The price of water for Canberra households was the third most expensive in the country in 2011-12, as overall water consumption in the territory shot up 17 per cent, according to a new report on water use.
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The latest information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that households in the ACT paid an average of $2.86 per kilo litre (kL) of water in 2011-12, an increase of more than 13 per cent from 2010-11, and the third highest price in the country behind South Australia ($3.96/kL) and Queensland ($2.95).
The national average price of household water rose 11 per cent over the same period, from $2.44/kL to $2.72.
And after three years of declining water usage, the ACT's overall consumption hit 50 gigalitres over the same period of time, up from a low of 43 GL in 2010-11.
But household water consumption was 9 per cent below the national average in the territory, at 69 kL per person.
The price rise and jump in water usage led to a corresponding increase in revenue earned by the territory’s water suppliers, from $228 million in 2010-11 to $255 million in 2011-12.
And, thanks largely to the lack of water-thirsty agriculture and industry, overall water usage in the ACT was just 133 kL per capita, well below the national average of 733 kL.
Mark Lound from the ABS said agriculture accounted for the bulk of water used around the country in 2011-12, but households still received much higher bills.
"Agriculture was the largest water consumer, at 9,418 gigalitres - that's about twenty times the volume of Sydney Harbour - or nearly 60 per cent of Australia's total water consumption in 2011–12,” he said.
"While there are differences in water quality, households were still paying more than 30 times as much for water than agricultural users, who were paying around nine cents per thousand litres.
"In total, households spent over $4.3 billion on water and industry spent around $2.7 billion."
