Wrong Dam Question

So much to write about: World Cup, nuclear "debate" hotting up, my recent movie fiesta, why the queen has so many birthdays and what she might make of it all, the Suburban Safari re-design ... but let's chat tonight instead about water.

We're having our first modest rain here in, I'm guessing, a couple of months. At 9.4mm, it's hardly a drought-breaker, but it will make a difference to the lawns and gardens around town. Being south-facing, our place hasn't done too badly; the lawns on our side of the street are still green, whereas our north-facing neighbours across the street have been kicking up dust for a couple of weeks now. The dams are at between 30-35% of their capacity, and soon we'll be stepping up to the next level of restrictions. The topic is a hot barbecue stopper at the moment.

There are a number of solutions being suggested to alleviate the current "crisis" and secure a wet and splashy future for south east Queensland: a new dam on the Mary River, desalination, and *gasp!!* recycling water. I think we're asking the wrong question. Rather than asking, how can we get more water, we need to be asking, how can we get people to start thinking about water differently?

We are very indulged in this country.I see a lot of water wastage going on in my travels around the city. So often I see toilets with a half-flush button that doesn't work. In fact, it's so frequent that I can only guess that it's consciously done as a concession to the delicate sensibilities of shoppers who may not recover from finding a small shred of paper in the bowl. Before the last round of watering restrictions, commercial buildings with inbuilt watering systems often had them running through the hottest part of the day, with spraying risers putting their fine mist up into the air, to be whisked away by the wind, or watering the footpath, pedestrians and gutters.

I have never had to rely on tank water anywhere I've lived, but I have spent time in many places that do. The approach to water usage is completely different. Toilets are flushed only if Mr Hanky pays a visit. Showers are brief: if using soap or hair washing, the water goes on to soap up, then is turned off while you scrub. It's then flicked on again to rinse. That's it. None but the most hardy plants make it into the garden, and watering is done with a watering can. Taps are never left running while teeth cleaning, vegetable washing, or hand washing. When doing laundry, the rinse water from the last load is put back into the machine for the wash cycle of the next, and all of it goes into the garden once it's been used. It's not that hard, really. How much difference would the population converting to this behaviour make to the Brisbane region?

I don't know how much water the average household uses per week, but I would imagine that doing some of the above and installing a rain water tank would make a significant difference. But we're extremely addicted to convenience, and often won't countenance the idea of making a small effort that makes the lot of everyone that bit better. As the Dead Kennedys once said, give me convenience or give me death. But the fact is, no matter how tough the water situation becomes here, we're doing a hell of a lot better than people in many parts of the world. We need to take some responsibility for our water use. But are the people of Brisbane likely to put up with the cold-sweat terror of pee sitting in their toilet bowls?