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Dirtysanchez
08-05-2006, 10:40 AM
Hi everyone, right now I have steam coming out of my ears.. In Brissy we are on the verge of level 3 water restrictions, in less than 4 weeks we won't even be allowed to have hoses connected to outside taps.

On the W/E I was talking to a neighbour who looked after my place while I was OS with the family & the bloke next door to him was washing his car, and the driveway and it couldn't help but be noticed that he has the greenest lawn and gardens in the street.

Apparently he waters every night that council permits for several hours, and he won't wash the car on the lawn because the lawn is too fragile or some crap. He also washes both cars every week according to my neighbour.

Not wanting to sound like a whinger, but this just doesn't seem considerate to me when our dams are hitting 30% capacity or less.. It seems to me he isn't thinking of anyone but himself.. It's like he is obsessed with green lawns and clean cars!

The Mrs had to calm me down with a beer when I got home, I wanted to go up there and give him an earful about showing some consideration.. perhaps he doesn't watch the news or read papers ?

What do you all think ?

ahoj
08-05-2006, 11:54 AM
Yeahh and that is prcisely why the gymie DAM will not be build because no one in cities treasures water like county folks-- you are an exeption Sanches ;D

Buy water tanks and a solar pump----- pete will offer you 1/2 the cost ---Mongrel


Ahoj

flatstrap
08-05-2006, 11:58 AM
Hi Sanchez,
It's nearly always the same familiar pattern...a small minority spoiling it for the vast majority.
Keep your cool,
flatstrap

Dirtysanchez
08-05-2006, 12:05 PM
Boys I have a brown lawn, and a filthy car, but I'll keep my morals til the day I die. :o

We should all be doing our bit to preserve our resources.

Thanks for the replies

SeaHunt
08-05-2006, 12:46 PM
Is he breaking any of the water restrictions ?
If he is, report him.
If he is not, mind your own f'n business.

Jitlands
08-05-2006, 12:53 PM
You have been conned by the Beattie "do nothing" government

At 30% capacity Brisbane still has 700 days water at current usage

The current restrictions have made less than 1% impact on water usage clearly indicating commercial usage need to be addressed not private.

Premier Pete has spent 5 years luring business and residents to Qld and done zip about infastructure.

I feel your anger at your neighbour is miss directed,
Is it to much to expect council and goverment to be able to supply water?

Perhaps thats what Premier Pete and his mate Mackinroth were discussing at the Indy race in the USA last week, the trip funded of course by your taxes

ahoj
08-05-2006, 12:56 PM
Here here----- jitlands

Ahoj

MulletMan
08-05-2006, 12:59 PM
Yeh, think Seahunt was a bit rough in his comments but you do have to be careful before you sink the boot in!
I have a neighbour who has the greenest grass in the street and still stays under his daily average.
He has Bermuda grass and only a dork would drive a car onto that type of grass for washing the car.
Most of us - me partricularly - love to swamp the grass with water. In actual fact this fellow gives it a light spray for a very short period on each of his watering days.
He has all water efficient showers, a front loading washing machine and no water-wasting kids in the showers!
The Council check him regularly due the quality of grass but he is the sort of fellow who probably skimps in the house with water usage and reserves his allowance for his gardens and lawns.
Having said that, if he can be SEEN to be flouting the sprinkling laws, then give the council a ring and then be man enough to tell him you have done that!!
20 years ago I chose to live in the Redlands because even now, we have 100% capacity in the dam and have never had other than the normal odd/evens water days.
Now old Pete wants to take all that away from us and control everything.
And our daily usage is 700 litres a day! Brisbane is 1000 isn't it?

karana
08-05-2006, 01:06 PM
Of course if they built the dam they should have built 7 years ago the problem would not be as bad and if they did some forward infrastructure planning and actually built it instead of making broad announcements things would be much better.

Of course it was much better for us to have half a billion spent on redeveloping Lang Park than spending the money on building dams.

How big was the state surplus last year and they still don't build anything of importance in infrastructure.

SeaHunt
08-05-2006, 01:32 PM
Yeh, think Seahunt was a bit rough in his comments but you do have to be careful before you sink the boot in!


I just know how I would feel if some do-gooder came and got up me when I was not doing anything wrong.
This guy probably ran a sprinkler system before the bans now he has to be out there at night holding the hose, ansd soon he will have to do it all with a bucket, he is probably using a lot less water than he used to still maybe more than some , but he is paying for it.


BTW , I never water the lawn or the garden and its been more than a year since I washed the car.
So I don't use much water at all, but I will defend that guys right to have a green lawn and nice garden if he wants to put the work in without breaking the law.

Agree with Jitlands.
There is no water shortage, just a dam shortage. ::)

charleville
08-05-2006, 03:04 PM
I am with Seahunt on this one. If the guy is working within the rules, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

And yes - we do not have a water shortage, nor is it just a dam shortage in my view, we have a shortage in long and medium term infrastructure planning in Qld.

