Water supply and sanitation in Australia information
Not to be confused with Irrigation in Australia.
Australia: Water and sanitation
Data
Water coverage (broad definition)
100%
Sanitation coverage (broad definition)
90%
Continuity of supply (%)
Mostly continuous
Average residential water use (l/p/d)
191 liter/person/day (2007)[1]
Average domestic water and sewer bill
A$350/month or US$270/month[2]
Share of household metering
n/a
Annual investment in WSS
A$2 bn/US$1.74 bn (2007–08) or US$81/capita[3]
Share of self-financing by utilities
High
Share of tax-financing
Low
Share of external financing
None
Institutions
Decentralisation to municipalities
In some states (primarily in Queensland and Tasmania)
National water and sanitation company
State water and sanitation companies
Water and sanitation regulator
No
Responsibility for policy setting
Share between states/territories and the Commonwealth (national government)
Sector law
No
Number of urban service providers
> 33
Number of rural service providers
n/a
As Australia's supply of freshwater is increasingly vulnerable to droughts, possibly as a result of climate change, there is an emphasis on water conservation and various regions have imposed restrictions on the use of water.
In 2006, Perth became the first Australian city to operate a seawater desalination plant, the Kwinana Desalination Plant, to reduce the city's vulnerability to droughts. A plant at Kurnell has also been built and supplies Sydney metropolitan area with water during droughts and low dam levels. More plants are planned or are under construction in Gold Coast, Melbourne, and Adelaide. The use of reclaimed water is also increasingly common.
However, some desalination plants were put in stand-by modes in 2010 following above average rainfall levels and floods in 2010.
Governments of Australian states and territories, through state-owned companies, are in charge of service provision in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, while utilities owned by local governments provide services in parts of Queensland and Tasmania. In Victoria, New South Wales and Southeast Queensland, state-owned utilities provide bulk water which is then distributed by utilities owned by either local or state governments. The Minister for Water is responsible for water policies at the federal level.
^Cite error: The named reference IBNET was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference NWC Urban was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Launch of the WSAA Report Card for 2007/2008". Water Services Association of Australia website. Water Services Association of Australia. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
and 29 Related for: Water supply and sanitation in Australia information
As Australia'ssupply of freshwater is increasingly vulnerable to droughts, possibly as a result of climate change, there is an emphasis on water conservation...
Watersupplyandsanitationin Indonesia is characterized by poor levels of access and service quality. More than 16 million people lack access to an at...
Watersupplyandsanitationin France is universal and of good quality. Salient features of the sector compared to other developed countries are the high...
acronym that stands for "water, sanitationand hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The...
Watersupplyandsanitationin the United States involves a number of issues including water scarcity, pollution, a backlog of investment, concerns about...
monitoring, planning and regulating water sector development in the Palestinian territories. Furthermore, the WaterSupplyandSanitation Improvements for...
Watersupplyandsanitationin Canada is nearly universal and generally of good quality, but a lack of clean drinking waterin many First Nations communities...
restrictions. Climate change inAustralia Drought inAustralia Peak waterWater data transfer format WatersupplyandsanitationinAustralia "Living with Drought...
Watersupplyandsanitation (WSS) in the European Union (EU) is the responsibility of each member state, but in the 21st century union-wide policies have...
Goldfields WaterSupply Scheme Irrigation inAustralia Ord River Irrigation Scheme Great Man-Made River Snowy Mountains Scheme North American Waterand Power...
Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking waterand treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human...
provide a safe, reliable and efficient watersupply to satisfy the demand of all government and public sectors. WaterAndSanitation Agency (WASA) was established...
the watersupplyin spreading the cholera epidemic. Human right to waterandsanitation Nonresidential water use in the U.S. Residential water use in the...
The 1998 Sydney water crisis involved the suspected contamination of the watersupply system of Greater Metropolitan Sydney by the microscopic pathogens...
Microcredit for watersupplyandsanitation is the application of microcredit to provide loans to small enterprises and households in order to increase...
watersupply network or watersupply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide watersupply. A watersupply system...
include in their definition: The Joint Monitoring Programme for WaterSupplyandSanitation of WHO and UNICEF has defined improved sanitation as follows:...
Mountains Scheme Water data transfer format WatersupplyandsanitationinAustralia Jackson, Sue; Head, Lesley (1 February 2020). "Australia's mass fish kills...
WaterAid is an international non-governmental organization, focused on water, sanitationand hygiene. It was set up in 1981 as a response to the UN International...
Tunnels in AustraliaWatersupplyandsanitationinAustralia Economy of New South Wales Economy of Queensland Economy of South Australia Economy of Tasmania...
The Water Efficiency Labelling and Standard (WELS) scheme is an Australian Government urban water conservation program. Its aim is to reduce demand for...
Global Information