each year by each Port Phillip resident, it is most likely broken up as follows:
| POTABLE WATER USE AT HOME (NOT INCLUDING SPAS/POOLS) | AMOUNT PER COPP RESIDENT PER YEAR (KILOLITRES OR KL) | PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL WATER FOOTPRINT |
| TOTAL - APARTMENT | (averaged) 65.00 | 7.64% |
| Bathroom (Bath/Shower - 55%, Toilet - 40%, Basin - 5%) | 35.60 | 4.20% (55% of water use at home) |
| Garden
| 9.70 | 1.15% (15% of water use at home) |
| Laundry | 12.90 | 1.53% (20% of water use at home) |
| Kitchen | 6.50 | 0.76% (10% of water use at home) |
| TOTAL - HOUSE WITH GARDEN | 65.00 | 7.64% |
| Bathroom (Bath/Shower - 55%, Toilet - 40%, Basin - 5%) | 32.40 | 3.06% (50% of water use at home) |
| Garden | 12.90 | 1.53% (20% of water use at home) |
| Laundry | 12.90 | 1.53% (20% of water use at home) |
| Kitchen | 6.50 | 0.76% (10% of water use at home) |
| POTABLE WATER USE OUTSIDE THE HOME | 785.84 | 92.36% |
| Food manufactured and consumed | 529.22 | 56.50% |
| Goods and Services (furniture, clothes, books, appliances, personal care products, and services that use water (such as coal-fired electricity) | 190.82 | 26.30% |
| Clothing | 44.18 | 4.80% |
| TOTAL WATER FOOTPRINT | 850.84 | 100.00% |
Your ‘total water footprint' is the total average water you use inside and outside the home. When we include the water used to produce the food we eat and the goods we purchase, each average Port Phillip resident is responsible for using over 850 kilolitres of water each year, with over 92% coming from outside the home!
To take effective climate action, we need to look for ways to reduce our total water footprint inside and outside the home.