1. Why is it that the water shortage only came to our notice over the past few months?
2. Why is it that the electricity supply situation is so bad, that Energex started advertising before summer about not calling their call centre when the power fails over summer?
3. Why are Brisbane's roads so gummed up?
4. Why is it that I seem to have a lot more aeroplanes flying over my house at certain times than I used to have.

Something has happened in recent years that our politicians have dropped the ball on planning new infrastructure to meet our growing population and lifestyle changes.

Similarly, water is a renewable resource but energy is not. So why do we not have more restrictions or education about wasting energy, eg leaving lights on, using incandescent bulbs instead of the energy saving variety, more encouragement for new houses to have large enough hot-water systems to allow off-peak electricity usage for normal families, more encouragement to use LPG cars, more encouragement for building homes that suit our climate rather than promoting air-conditioners, etc.

Personally, I think that the water panic is a con, irrespective of what the dam levels are currently. ie what levels do the dams normally run at? - surely it is a long way less than 100%. It has to be much less otherwise the dams will fail their flood mitigation role, which is an important one for Brisbane, as any of us who remember the 1974 flood and others along the way can testify.

I cannot help feeling that the Brisbane City council has over-reacted to the water situation in respect to external water usage and can do so, of course, because they don't have to carry the blame for not building dams - they can play the victim game forever on this matter. It is a nonsense that they have turned off water features in public areas such as the Roma Street gardens. Such public areas serve us well in providing a sanctuary from the pressures in life and as common areas for the use of many people, they are likely to be efficient users of water per population. The city should be run by a poet not an engineer.

Nah - if the guy is not breaking the rules, he is not breaking the rules. He may well have a very stressful job and by looking after his garden he is easing down after the pressures of the day rather than spending all night in the pub and taking it out on his family when he gets home.

Take out your indignation on the boofheads who are treating infrastructure planning as an averages game and not a forward projected peak consumption game, or on the people who squander our non-renewable resources, or on the people who encourage consumption for the sake of it.

charleville
08-05-2006, 03:14 PM
Perhaps thats what Premier Pete and his mate Mackinroth were discussing at the Indy race in the USA last week, the trip funded of course by your taxes



Was Terry in the USA last week? #I thought that I saw him on the front deck of Mick Power's big BMD boat at the Manly jetty on Friday morning as I was coming in from a night's fishing. #Not sure how his trip to the USA would be funded by taxes if he has retired from parliament also. #I admit to be naive about such matters, of course. :)

shayned
08-05-2006, 03:14 PM
For me there is one bright side to all this, all of a sudden what was once considered laziness is now taken to be an enviromental consciousness, I may never have to wash my car again!!! All the dead plants in the garden are no longer my fault the previous owner should have planted drought tolerant plants in the first place. I reckon just there alone is a couple of extra hours for fishing each week, now if only I could afford the petrol for the trip.

Apologies for making light of a serious topic.

PinHead
08-05-2006, 03:15 PM
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/bccwr/lib85/final_reslevel2_20050923_opt.pdf

Have a read and see if he is breaching any restrictions...from what you have said he hasn't so good luck to him. As for tanks...I can remember when they were banned and you got fined for having them..mossie breeding receptacles. Maybe some people should not have voted in the Goss Govt and we would now have the Wolffdene damn.

Poseidon
08-05-2006, 05:09 PM
If he is working within the rules then good luck to him.

Charleville, you have summed up my thoughts exactly, and saved me a heap of typing, thank-you.

Regards Cameron.

ttone
08-05-2006, 06:15 PM
Hi Fisho's,
Just a quick question, how you boaties get on when you go to flush the outboard out, are you allowed to use a hose for this??????
ttone

rick_k
08-05-2006, 08:01 PM
it is easier and cheaper to waste our rates on ads on water restrictions, than to actually fix leaky pipes.

We have one at the end of our street that I reported to the BCC call centre and our local councillor in Sept last year, and it is still leaking. Wife followed up last month. Still leaking.

On top of that, they think that we think they are actually doing something about the problem with this bs window dressing.

Sigh............

charleville
08-05-2006, 08:17 PM
Hi Fisho's,
Just a quick question, how you boaties get on when you go to flush the outboard out, are you allowed to use a hose for this??????
ttone


Under the current Level 2 restrictions in Brisbane, the answer is "yes."

However, there is inconsistency across the nation when it comes to Level 3 water restrictions.

If and when level 3 restrictions are introduced in Brissy, the rule will be:-

Washing of vehicle/house/windows/boat #
(other than by a commercial service provider)
Washing with buckets filled directly from a tap is permitted #
at any time.

(refer http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/bccwr/lib85/20060223_reslevel3final.pdf )

However, in Sydney, which already has Level 3 restrictions the relevant rule is:-

The following are still permitted at any time: # # # Using a hose with a trigger nozzle or high pressure cleaning device to clean boat bilges and boat trailer brakes and wheels.
Using a hose to flush boat engines.

