Water Sustainability Australia

Water Sustainability Australia

Sustainability is the ability to maintain a certain status or process in existing systems. The most frequent use of the term “sustainability” is connected to biological or human systems in the context of ecology. The ability of an ecosystem to function and maintain productivity for a prolonged period is also sustainability.

Living a sustainable lifestyle is one way to help. In this series pages we will go into what sustainability has to with ecology, recycling, water, and more. We will also reveal what some companies (like Petsmart and Disney) are doing to make a difference by operating their businesses in a sustainable way.

Water Sustainability Australia / The Importance of the Conservation of Water

Over the past few years, Australia has proven to be among the most progressive countries when it comes to environmental sustainability, particularly in the field of water conservation.

To tackle the issue of water sustainability on a nationwide scale, the Australian government has been particularly intelligent in creating awareness as well as generating interest among its people through the policies that they develop, the resources that they make available, and the incentives they provide.

Water Sustainability Australia / Policies

The Australian government has continued to create policies that encourage people to care for, protect, and restore the quantity and the quality of the country’s clean water supply. They have even developed pricing strategies that provide people with more benefits to conserve water. Government-initiated efforts to develop innovative water recycling systems have also gone a long way.

Water Sustainability Australia / Resources

Water sustainability awareness and interest among the Australian people have been high mostly because of the resources that have been made available through various materials, online facilities, and services. Numerous organizations have also helped in generating awareness on the importance of water conservation.

Among these organizations is the savewater! Alliance, which works with a number of government agencies, water businesses, and product companies to encourage the development of water sustainability programs across Australia.

There are also services that encourage water sustainability practices among business owners and managers. This includes water efficiency appraisals that determine how much companies can save for observing water sustainability practices.

Recommendations are given to companies that are found to have the potential to lower operational costs by at least 5%. Those who don’t follow the given recommendations will be charged for the auditing services while those who do accept the recommendations can choose to pay through a “Payment by Savings” scheme.

That means companies don’t need to pay upfront for services and installations.

Water Sustainability Australia / Incentives

There are a number of programs that offer incentives for implementing water conservation in Australia. Among the most effective ones are its programs for water-efficient technologies.

These programs allow people to claim cash rebates each time they purchase water-efficient products. Eligible products include rainwater and greywater systems, solar-powered hot water systems and hot water re-circulators, toilets, showerheads, and other fixtures.

There are even rebates on water conservation audits. Furthermore, there are programs that allow people to exchange old fixtures with more water-efficient ones at no extra cost.

In addition, there are a number of water conservation challenges and competitions that encourage people, young and old, to observe water sustainability practices for different types of awards and prizes.

Australia’s programs for water sustainability have proven to be very effective as reports show the improvement in consumption and wastage as compared to previous years.

Knowing this, it should serve as an example for other countries so that the efforts to conserve water as well as sustain the current supply will not just be nationwide but worldwide.

Sources

http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/
http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm#sustainability
http://australia.gov.au/topics/environment-and-natural-resources/environmental-sustainability
http://www.savewater.com.au/research-and-resources/research

Thank you for visiting the Water Sustainability Australia page. For more information on sustainability follow these links:

Why is Sustainability Important

Definition of Sustainability

Types of Sustainability

Sustainability Tips

Recycling Sustainability

Green Sustainability

Natural Resource Sustainability

Living Sustainability

Ecology Sustainability

Sustainability Agroforestry

Water Movement Sustainability