Media release 14 November, 2006

Water tanks for all: simple step to drought proof Sydney

An innovative scheme to make rainwater tanks affordable for residents in Parramatta should be rolled out across Sydney to help drought-proof the city, Clean Up Australia Chairman Ian Kiernan AO said today.

"Councils are leading the way on solving Sydney's water crisis but water should be seen as an essential service by Sydney Water as well and a commitment made to make it affordable for people to drought-proof their homes," Mr Kiernan said.

"At the moment, however, Sydney Water continues to discharge more than 450 billion litres, or 225,000 Olympic-size swimming pools of wastewater each year into the ocean, but only recycles 15 billion litres of it."

Mr Kiernan said rainwater tanks were a simple but key part solution to drought-proofing Sydney.

"Rainwater from my roof in just the last few nights has been used to cool my roof, flush my toilets and water my plants, saving me money. This is far better option than rainwater simply going down the drain."
 
"The community has responded well to water restrictions and has shown it is prepared to save water. If rainwater tanks were more affordable I believe people would save even more water and show authorities how it is possible to do more with less."

Mr Kiernan said building a desalination plant would not save Sydney's water future.
 
"At a time when action on climate change is critical, building this type of polluting technology would be irresponsible."

Mr Kiernan said Prospect Reservoir was ideally placed to supply recycled water to all of Sydney and should be considered for a priority large-scale recycling project.

Further enquiries: Paul Sheridan, 0410 516 656