(refer http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SavingWater/WaterRestrictions/ )

Further to this, I note the following statement on the website of the Sydney Catchment Authority...


"A major announcement was made on Easter Saturday, regarding the successful modification of Warragamba Dam wall to allow access to the deep water in the dam. This, along with the work being undertaken at Nepean Dam, will provide about 6 months additional supply during drought and an extra 40 billion litres per year to the available supply."


(refer http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au/ )


I wonder if that likewise we have untapped capacity in our dams. #

I remain unconvinced about the so called water crisis in Brisbane. #Then again, I may just be a natural sceptic. #After all, I survived the millenium bug six years ago. # ;D ;D ;D

Feral
08-05-2006, 08:21 PM
Stop your whinging - he is following the rules. Get over it.

charleville
08-05-2006, 08:26 PM
We have one at the end of our street that I reported to the BCC call centre and our local councillor in Sept last year, and it is still leaking. #Wife followed up last month. #Still leaking.


Likewise, I was puzzled at the big media event within the past couple of weeks wherein the councils in SE Qld all agreed to reduce water pressure in their reticulation networks to reduce the water loss through leaks.

A good idea I think. So why did they all need a inter-council agreement, hosted by the premier with the obligatory media conference to put into effect what is a bleedingly obvious tactic to take? Why does each council need the permission of the others to do that? Where is the bloody leadership to be found on this topic? :-/

charleville
08-05-2006, 08:31 PM
Charleville, you have summed up my thoughts exactly, and saved me a heap of typing, thank-you.


Thanks - but I just realized that I had forgotten to add the Qld hospitals mess to my list of infrastructure planning disasters.

BTW, I am pretty well apolitical. In fact a very much swinging voter but I am shocked at the lack of infrastructure planning by thems wot's in charge and the lack of awareness of the situation and conscious attention by thems wot's wanna be in charge. >:( >:( >:( >:(

lippa
08-05-2006, 09:30 PM
my grass is green, my three cars are clean, and we still use less tha a quarter of our allowance (pine rivers shire).

cheers

lippa

Dirtysanchez
09-05-2006, 12:18 PM
Interesting array of input here, thanks guys
I just can't help but think we should be watching what we do and be conservative rather than shrug our shoulders and continue to hook into it if it is indeed scarce.

A lot of you seem to reckon this isn't the case.. I can't commment on that, but I do agree with the general concensus that the government has chosen to ignore a lot of infrastructure issues up here for quite some time, despite the incredible amount of people moving up this way from NSW and Vic.. as has been said, we still have the same electricity grid, water storage facilities and no more hospitals.. it is a crying shame

Footnote to this is I don't show any anomosity towards the guy, I sayd G'Day when he walks past etc, and didn't give him a blast, I just don't particularly agree with his habits, and that's OK, we are all allowed our opinions, just like this post !

PADDLES
09-05-2006, 01:27 PM
does anyone here use spear water (not bore water) to wash their boat? i've tasted our spear water and it tastes a bit minerally but certainly not salty. waddayareckon?

Blueby
09-05-2006, 02:39 PM
Yep Charlieville and Jitlands you are both spot on IMHO

The problem is this governmant has fiddled while the infrastructure shortage has burned and we are now nearing crisis point in water, health, electricity, roads, rail, ports etc. You name it its been run into the ground with no decent forward planning.

finding_time
09-05-2006, 03:09 PM
I'm with Jitlands and Karana!!

Beatties all talk an little action and if Goss had not made that pollitical stand and cancelled the Wolfdene dam we wouldn't have had a problem.

Did you notice the the gympie dam covers an area that the labour party doesn't hold a seat?

And that the proposed wolfdene dam would have!!!

Ian

timddo
09-05-2006, 10:04 PM
Just wait until level three restriction hits, no more cleaning of our boats, no flushing the motor with hoses directly,

You gotta use a bucket to wash your boat.

there is no water crisis, all the government needs to do is invest in better was of finding water, desalination from the sea and pump it back to the dams,
a Brisbane catchement area ( were it rains and head straight into moreton bay)

just a suggestion.s

sams_fish
10-05-2006, 06:41 PM
interesting topic
i've spent most of my life dependent on rainwater or bore water, apart from 6 years living in a city & various overseas trips. necessity is the mother of invention, conservation is the key to water, you learn to use less water, in more econonical ways, when it ain't coming from a guarenteed supply. sometimes my country is green sometimes it brown, unlucky. 2 adults , 3 kids in this house, if water is low , all share the same bath water. last one in , dirtiest one out, but that is the way it is. they get first in next time but ;D. i have a boat & flush the motor with bore water, which ain't real good coz of the iron & sulfur content, such is life, i attached 4 sacrificial anodes to the motor. hasn't failed yet
try living on water you can only gather yourself, it ain't easy, but it's worth it when ya get the hang of it. i grew up in western qld that may bias my opinion. i live on the coast now, but have no town water.
regards
sams_fish