Stage 5 water restrictions

[alleycat]

Can anybody tell me if we are allowed to flush motors?, it said on the news we can no longer wash boats, im really peeved when you think that swanbank didnt need to be going these last 12 months sucking up water.

[Hamish73]

it said on the news you couldnt was boats or cars, but could wash their engines.
I wouldnt imagine they would stop people from flushing their engines. I do my best by reusing the water in my flush bucket a few times.

[Luc]

You can still go to your local commercial car wash.

One $2 coin is ample time to wash down my tinny as well as the back of the ute.

All I have to do at home is flush the engine (collect rain water in a 200 litre barrel) and clean the fishing gear.

It's a great state of affairs. We're coping all this from a bunch of incompetents who have done nothing about water infrastructure while the population just kept on increasing.

Yes I know there's a drought but if our government governed instead of playing politics we would not be in such a situation.

Luc

[alleycat]

I was born in brisbane and in the days before wivenhoe dam all we had was somerset and you could sprinkle your lawn ect and i never heard of any shortage, whats changed??.

[PinHead]

"There will be further restrictions on outdoor watering, with only two days of bucket watering permitted. Odd-numbered premises will be able to water between 4am and 8 am on Thursday and Saturday, and even-numbered premises between 4am and 8am on Friday and Sunday only.

Residents will also be banned from washing vehicles, caravans or boats, although
windscreens and side mirrors may be washed using a bucket only."

How ridiculous..I cannot wash cars or boats yet people are still allowed to waste water on bloody gardens..if they had planted natives there is no need to water..banning of watering gardens should have happened at the start.

and water charges will go up by 147%..Nosowrty says because of the cost of the infrastructure...what a load of crap..Pathetic Beattie should have started this years ago...but then again...when has a Labor Govt ever put decent infrastructure in place. It is now time Beattie...pipe laying from one end and also from the other...24 hours a day on the project...get the recycled water pipe in NOW...no more BS studies and any other dribble..build the bloody thing..I want to wash my cars when I want..and using a hose...not some primitive method..looks like Beattie ie sending us into the dark ages.

[PinHead]

"The Water Commission yesterday released new figures showing southeast Queensland would have only half the water supply at the end of 2008 of what was previously expected."..that just shows that the water commission is obviously totally incompetent..there were put there to keep track of the water and now they admit they had it wrong from the start..sack em.

[Hamish73]

I'm pretty sure that 10 years ago, when the dams were full, that if the govt said they wanted to spend millions of your money on water pipelines , recycling and desalination plants there would have been an uproar. It's a pretty big ask (impossible) to predict the weather 5-10 years in advance.

[PinHead]

get real Hamish...ever heard of Wolfdene dam..the one that during an election campaign, one Wayne Goss said he would can the idea if elected..well he was elected and he canned the dam...well done Goss.

[PinHead]

I am furious over this crap...the Govts all state that they are financial wizards at budget time...huge surpluses...especially Qld and WA with the massive mineral royalties they are enjoying...I want them to tell us where the money is/has gone...there are bugger all extra police, teachers, hospital beds and staff and water infrastructure. Where is the money???? IN Qld we have seen the problems emerge with Energex then Health then dams and still stuff all done on any of them...all just band aid solutions while cheesy grin smiles every time a camera is pointed in his direction and prattles on with crap like..at the end of the day...the man is a disgrace.

[Adamy]

I am furious over this crap...the Govts all state that they are financial wizards at budget time...huge surpluses...especially Qld and WA with the massive mineral royalties they are enjoying...I want them to tell us where the money is/has gone...there are bugger all extra police, teachers, hospital beds and staff and water infrastructure. Where is the money???? IN Qld we have seen the problems emerge with Energex then Health then dams and still stuff all done on any of them...all just band aid solutions while cheesy grin smiles every time a camera is pointed in his direction and prattles on with crap like..at the end of the day...the man is a disgrace.


Couldn't agree more!!

But on another note - I thought I heard on the early news (the one before 5pm - the benefits of being at Uni - again) that flushing of inboards and outboards would still be allowed under level 5. Flushing the motors in bins isnt really an option for those who have larger than usual outboards - or foil attachments or do they make REALLY big bins?

Alternatively - you could live in Redlands where we are still currently under level 2 restrictions - not to be reviewed until present water levels go under 55%. So my car and boat can stay clean a little while longer. (Now I just got to find someone who will actually wash them::)) Sorry guys - not trying to rub it in!

