Alice Springs and Central Australia
Water in Alice Springs
Water use varies across the Territory. The following graph illustrates where water is used in Alice Springs and Central Australia around the home.
Single residential household demand 700 KL/year
Alice Springs is completely reliant on groundwater and as such water is costly to supply as the bores source water from around 150 metres underground.
Unfortunately, much more water is taken from these aquifers than they receive from rainfall or river recharges. As a result water levels in the Mereenie Aquifer at the Roe Creek borefield are dropping about a metre every year.
There’s still a lot of water in the basin, but as the level drops, bores have to be deepened and new bores drilled, which is very expensive and uses more energy. The water will also be of a lesser quality which would require extra treatment prior to use. The life of the Aquifer depends on how the water resources are utilised now and into the future. At current rates of use, the water resource should last for a few hundred years, but this relies on everyone conserving as much water as possible and finding new ways to be efficient with water, including recycling water.
For further information about water supplies in Alice Springs view the desertSMART COOLmob and Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sports pages.
Water efficiency
There has also been some important work done on water efficiency in Alice Springs by Power and Water and the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sports working together to consider options and make recommendations.
The Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sports has a series of excellent information sheets and programs on water efficiency in Alice Springs including waterwise schools, product rebates and fact sheets.