Sydney, other Australian cities could run dry by 2006 - USATODAY.com -

You see The Water issue is concerning almost every countries on earth, these is really a major concern for Australia......

Sydney, other Australian cities could run dry by 2006
By Janaki Kremmer, The Christian Science Monitor
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — In the town of Goulburn, three hours south of Sydney, nightly baths are a thing of the past. Dishes are allowed to pile up. Hoses no longer douse dirty cars and thirsty plants.

The 22,000 people in town haven't suddenly grown slovenly. A change in habits is being forced by a dry spell stretching back to the 1970s that is squeezing much of Australia.

To conserve, dishwashing is done in batches, plants are watered with runoff from showers, and cars are cleaned with gray water from washing machines.

Barring monsoon-like rains, such adjustments will need to happen on a massive scale if Australia's biggest cities — including Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and Adelaide — hope to continue having drinking water in just two years' time, experts say. (Related: Australia weather and climate)

"Too long we have been living like we might live in Europe and not in accordance with dry climate conditions," says Leigh Martin of the Total Environment Center in Sydney. "Most people who balk at reusing sewage water should be educated about recycling."

Australia is not only the driest inhabited continent on earth, but also the greatest consumer of water per capita, experts say.

Australians use more than 260,000 gallons of fresh water per person per year, or 24,000 gigaliters — that's enough to fill Sydney harbor, 48 times over. About 70% goes to agricultural irrigation, 9% to other rural uses, 9% to industry, and 12% to domestic use.
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USATODAY.com - Sydney, other Australian cities could run dry by 2006