Adam

[alleycat]

This is a very fair point!! all that money from the minerals boom and whats different?, health is a shambles, education is not getting it, police numbers still low!, so wheres the upside? wheres the cash gone.?

[QuintrexII]

I was told that regardless of the level, there was a category that allowed you to use water under "safety" provisions.

ie: to wash off brake discs/drums so that they don't rust or become "Unsafe"

I have never thought of this as a "loophole" , but thought 15-30 secs of hosing the wheels and brakes of the car and trailer as being "Safety conscious".

does anyone know about "Safety" provisions?

[tigermullet]

Finally, finally, finally, all are becoming aware and subjected to the circular logic applied by public servants. It's even on TV. Never thought that I would see the day of a public parade of such idiocy. 147%! - fill out forms if your useage is just a bit above the average - get fined - get spied upon and listen to those phrases that end in or begin with , 'At the end of the day', 'Empasize the positive' or 'User pay solution'.

In fairness to the person appointed by the government we should remember that the responses have been conditioned by, probably, a life time's exposure to thinking that the solution to all problems is to blame and shame the citizens and make them pay. It would not be acceptable for any public servant to say that there has been an almighty cockup by them or by Government, that they are sorry and will you please do your best to help out until it rains again?

When it does rain our water woes will disappear but you can bet that our financial woes will not. An empire will be built on this problem.

Can we still wash our little white fluffy dogs?;D

[seatime]

you can still flush motors with level 5 restrictions

[tigermullet]

Thank God for that, Gelsec. But what about the little doggies - it's pretty easy to power wash the cat by shoving it in the toilet, slamming the lid and pushing the flush button several times but the dog just won't fit.

[seatime]

r u taking the p!ss tiger?

[tigermullet]

Nah, Gelsec. I'm just a bit elated - leaving all of these problems behind for a fortnight and heading out on the boat at long last.;D

[PinHead]

I was told that regardless of the level, there was a category that allowed you to use water under "safety" provisions.

ie: to wash off brake discs/drums so that they don't rust or become "Unsafe"

I have never thought of this as a "loophole" , but thought 15-30 secs of hosing the wheels and brakes of the car and trailer as being "Safety conscious".

does anyone know about "Safety" provisions?

this is from the water commission website:
"Washing Vehicles, Caravans or Boats at any residential location is banned.
Except that, the windscreen and side mirrors of a motor vehicle may be cleaned using a bucket only. Inboard and outboard motors may be flushed out to maintain safe operation. " Looks like hosing of trailers and brakes is banned.

"The Queensland Water Commission today released its proposals for Level 5 water efficiencies to be formally introduced on April 10. "

I don't trust them with that word "proposals" in it. Anything and everything could change.

[PinHead]

oops...http://www.qwc.qld.gov.au/myfiles/uploads/Level%205%20water%20restriction.pdf

under R3 section b..washing of brakes is permitted

[dazza]

hi all,
this is a joke, residential property owners are forced to conserve water, yet there is little or no infastructure for big business to use recycled water.
if the government was serious we would be using recycled water in the power stations, industrial estates, manufacturing plants etc. they all should have recycled water pumped to them etc.
the majority of households are doing their bit, time the govt actually did something meaningful to address the issue instead of continuing to squeese the little bloke
cheers
dazza

[tigermullet]

Pinhead - Thanks, couldn't work out how to send PM - still half asleep and lots of packing to be done. Not too sure where I will end up but will keep a watch for that water skiing little doggy;D

[monkey76]

It is no real problem as stated earlier use a self serve car wash on the way home from the boat ramp and for about $7.00 to $10 you can fully wash your boat and will also be able to flush your engine at most car washes. i can organise a list of car wash sites that have boat washing facilities if anyone is further interested. Also Horizon shores marina and Gold Coast marina have put in place specially designed boat wash atations right next to their boat ramps.

[castlemaine]

Where's the Opposition Party ... lots of good points made in this thread but the Opposition is still quiet. If you're listening maybe you can use some of these points that a bunch of fishers can come up with.
On another note an old bloke told me that when the council first put in the water system he was told to remove his water tank or face a fine. Now years they're wanting him to put one in. Can anyone confirm this?

