Changing the world with water

WATER awareness will be making a splash across Australia during National Water Week from October 21-27.

TasWater and the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Water Association will promote a message aiming to encourage individuals, communities and organisations to work together to build awareness of the value of water.

The theme is “It’s time to change the world” and even though water is reasonably plentiful in Tasmania, there are millions of people around the globe without access to safe drinking water.

“We can sometimes be complacent about water in Tasmania, but if you switch on the news you can see what’s happening in places like Cape Town and Chennai,” TasWater’s Lance Stapleton says.

Last year saw Cape Town — South Africa’s second-biggest city — come within 90 days of running out of water, while the taps stopped flowing in the Indian city of Chennai this June.

Closer to home, it has been reported that in the worst case scenario the New South Wales city of Dubbo could run out of water next month without significant rain or intervention.

Even with the relative abundance of water in most parts of Tasmania, until a few years ago there were a number of towns on “boil water” alerts and there are challenges with supply in some parts of the East Coast, where TasWater is exploring the options for infrastructure to support urban water supplies.

In southern Tasmania, at the height of summer only one per cent of the flow of the River Derwent is extracted for water supply but that doesn’t mean we should be complacent.

“To some extent we are very lucky in Tasmania, but if you don’t think about water now you could run out down the track,” Mr Stapleton said.

Water wastage can also have an impact in times of emergencies such as bushfires when there is a high demand on water for firefighting.

With climate change expected to have a bigger impact on mainland states, the value of water will rise and its importance for hydro-electricity, industry and agriculture will increase. Water recycling will play an increasing role, particularly in the use of wastewater as an asset for agriculture.

Around the world, more than 300,000 children under five die each year from diseases linked to poor water and sanitation. Charities such as Water Aid and the Tasmanian-based Water for a Village are providing access to clean water and toilets to some of the hundreds of millions without these basic elements of good hygiene.

Locally, TasWater is working to ensure water and sewerage services are affordable for all Tasmanians. It provides water to 208,000 connections in Tasmania, supplied from 62 drinking water systems.

Each system may have multiple water sources and treatment plants, removing contaminants such as bacteria, pesticides and metals, before it reaches our taps.

Treatment is tailored to local conditions, which might include removal of odours, pesticides and other contaminants, but bacteria is the main concern and this sees weekly testing for E.coli levels in every water system statewide.

In his 14 years with TasWater and its predecessors, Mr Stapleton has seen great improvements in technology and costs, as well as the efficiencies brought about by combining the state’s water and sewerage infrastructure into common ownership.

“By collecting together all the assets and revenue from water and sewerage we have been able to bring some improvements that would never have been affordable otherwise,” he said.

Perhaps the best-known example was the 24 Glasses program, which saw public health alerts removed from more than 24 regional communities across Tasmania. The success of this program has been recognised interstate, where there are still towns on boil-water alerts.

Building on this solid base, TasWater has an investment plan that will see $1.8 billion spent over the next 10 years, to improve the efficiency and longevity of its assets, support anticipated growth, and keep bills as affordable as possible.

“The average residence connected to TasWater pays just $3.17 per day for all their water and sewerage services,” Mr Stapleton said. “Our average annual bill is currently the third-lowest in Australia when compared to other major water and sewerage utilities.”

Mr Stapleton said the “It’s time to change the world” theme of National Water Week provides an opportunity for Tasmanians to become more aware about water issues locally, nationally and globally.