I got this email from the consumer organization Choice. ( Do you look at water rating labels when buying a new dishwasher, washing machine or shower head?
Australia’s water efficiency labelling scheme requires many products to include a ‘water rating’ sticker that shows how efficiently they use water. The system is currently being reviewed by the government, so this is a crucial opportunity to keep companies honest and make it easier for you to choose water-efficient appliances.
I want the government to hear directly from consumers who use the scheme, so I’ve put this quick survey together to help shape what we ask the government to improve. Warwick, will you take a moment to share your thoughts?
Together, we can make sure Australia’s water efficiency labelling scheme remains an important tool to keep water-wasting products off the market. Share your thoughts to help improve the scheme now. Thanks for your support,)
My thoughts are that we should be considering the “anti-dam” realities of both State and Commonwealth public services and the negative effect of that on water policy and consumers. The failure over 30 years to augment major municipal water supply dams and the ludicrous squandering of $20Bn on unwanted seawater desalination has been an ongoing multi-Gov disaster.
I usually choose my white goods based on how few stars they have. Cant clean the clothes properly without enough water. And since I live on my own dam water I am not “using” it up. We cant “waste” water anyway. It comes down from the sky and goes in the dam and then out the dam and then down to wherever it was going anyway and if I put it through my washing machine or dishwasher on the way – so what? It does not cease to be water. Its like bear baiting – they didnt stop that because it was bad for the bears, but because people enjoyed it.
I can remember when Choice was a useful publication that compared products on the basis of what consumers really wanted, not on the basis of some ideological obsession with so-called waste.
The best solution would be for the Australian government to flush its “water efficiency labelling scheme” down the big white telephone and start building dams again so we can stop worrying about what should be a non-problem.
Choice was once a useful aid to assessing the merits of prospective purchases. Not any more, over the years it has become obsessed with green/left PC ideology.
These days on the rare occasion that I might refer to Choice it’s with old the BS filter set on high.
Regarding dam building, here in Victoria it’s more than a generation since any significant catchment dam has been built, in fact Labor governments have done all in their power to prevent any future government from being able to do so.
The flushing of megaliters of water into the oceans as “environmental flows” destroying the prosperity of many Australian farm regions is a national disgrace.
As an example of the different forms anti damism can take. Here is our local greenlabor gov spruiking the financing of a giant mural on the wall of Wellington Dam.
“Collie’s Wellington Dam mega-mural set to draw global attention”
www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2020/02/Collies-Wellington-Dam-mega-mural-set-to-draw-global-attention.aspx
As you know the Commonwealth paid for the dam in the dim distant past and I think fair to say the State has never bothered to get proper value from the facility.
All a bit rich for a government that’s doing all it can to see that the coal miners and power workers in Collie have their jobs destroyed?
By choice, I no longer subscribe to Choice (for reasons mentioned above).
Having grown up (?) in an area where water was very scarce AND very, very, very expensive, I I have always been conscious of fixing the drips.
That task is now very daunting with state governments and Canberra containing so many drips.
I am keen to see a scheme which cuts off the supply to the drips.
I see the ABC reports on a report from the Productivity Commission and that they have used the very misleading dam inflows graphic from Perth. Staggering.
Productivity Commission finds Australia’s water policy not up to challenge of climate change, population growth 11Feb21
A downloaded a draft of the report here and comments can be made until 24March
We do not need squadrons of highly paid bureaucrats to tell us no dams are being built as our population rises.
I saw this “reported” on Sky news last night but they did not mention the Dam name or that it was a Productivity Commission report. “Report declares $480 million Dungowan dam project ‘unviable'” 11Feb21
www.theland.com.au/story/7122220/damned-dungowan-dam-declared-waste-of-money/?cs=4963
I can add more later. Remember this was one of the dams the PM agreed to fund back in Oct 2019.
ScoMo $Bill on NSW dams 27Sep2020
www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=6535
In my previous house I had septic system were all the water went to keep the garden alive. I also had a large tank on the roof for extra watering and fill the pool up when needed. The present (down sized house) has water tanks to serve the washing machine and toilets. That water goes into the sewerage but at least I do not pay for it. The sewerage charge is based on 90% of the metered water so I do not pay as much because my metered water is reduced. Not happy with my front loading Samsung washing machine as it takes too long and does not indicate where it is up to and can not stop it in the cycle. some machines have gone over the top with energy and water saving which in fact makes things worse than older machines.
True Cementafriend, skimping on the amount of water and heating used in washing processes often results in poor outcomes. We have found our Bosch dishwasher’s “eco” settings tend to do a second rate cleaning job.
My experience with energy saving and water conserving appliances is they do not work well and break down regularly. SO what you save on energy and water you will spend on repairs, and running it for a second time to get the clothes dishes or what ever clean!