[whichway]

Hi

There is a huge push to save whatever water we can domestically because that has the least political implications. The only thing left after that is cooling towers - these reject heat (via evaporation) from large air conditioning systems, power stations, oil refineries, factories, process plants etc. Cooling towers use huge amounts of water, particularly during the Summer. I believe that the oil refineries may be changing over to recycled water, and the water pipeline from Luggage point is really to keep the power stations going, as much as possible. If air conditioning systems to large shopping centres, office buildings, hospitals, computer centres, factories start to be shut down and we start to get power rationing, the economic effects will be significant. Jobs will be lost. We will look back on March 2007 and think how lucky we were. All levels of Government have been very tardy on this issue.

This is just my view - I hope either my analysis is wrong, or we get a big cyclone some time soon.

Lucky I'm not a pessimist :) .

Whichway

[skales]

They can go and bite there Ars.! I pay for water and excess water on my rates notice [ states that in my notice ] Any good lawyer would win that in court , you haven;t broken any law We are short on water because this goverment are to lazy to look pass the dollars . Do you see them complaining when just over 1600 people a week move to QLD each week NO all they can see is money [ tax and charges ] They don't Think full stop.
I didn't think old Joh Belkie was all that good at the time but He wouldn't of let us get this bad , he would of just said do it and it would of been done [ no bloody studys first] Oh by the way I have a water tank for washing the boat and cars , but thats all it is for

[CHAPPY]

In reply to Castlemaine.
Yes it is true. Most councils had a rain water tank ban in place . The reasoning was mosquito breading. The only way around it was if you kept tropical fish. The chemicals in town water killed them so you had to use tank water. However, All new houses now are required to have them. It is the same government experts who told the old farmers to cut out all the trees and now are telling them to plant them again. How many new dams have been planned since Joh left the scene? none. And before you say Paradise dam, that was planned back in Joh,s time. But we have one Goodwill bridge and another on the way. Us bushies may be country, but we are not thick. My house runs completely on tank water and with only 300mm of rain last year, we did not run out. So if you are thinking of a tank, go the whole hog a get a 5000 gallon. The pumps, plumbing etc. will cost the same and the difference between a 5000gal and a 1000 gal tank is only about
$300 to $400. Then you can tell Moses Beatie to stick his water. I call him Moses because every time he opens his mouth, the bull rushes. Anyone wanting more info on tanks should go to building codes board on the net and scroll down to Queensland development code part 25.

[Mad-One]

Couldn't agree more!!



Alternatively - you could live in Redlands where we are still currently under level 2 restrictions - not to be reviewed until present water levels go under 55%. So my car and boat can stay clean a little while longer. (Now I just got to find someone who will actually wash them::)) Sorry guys - not trying to rub it in!

Adam
Why do you guys get to have only level 2 when the gold coast still has plenty and we have to suffer level 5 along with everyone else. I used to live where all we had was tank water and we coped fine if everyone installed tanks it would save alot of water. Even if this water was only used for washing cars and hosing gardens it would save heaps of water. Just my 2 cents worth

Madone

[Poseidon]

If someone offered you 3 years ago a Plant Nursery business or a water tank business, which one would you have chosen?

Why again does the poor rate paying residents of this area have to reduce consumption when big production business continue to guzzle at the same old rates. The domestic water consumption is nothing compared to the many kilolitres per minute some industry use.

Living in this neck of the woods is all becoming a little too difficult, peak hour traffic that lasts all day, Pedestrian and bus bridges where there should have been motorway duplications and water becoming scarce as hens teeth. Just wait till next summer when the power stations again will go out on overload whilst we continue to sell power off to NSW.

Nope, enough for me. Time to move back to Cairns, we have been back in Brisbane for 7 years and watched the area bust at the seems whilst nothing in the way of REAL infrastructure has improved. The government is that flash for cash it is incredible and we can all see why. Where is the opposition to this Government?

I like to water my garden, I like to wash my cars and boat, I like to maintain my house and keep it clean, I like to have a shower and not feel guilty about the cold water going drown the drain before the hot kicks in.

Regards Cameron.

[Jeremy]

South Bank pool is currently losing 1000 litres of water per hour from cracks in the concrete. Has been going on for months and will not be fixed until sometime in April.

Nosworthy, Beattie and co can get stuffed. I will use the water I need to keep my boat and fishing gear etc clean. I don't water the garden and I have short showers, but that is where I am drawing the line.

