Media Release: NEW CAMPAIGN URGES MELBURNIANS TO BE WATER SAVERS

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PREMIER

DATE: Friday, September 26, 2003

NEW CAMPAIGN URGES MELBURNIANS TO BE WATER SAVERS

Melburnians will be urged to save water through simple household measures like taking shorter showers, in a major conservation campaign launched today by the Premier, Steve Bracks.

“Cutting three minutes off the length of an average shower would save the State the equivalent of 132 Olympic swimming pools of water each day,” Mr Bracks said.

“It’s just one of the water saving tips we are promoting in the new Our Water Our Future campaign, which encourages people in the city and suburbs to take simple steps to help make our water supplies sustainable into the future.”

Mr Bracks said Melbourne faced an urgent challenge following seven years of below-average rainfall, and with the city’s water storages at their lowest level in nearly 20 years.

“Recent rains have helped but we need at least five years of average rainfall to return our storages to 90 per cent,” he said.

“A predicted increase in Melbourne’s population of one million people by 2030, combined with expected climate changes, will place yet more pressure on our limited resources.

“The Our Water Our Future campaign is part of the Bracks Government’s commitment to reducing Melbourne’s water use and securing a sustainable supply for the future. We aim to reduce the drinking water used per person by 15 per cent by 2010.”

The campaign will feature:

· A series of television advertisements, mainly featuring ordinary Victorians and how they can become ‘Water Savers’;
· Radio and print advertisements;
· Billboard advertisements displaying water saving messages including shorter showers and turning off dripping taps;
· Free Water Saver kits available by calling the Department of Sustainability and Environment on 136 186 from 1 October;
· Public information forums to give Melburnians a say on our water future;
· School activities;
· A letter from the Premier to all Melbourne households, informing Victorians of the urgent water challenge ahead and alerting them to a range of practical water saver tips.

The majority of the $6.2 million campaign is being funded by the Government's metropolitan water businesses as part of their existing budgets.

The first television advertisement featuring the Premier will run during the AFL Grand Final tomorrow.

“A series of ads will then follow featuring ordinary Victorians – because this campaign is about how people can become ‘Water Savers’,” Mr Bracks said.

The Our Water Our Future campaign will be the most significant to promote water conservation since the Don’t be a Wally With Water campaign in the late 1980s.

Mr Bracks said Our Water Our Future would show that family water saving measures can make a big impact on the State’s water supplies.

He said Melburnians would be asked to make water savings at home by initiatives like:

· reducing time in the shower to four minutes;
· installing water efficient appliances;
· using more mulch in the garden and
· turning off dripping taps.

Mr Bracks said since Stage One water restrictions were introduced in Melbourne on 1 November, Melburnians have cut their predicted water consumption by seven per cent.

He said a variety of rebates were already available on rainwater tanks, greywater systems and water saving appliances in the garden, and would soon be available for household items such as front loading washing machines, dishwashers and water efficient shower roses.