Water Sensitive City benchmarking
Our progress towards becoming a Water Sensitive City was recently benchmarked by the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities. This means the City’s performance is rated against 34 goals, including water literacy in the community, adaptive water infrastructure, and sustainable water use. The outcomes were used in the development of the City’s new Waterwise Council Action Plan 2021-26.
Gold Waterwise Council
The City is an endorsed Gold Waterwise Council, with the Waterwise Councils program and has achieved re-endorsement since 2016, due to consistent water efficient innovation across the City’s operations and provision of waterwise support to our community. The City has a leading Central Irrigation Management System, Waterwise endorsed aquatic centres, water sensitive urban design projects, supportive waterwise programs and incentives for our community and ongoing community engagement around our water initiatives. Under a new 5-year Waterwise Council Action Plan (2021-26) the City is committed to sustainably managing water into the future under a drying climate.
Living Green Program
The City’s Living Green Program offers a range of support and initiatives to help the community conserve water. These include
- Waterwise events and workshops
- Waterwise Verge Rebate program
- Sustainable Verge Awards
- Waterwise Plant Giveaway Day
- Rainwater Tank discounts
- Greywater systems fee relief.
Learn more about the City’s community water initiatives and the Living Green Program here.
Greywater systems fee relief
To encourage the uptake of water efficient greywater systems across the City, greywater application fees have been waived, saving residents $236.
Greywater systems are one of the best opportunities to reuse water and save money at home or in the garden. Greywater systems allow you to treat domestic wastewater (from sinks, baths, showers and washing machines) and re-use it on the garden or for flushing toilets and washing clothes. As 42% of Perth’s mains water supply is used on residential lawns and gardens, greywater systems offer an opportunity to maintain a green garden while significantly reducing your water use and cost.
How to install a greywater system
- Choose a greywater system approved by the Department of Health
- Submit an application to construct or install an apparatus for the treatment of sewage to the City ($118 application fee currently waived). Note, certain larger systems may require approval from both the City and also the Chief Health Officer of the Department of Health. These include, premises with more than 8 occupants, output of more than 540 litres of sewage per day, or a lot with multiple premises. This will require the payment of an additional fee ($118)
- Once approval is granted, ensure the system is installed by a plumber and they issue a Compliance Certificate
- Request an inspection by the City’s Environmental Health Officer by calling (08) 9205 8555 and present them with the Compliance Certificate
- Once the inspection is complete and the system approved, a “Permit to Use” the apparatus will be granted ($118 fees currently waived for this permit).
To learn more about greywater, visit gwig.org or download the West Australian Greywater Guide.