Jeremy

[sarg]

I've been fishing and skiing at moogerah for over 20 years, at one stage it was down to 1 or 2 percent and I can't remember it being over 50% for at least 10 years how could they not see this coming?

In repsonce to other posts I will continue to water my fruit trees and vegetables (with rain water as I have a tank and i'll have another one soon but if they run out then out of the tap), I dont water my lawn or any other plants I have because as you will find those who are serious about gardening have been conserving water for longer than its been a serious issue, water isn't only for cars and boats as has been said, we all have the right to it for our own endevours but due to poor management we all have to suffer now. Most households do there bit to save water it's business that has to pick up their game I think anyway.

Andrew

PS Remember " IF IT'S YELLOW LET IT MELOW, IF IT'S BROWN FLUSH IT DOWN"

[Leigh77]

I am not going to get into the whole "whos fault is it" or the "lets point out stupid ideas" debate...but would like to make a general comment on the industrial/manufacture side of the debate.

Did you know that it takes 4 litres of water to make 1 litre of beer? I wonder how many of you would stop drinking beer to help conserve water. You all say you want the big businesses/industries to conserve water...but how far would you really go?

[manchild]

For all those who thinks industrial water use must be reduced or stopped .Would you say the same if a few thousand jobs lost because of it?So people can water their gardens which are inappropiate for our climate?I have planted a native garden and its thriving without any watering at all.Picking on the "little bloke"sorry but thats where the most water are wasted and used.Get your facts right people before you present them as facts please,referring to industry being the biggest water users .Most importantly stop blaming others and do your bit cause like or not we ALL in it like it or not, your "poor little me"attitude is no help at all.
George

[Ozwald]

4 litres of water to make one litre of beer? How do they jam it all in? No wonder it makes me want to p**$ so often!

[insideout]

double post

[insideout]

maybe they pick on the little guy who is trying his best to do the right thing, because 1 person cannot do damage to them, whereas if the major players-consumers can cry wolf and bury them in litigation, so it is put in the "too hard basket" . Then again, the "powers that be" seem hell bent on a quick fix, which will not work, for the sake of being remembered on a plaque on a dam somewhere. It is a sham, and while we are not doing it as hard as you guys, it will not be long till we are , and it is like butting your head against a brick wall, for you can see a solution to this screw up, but it constantly falls on deaf ears, and again , put into the too hard basket....

[sarg]

Hi all,

Anyone who says buisness uses less water than everyday folk need to get THEIR facts right. Theres only one other goose who says that and thats beatie with the classic "99% of water usage is on gardens" WTF. In this article http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21345798-952,00.html ,the water cuts to 2 power stations will save the same amount of water, per day, that 65 000 people use. Do people still waste water YES do they waste as much as business NO. Are there saving to be made still on both sides YES.

I work at bunnings and sell water saving devices and if you had any idea of the volume of sales for inside devices and outside in the garden you would know that the people are doing there bit. Grey water hoses are in the top ten selling lines across the state. water tanks if you want on get in line order today should see it by june! The good brand of rain water diverters for topping up pools etc hopefully get a couple of pallets by the end of the week. Icould keep on going about the products that we constantly sell out of.

My brother in law works in the public service processing rebates for water saving stuff around the home. Due to the amount of water saving buy the general public there processing novembers (4 months ago) applications now. How many of you doubting thomas' have a water tank? No excuse realy there FREE at the moment (if you can get one) brisbane city will give you a thousand dollars and depending on your council they'll offer you up to another $750 and since a standard round 3000 litre tank will set you back $1000 once the rebate comes through a free water tank to wash and flush the boat or wash the car what ever you want the water for.

I dont think anybody has said that business should stop using water and run the risk of losing jobs or that its business' fault that were in a water shortage all people have said is theres substanial saving to be made and business can save the most by FAR. What has been said is they need to start using more recycled water instead of drinking water. It would probably provide jobs rather than axe jobs more jobs at recycling plants (more plants will be needed equalling more jobs again), infrastructure will need to be built could create for more jobs that would be lost.

Andrew

[PinHead]

sarg..just because someone is slow processing rebates does not mean people are using less water...just because someone installs a tank does not mean they use less water..they may have a water tank to water gardens, clean cars etc and never use it but still have a 20 minute shower...that is not saving anything.

