Why isn’t rainwater harvesting a major government policy?

The recently released Water Account by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals serious money in our water tanks. ABS research shows Rainwater tanks provided 8% of household consumption or 156 billion litres of water, saving their owners the equivalent of $507 million in water bills in 2013/14. The RHAA assessment shows rainwater harvesting systems conservatively provided over 247 billion litres during 2013/14.

Stuart Heldon, Vice Chairman of the Rainwater Harvesting Association of Australia (RHAA) was curious about the report;

“It shows rainwater harvesting is a significant part of the Australian water landscape, so why isn’t it a major government policy? There are clear savings for homeowners here but the government seems to prefer homeowners to pay $5.3 billion in water charges, a 14% increase”.

Queensland is a good example, the government axed rainwater harvesting legislation in 2012 and plans to run the Gold Coast desalination plant continuously from 2020. Rainwater harvesting saved Queenslanders 46 billion litres last year, equivalent to $149 million, a 10% saving on the $1.1 billion they spent on the third highest water charges in the country.

“It is time to put sustainable water use and rainwater harvesting back on the table for discussion”.

The RHAA is a not for profit rainwater harvesting industry association that works to:

• support sustainable water use in Australia;
• support the 5.1 million Australians who own a rainwater tank (ABS, 2013);
• promote rainwater harvesting as an integral part of sustainable water management;
• maintain standards and guidelines for rainwater harvesting in Australia.

These actions grow and develop the $500 million Australian rainwater harvesting industry.