4610.0 - Water Account, Australia, 2009-10 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/11/2011   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All  
Contents >> Water supply sewerage and drainage >> Water supply industry and Origin of distributed water

WATER SUPPLY INDUSTRY
 
In 2009–10, water providers in Australia supplied 9,405 GL of distributed water, a 3% decrease from 2008–09. Of this, 9,117 GL (97%) was supplied by the Water supply industry. Collectively, other industries such as Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity and gas supply supplied 288 GL (or 3%) of all distributed water in 2009–10.
 

WATER SUPPLY, by type of water— 2009–10

  NSW  
  Vic.  
  Qld  
  SA  
  WA  
  Tas.  
  NT  
  ACT  
  Aust.  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  

Self-extracted(a)
12 617 577
5 685 832
4 404 492
1 069 362
3 510 442
36 559 747
179 754
49 102
64 076 308
Distributed
3 446 431
2 387 223
2 071 235
379 676
714 855
295 526
62 579
47 817
9 405 342
Reuse
126 701
97 748
61 273
32 042
17 488
6 483
1 233
31 019
373 987

(a) Total water self-extracted by all industries.  

 

DISTRIBUTED WATER SUPPLY, by industry— 2009–10

  NSW  
  Vic.  
  Qld  
  SA  
  WA  
  Tas.  
  NT  
  ACT  
  Aust.  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  

Water supply industry(a)
3 391 427
2 384 859
1 990 663
378 738
704 897
160 173
58 870
47 817
9 117 444
Other industries(b)
55 004
2 364
80 572
938
9 958
135 353
3 709
                -   
287 898
Total
3 446 431
2 387 223
2 071 235
379 676
714 855
295 526
62 579
47 817
9 405 342

(a) Includes sewerage and drainage services.  
(b) Other industries include Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity and gas supply industries.

 
Of the total volume of water extracted from the environment in Australia in 2009–10, only 15% was distributed to users for consumptive purposes. The remainder was mostly in-stream use for hydro-electricity generation. The proportion of distributed water varied between States and Territories, from less than 1% in Tasmania (where a very high proportion of water extracted is for hydro-electricity) to 97% in the Australian Capital Territory.
 
In 2009–10, 3,646 GL, or 39% of the distributed water in Australia, was supplied to the Agriculture industry and over a quarter (2,445 GL or 26%) was consumed by the Water supply industry as part of their operations. Households used 18% (1,667 GL) of the total water distributed while other industries (i.e. Mining, Manufacturing, etc.) used 8%.


DISTRIBUTED WATER USE, Australia2009–10




USE OF DISTRIBUTED WATER(a), by industry— 2009–10

  NSW  
  Vic.  
  Qld  
  SA  
  WA  
  Tas.  
  NT  
  ACT  
  Aust.  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  

Agriculture  
1213 159
1 161 164
1 002 336
135 745
112 237
21 286
497
91
3 646 514
Forestry and fishing(b)
523
828
2 089
285
72 406
491
9
-
76 631
Mining
9 967
1 647
38 356
746
17 438
14
20
4
69 530
Manufacturing
74 019
89 474
125 246
20 521
12 500
8 969
525
317
331 571
Electricity and gas supply(c)(d)
99 412
64 616
78 518
1 156
1 931
133 970
                -   
                -   
379 604
Water supply
1 255 084
580 834
306 016
49 250
169 095
64 387
10 493
10 023
2 445 182
Other industries (e)
269 613
165 777
187 256
53 203
75 742
7 611
20 160
9 773
789 136
Household
524 655
322 883
330 078
118 770
253 507
58 799
30 875
27 609
1 667 175
Total
3 446 431
2 387 223
2 071 235
379 676
714 855
295 526
62 579
47 817
9 405 342

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Includes distributed water supplied by major, non-major urban, minor urban, irrigation and other water providers.  
(b) Includes services to agriculture; hunting & trapping.
(c) Includes sewerage and drainage services.  
(d) Includes water losses and water supplied to the environment.  
(e) Includes mainly services (e.g. Agriculture, forestry and fishing support services, Waste collection, treatment and disposal services) and administrative industries.   



ORIGIN OF DISTRIBUTED WATER
 
The origin of distributed water supplied by the Water supply industry is presented in the table below. Surface water (e.g. river systems, dams) constitutes the majority of all water extracted from the environment by the Water supply industry. This amounted to 8,727 GL (96%) in 2009–10 with groundwater accounting for 313 GL and desalination making up the remainder (77 GL).
 
More than half (55% or 173 GL) of groundwater consumption occurred in Western Australia followed by New South Wales (17% or 52 GL). In the Northern Territory, groundwater consumption was about 39% of the total water consumed.
 

ORIGIN OF DISTRIBUTED WATER(a)— 2009–10

  NSW  
  Vic.  
  Qld  
  SA  
  WA  
  Tas.  
  NT  
  ACT   
  Aust.  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  
  ML  

Surface water
3 339 430
2 352 065
1 950 031
363 122
498 491
159 958
35 878
47 817
8 726 840
Groundwater
51 997
32 794
16 398
15 545
173 366
215
22 992
              -   
313 307
Desalinated water(b)
            19 952
              -   
24 234
71
33 040
              -   
              -   
              -   
77 297
Total
3 391 427
2 384 859
1 990 663
378 738
704 897
160 173
58 870
47 817
9 117 444

(a) Water supply, sewerage and drainage industry only, excludes water provided by other industries.
(b) Includes sea water only.  

 
The percentage of distributed water obtained via desalination is relatively low in Australia (less than one percent). About 43% of the total desalinated water in Australia was produced in Western Australia (33 GL), with smaller volumes produced in Queensland (24 GL), New South Wales (20 GL) and South Australia (71 ML).
 
A new desalination plant in New South Wales became operational in January 2010 but the data for this plant were not included in the 2009–10 Water Account Australia estimates - the data from this plant will be included in the 2010–11 Water Account Australia.




Previous PageNext Page