[sarg]

Yeh I know Pinhead, but i do think the majority are saving decent amounts. And with the rebates they've had to put so many people on to cope with the huge influx of claims, and everything thats being claimed is a water saving device so there has to be a level of water saving. But I do know what you mean.

Andrew

[castlemaine]

I think most people would agree that we should conserve water regardless of the drought but what I object to that suddenly it's my fault that all the dams have dried up. The people in charge should have been implementing water conservation years ago and increased water storage (dams, etc) but they rather shift the blame.

[shayned]

Can we still wash our little white fluffy dogs?;D

Of course you can, but only by imersing it in a bucket of soapy water and rubbing it across the windscreen and windows of your car and boat!!!!!8-)

[manchild]

Sarg ,no need for name calling here,i think we on the same side.I speak for both side.I can take a shorter shower at home but i cannot use less water for some procedures in my business,no matter what.My comments were directed a "why me"attitude some of us have.I say it again we all in it together,like it or not.
George

[sarg]

Sorry George, I only meant to call pete a goose I think he needs new advisors or something the quotes he's come out with so far this year are laughable, the funniest so far IMO is "that daylight saving cause's skin cancer". I'm sure you don't waste water in your business and you shouldn't have to stop using water either why should your have to pay for a lack of forsight from the powers that be. As you said the shortage is here like it or not.

Andrew

[DR]

some people just don't care ..
the other day i was down at underwood at the big w / woolies refurbishment site. there were a couple of fellas hosing down & scrubbing the canopy over the carpark.
to me it was totally unnecessary as it will be just as filthy in a couple of weeks time anyway, due to road grime & dust from construction going on all around the area.
the problem was, they were using a fire hose , illegal, & wearing raincoats as it was PISSING DOWN..& had obviously had been for a while because they had taken the time to get the wet weather gear on, where do these people come from......

[PinHead]

some people just don't care ..
the other day i was down at underwood at the big w / woolies refurbishment site. there were a couple of fellas hosing down & scrubbing the canopy over the carpark.
to me it was totally unnecessary as it will be just as filthy in a couple of weeks time anyway, due to road grime & dust from construction going on all around the area.
the problem was, they were using a fire hose , illegal, & wearing raincoats as it was PISSING DOWN..& had obviously had been for a while because they had taken the time to get the wet weather gear on, where do these people come from......


that is a good argument to ban all washing of cars and flushing of boats motors etc..will just end up dirty again very soon.

[manchild]

One more thing that really bothers me ,is the hype of rainwater tanks.Lets say the average tanks is 5000 litres or so .Now if they would have 20000 tanks in the cathment areas where the runoff is going into the dams- and the way we going there would be even more-thats 5000x20000 litres of water not going into the dams.Which is ok cause people got it anyway but would they ration it?No they would use it for washing cars water gardens etc which is not allowed on town water.How is that going to save water for us is beyond me.By the way its 1 billion litres of water we talking about and the figures are very gentle.
George
George

[DR]

that is a good argument to ban all washing of cars and flushing of boats motors etc..will just end up dirty again very soon. that's exactly what i keep telling my wife, she still wants me to wash it....

[castlemaine]

DR
Between you and Ozwald, I'm still trying to pick myself up from the floor laughing. ;D ;D ;D 8-)

[SeaHunt]

Maybe I am a bit off track here.
So when we can use more water it is going to cost more?
Funny when we were stopped from using so much we still had to pay the same as when we could have the sprinkler going all day.
When you pay for a service and you do not recieve that full service you should be entitled to a refund.
Council should have reduced our rates when they could not provide the water we have already paid for. Someone should hit them up with a class action suit for failure to deliver a service and get our money back.

There are two sides to the issue , supply and demand. One thing we can do immediately without waiting for dams and pipelines to be built is to stop the demand increasing by stopping immigration until dams are built or significant rain falls. Practically everyone coming to Australia is going to an area that already has water restrictions.

[tigermullet]

Of course you can, but only by imersing it in a bucket of soapy water and rubbing it across the windscreen and windows of your car and boat!!!!!8-)


Thanks very much Shayne for a brilliant idea - it works! Have been out for eleven or twelve days but yesterday, as soon as my wife left for shopping, I grabbed her little lap dog, gave her a good dunking in soapy water and applied her as suggested.

The neighbours long hair cat must be psychic - it bolted just as I was wondering if I could use it to dry and buff the windscreen. Next time!;D ;D