Stuart McQuire

A state-of-the-art real-life demonstration site for water conservation, the house uses the equivalent of less than three buckets per day of mains water, or around 9500 litres of mains water per year, compared to 240,000 litres of mains water used by most households.

“Our house demonstrates that living a water efficient lifestyle doesn’t have to be hard work or uncomfortable,” says Mr McQuire, who started reducing water use in the early 1990s and installed his first rainwater tank in 1994.

With support from the Smart Water Fund, Stuart’s new Envirowater treatment system treats and recycles laundry, bath, shower and basin water to a standard that allows long-term storage and reuse for toilet flushing and watering the permaculture style garden.

A rainwater system supplies water for the shower and laundry – the only use for mains water is in the kitchen for cooking and drinking and the bathroom for brushing teeth.

“This house has a national and international profile for its role in pioneering environmental technologies and sustainable living,” said Stuart. “We’ve proven that you can cut mains water consumption without compromising your lifestyle.”