Sydney has been in drought but if conditions don't ease up in the next three months, water restrictions will be put in place. But just how bad is it? and what can people do now to prepare for the worst?
How bad is Sydney's drought?
The latest research from Sydney Water reveals levels across 11 dams in the Greater Sydney area have been dropping faster than they have in decades.
Since April 2017, the levels have plummeted from 96 per cent combined capacity to just over 55 per cent and continue to fall by 0.4 per cent every week.
What will happen if it continues?
If water levels continue and drop below 50 per cent, stage-one water restrictions will then be put in place for Sydney residents. Stage-one water restrictions band the use of hosing hard surfaces and limits watering gardens to times outside 10am to 4pm.
Sydney Water's executive drought lead, Catherine Port, said Sydneysiders were using 11 billion litres of water a week and called for homes and businesses to reduce their usage levels.
"Over the past 18 months we have seen some of the lowest inflows into catchment dams since before 1940," - Catherine Port, From Sydney Water.
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What can we do to use less water?
Many things can be done to prepare for drought. Reducing shower times, checking for leaks and cracks in plumbing, turning off the sink when brushing your teeth. While these things are helpful, a sizeable portion of our clean drinking water goes to watering our garden. This is wasting our precious drinking water to keep our gardens green. One of the best ways to reduces the amount of water used without letting your garden suffer is to install a Grey Water system.
Grey water is used water from your bathroom and laundry. Its water that can be used to irrigate your garden but instead goes down the drain.
The average Australian household can re-use around 2,800 litres of greywater each week.
Homeowners can invest in a system that connects to existing grey water pipe outlets where greywater will be collected in a tank. The water will run through a hair and lint filter first before it is pumped out through approved sub mulch drip line where it can be efficiently distributed into your garden