MEDIA RELEASE
28 August, 2012	Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	128/2012

The number of Victorian households with rainwater tanks increased to 707,000 in 2011 from 600,000 in 2009, according to a report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

One in three Victorian households has a rainwater tank and around half of all households are using either greywater, recycled water or both.

There were 120,000 households with solar hot water systems in 2011. Solar hot water systems are installed in 1 in 18 households while 1 in 19 homes have solar photo voltaic panels for generating electricity.

One third of all households have front loading washing machines (34%). The proportion of front loading washing machines in 2009 was 28%.

Some household whitegoods have become more prevalent with 58% of Victorian households owning a dishwasher, up from 53% in 2009. Ownership of other items like clothes dryers (55%) remains steady.

The survey also found;

• Households in regional Victoria were more likely to use solar hot water systems and solar panels as a source of energy compared to households in Melbourne.
• One third of all households had a separate freezer.
• Melbourne had a larger proportion of households using mains gas as a source of energy (93%) compared to Balance of Victoria (56%)

Further details are located in Household Water and Energy Use (cat. no. 4602.2.00), available for free download from www.abs.gov.au.


Media note: Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.