Residents asked to rethink water usage during National Water Week October 21-27

Budget Direct research commissioned by YouGov reveals 1075 Australians surveyed are willing to adopt strategies that will help reduce household water consumption'

With water restrictions being implemented in affected areas across Australia, strategies to reduce water consumption have become a focus for households to address as new research conducted by YouGov on behalf of Budget Direct reveals.

This research coincides with the start of National Water Week which runs from 21-27 October with the aim of inspiring individuals, communities and organisations to work together to build awareness around the value of water.

Almost three quarters of surveyed New South Wales residents (63%) say the most important environmental issue facing Australia currently is water security.

Affected areas such as Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra region have had Level 1 water restrictions applied as of June by the NSW Government to protect Sydney’s water supply from drought conditions.

Under level 1 restrictions residents are encouraged to abide by rules that regulate watering of lawns and gardens, filling pools, cleaning hard surfaces (paths and driveways), cleaning vehicles and general households.

Despite these restrictions being implemented by the government, 25% of NSW residents surveyed admit they have witnessed a neighbour not complying with water regulations affecting their community.

In an effort to improve water security in Australia, the research revealed that 55% of Australians surveyed are most in favour of the strategy to building infrastructure to pipe water from high rainfall coastal areas to low rainfall inland areas.

Budget Direct General Manager for Home Claims, Chris Jarrett, said with households having different needs and demands to service their water requirements, it’s important to have a system in place that helps both monitor and reduce water usage.

“Small changes such as reducing the length of showers, recycling water and even covering swimming pools to slow evaporation can go a long way to helping households be more water wise and help their community” said Mr Jarrett.

Budget Direct research also revealed:

• Reduced length of showers: 52% of Aussies surveyed have reduced the length of their showers as the top strategy to reduce water consumption.
• Importance of reducing water consumption: Half (50%) say reducing water consumption is very important to them.
• Wide scale water recycling plants: Almost half (49%) of Australians surveyed are in favour of introducing wide-scale water recycling plants as an approach to improve water security.
• Reduced watering of gardens Over half those surveyed (56%) who view water security as the most important environmental issues facing Australia have started watering lawns and gardens less/ planting native gardens that require less watering.
• Observing neighbours: 21% of Australians surveyed who view water security as an important environmental issue facing Australia have admitted to witnessing a neighbour not abiding by water restrictions once or twice with 18% of those stating they have witnessed this many times.
• Western Australia Residents: Western Australia residents surveyed (62%) are most likely to say that reducing household water consumption is very important to them compared to other states in Australia.
• Victoria Residents: Of those surveyed, Victoria residents (45%) are least likely to say that reducing household water consumption is very important to them.
• Education around water security: 51% of Australians surveyed who view water security as an important environmental issue facing Australia are in favour of introducing conservation education into school curriculums.