Australia's National Local Government Newspaper Online

Water conservation &endash; getting down to business

South Australia's City of Mitcham is setting up demonstration sites to show local businesses how they can save water. While home use is the major source of water consumption, businesses, including schools and hospitals, use 25 percent of Adelaide's water supply. Water conservation is a critical issue in South Australia, where much of the state's water supply is augmented by the challenged Murray Darling River system.

Without intervention, the quality of that water and the health of the river system

will decline further as the population grows by an anticipated four percent.

In setting up business demonstration sites Dijana Jevremov, Mitcham's Environment Officer, hopes to show business people that

they can contribute to environmental sustainability and save themselves money.

Dijana has established five sites where proprietors and managers have instituted water saving measures.

These include an automotive dealer which is using recycled rainwater to wash cars; a school, using bore water to irrigate ovals; and an engineering firm, recycling tank water through its welding machine rather than a constant tap stream.

The latter firm is saving significant money through extended machine life.

Dijana said cost savings to business include less need for chemicals, extended lifespan for equipment, reduced health risks, less downtime and lower water costs.

The ideas will be promoted to businesses throughout metropolitan Adelaide.

"Already, in just a few months of operation, many other businesses have shown an interest in what is happening," she said.

The Project is part of the Natural Heritage Trust Agreement with the Marion and Mitcham Environmental Education Project.

It will be officially launched this month.

For further information contact Dijana Jevremov, telephone (08) 8272 8888.

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