Parched Australia becomes a nation of water misers

By James Grubel

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Glenda Way turns on the shower tap and reaches for a bucket, catching drops until the water is warm enough for her wash.

Each day for the past year, Way, 58, has collected a bucket of fresh water which she later pours on the parched rose garden of her home north of Australia's largest city of Sydney.

"Everyone is doing it," Way told Reuters. "When you get a whole bucket of water from one shower, it makes you realize how much has been going down the drain."

Way is one of a growing army of Australian water misers, who are finding new ways to live with tough restrictions on water use as much of the nation enters its sixth year of drought.

Faced with record low dam levels, Australia's major cities have introduced limits on household water use, and city dwellers are sharing the pain of a drought that has devastated rural production and cut 0.5 percent from economic growth.

Householders are responsible for only 9 percent of Australia's water consumption but all major cities, except the rain-drenched tropical northern city of Darwin, have imposed restrictions on water use over the past five years.

In the suburbs of Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, the lush green lawns which were once a hallmark of Australian suburbia, have mostly turned brown after authorities banned the use of sprinklers.

In most areas, public fountains have been turned off, taps have been removed from beachside fresh-water showers, and gardens can only be hand-watered on designated days.

In the largest city of Sydney, householders face fines of A$220 ($171) if they are caught watering gardens outside of set times on Wednesdays and Sundays, or if they are spotted hosing down the pavement or yard.

LOTS OF DIRTY CARS

In the second largest city of Melbourne, 100 water officers in 30 cars are on suburban patrols around the clock, issuing fines to people who waste water. Repeat offenders can have their water supplies cut.

In the dry and dusty nation's capital Canberra, authorities have banned people from washing their cars, saying cars can only be cleaned at commercial car washes which recycle their water.

"There are an awful lot of dirty cars around Canberra. I wish they'd come in here," Anthony Tammett, who runs the city's biggest commercial car wash told Reuters.

The impact of the water restrictions has been noted in many different ways. Hardware stores report higher than usual sales of buckets and suppliers of rainwater tanks are struggling to keep up with demand, with delays of up to eight weeks on orders.

Landscape gardeners report business is booming as people rip up their lawns and reconfigure their gardens with native plants, paving, and water-saving irrigation systems.