Most of us in Australia have been fortunate enough to not have to worry about water adequacy or reliability. But what if all that is about to change as experts predict that Australia is on the brink of a water crisis?

Escalating pressures on our water resources continue to be fuelled by climate change, pollution, and rapid population growth. Globally, water use, storage and distribution are responsible for around 10% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Consequently, we’re seeing declines not only in water availability but also quality.

How can we do more with less? By using the already available technologies that enable increased carbon neutrality and decreased water waste.

What’s driving changes in water quality and availability

The United Nations predicts that up to 5.7 billion people globally will experience water scarcity at least one month per year by 2050.

What’s impacting the safety and security of our precious water resources in Australia? Bushfires, drought, floods, climate change, increased urban development, and rapid population growth.

In the past 20 years Australia has experienced the two worst droughts in recorded history, requiring us to build rainfall-independent water security options like recycling and desalination. These are very energy-intensive systems.

According to the CSIROS’s July 2022 report “Our Future World: seven global megatrends”, rainfall levels in Australia vary by nature, but there’s been a noticeable shift towards lower rainfall in the southwest and above-average rainfall in the north.

They note, “these rainfall patterns are expected to lead to an increase in flash flooding in northern Australia and drought conditions in southern and eastern Australia.”

The report advises that a way to overcome water scarcity whilst proceeding with sustainable development is to look at advances in water management.

State of the industry in Australia

In Australia, the water industry has an estimated annual revenue of $22.68 billion, adding $11.38 billion to the Australian economy in 2019-20.

But these water services also produce around 5-8% of global methane emissions. In Victoria alone, the water sector emits more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector.

According to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Victoria’s 18 water corporations released almost one million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases in the 2019/20 financial year. That’s more than Victoria’s public hospitals, schools, or train network or equivalent to 215,469 gasoline powered passenger vehicles driven for one year.

Households in urban areas are the industry’s largest users of water in Australia as daily requirements for the resource increase due to population growth and as a result of more people working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic and some reductions in economic activity.