A shocking waste

It's been an exceptionally dry couple of years - impacting heavily on our rural community and city folk who have to adhere to strict water restrictions and see their gardens die.

And it's the same story across most of Australia which, according to the World Meteorological Assocation, has recorded one of its driest and hottest years on record.

So, with the growing concerns over global warming, decreasing rainfall and increasing water restrictions, why aren't we spending more time and money on capturing this valuable resource?

South Australia's Government boasts that it recycles 30 percent of Adelaide's wastewater, so, 70 percent of it is wasted.

The Opposition claims that we should be doing more.

But this comes from a Liberal Government which, 10 years ago spent millions of tax payers dollars building a long pipeline out into Gulf St Vincent to dispose of stormwater, instead of capturing and recycling it.

We have some remarkable scientists who have come up with many ways to capture what falls from the heavens - everything from porous pavers with underground aquifers, to roof-top capturing systems.

So why are we still allowing this increasingly rare and precious resource to simply flow out to sea?

The Salisbury Council here in Adelaide has built a series of wetlands that captures the stormwater and it's cleansed using natural reeds - the resulting water is good enough for industry, irrigation and for use in bathrooms.

Why aren't more councils, indeed governments taking a leaf out of Salisbury Councils book and investing in ways of harvesting stormwater?

I find it incredibly frustrating that on a rare rainy day in Adelaide, the stormwater pipes are overflowing - pouring and pumping that water out to sea.

Not only is it a shocking waste - the water often contains runoff from roads - heavy metals and pollution which end up killing seagrasses along the coast and impacting on our marine life.

So, if we can harvest this water, not only would it be an environmentally responsible thing to do, we will help ensure that the driest state on the driest continent on earth has some hope of surviving through future climate change.