Recently published Level 6 water restrictions state: “Residential units using more than 10 500 litres a month will be fined or have water management devices installed on their properties.”
I am delighted that the word “will” has replaced the previously used and toothless “may”, which was hardly a deterrent to those who refuse to do the right thing.
On behalf of the many compliant residents who are slowly learning to live with the inconveniences that will be part of daily living until the drought has broken, I urge the council to take the punitive steps referred to in the new restrictions, and to do so without delay.
The couldn’t-be-bothered attitude of many residents is clearly playing too big a part in hurrying Day Zero towards us all.
Furthermore, it is my belief that further education is needed on the use of grey water to flush toilets.
This is a critical water-saving measure.
I was recently left open-mouthed as a seemingly well-informed acquaintance said to me: “I always just flush because using a bucket of water doesn’t work.”
As little as a third of a small bucket of grey water, tipped forward with a measure of vigour, will always provide the required flushing-away pressure, and – crucially – will save a good few litres of precious municipal water.
There should be no residential alternative to using grey water to flush toilets in what are becoming desperate drought times.