28 October 2024
SAVING WATER, SAVING $$$
Speaking at the Naragebup (Rockingham Regional Environment Centre) Open Day on Saturday, Hon. Dr Brian Walker MLC announced an exciting new environmental proposal, committing the Legalise Cannabis Party to the establishment of a $20m Water Saving Fund to provide grants to home builders who install dry toilets and/or grey water management systems into new residential builds across Western Australia.
“Water is one of the most valuable and scarce resources in WA,” Dr Walker explained, “yet every day we flush thousands of litres of perfectly good drinking water down our toilets.”
“To counter that, LCWA’s Water Saving Fund will provide grants to professional builders and selfbuilders alike, to offset the costs associated with the installation of a dry toilet (up to $1000), and/or a grey water management system (up to $2000), to a maximum grant of $4000 per build.”
The average Australian household flushes anywhere between 30,000 litres and 100,000 litres of water down the drain every year.
A dry toilet can save between 6 and 9 litres per flush, or as much as 45 litres per day. That adds up to 15,000 litres per year (roughly 100 full bath tubs!).
Meanwhile, grey water management systems can reduce overall water usage by 30%, and when combined with a plumbed rainwater system, the savings can be as high as 50%.
“The cost of living crisis is putting pressure on households across the state,” Dr Walker observed. “This relatively small change, encouraging builders to innovate, will not only save water, but has the potential to save ordinary Western Australians money each and every quarter.”
The announcement comes as part of the Legalise Cannabis WA Party’s suite of election commitments, based on the estimated $1.25 Billion worth of additional revenue available to the government through legalisation and regulation of cannabis for adult use.
“We see the potential that hemp and cannabis have to revitalise and diversify our economy, and that is something we want each and every citizen of WA, whether they partake or not, to benefit from,” Dr Walker explained.
ENDS