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, Australia— 2009–10
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.