South East Queenslanders may have openly embraced egg-timer showers, but it's a different story altogether when it comes to Mackay's coal miners.
That was one of the challenges facing Mackay Regional Council, which picked up a swag of water infrastructure and management awards at IPWEA Qld's 2015 Excellence Awards Gala Dinner in Mackay.
The council won four awards overall.
Its main award was for excellence in innovation in water, waste water, sewerage and drought management for the transformation of its water business. In a nutshell, the new model puts ratepayers front and centre.
Steven Fernando, the Business Services Manager of the council's Engineering and Commercial Infrastructure department, says their new strategy will result in a $200 million reduction in their 10 year capital works program.
Per customer, savings equate to $2100 for water and $3100 for sewerage over the next ten years.
Three years ago Mackay had one of the highest growth rates in the country, which contributed to making their water rates the most expensive in Queensland, Fernando says.
“We were coming very close to capacity at our main water treatment plant,” he says.
Building a new plant by 2020 would have cost the council $100 million. Instead, they embarked on a range of initiatives to make best use of their current assets.
One major strategy was cutting per capita water consumption.
South East Queensland used a similar tactic in 2007-08 when they drastically cut per capita water usage to 129L per day - with the assistance of egg-timers in showers.
But such large consumption cuts are harder to accomplish in Mackay.
“People up here wouldn't have two minute showers. You have people who have been working in coal mines,” Fernando says
“But we found that if we got our per capita consumption down 10%, we could stretch the use of our main plant.
“Now we are looking at keeping that plant until 2030, instead of 2020.”
The council also won the award for management of water projects $5 million to $10 million for commissioning their new Marian Water Treatment Plant, while their new Transport and Drainage Advisory Board was also acknowledged with a high commendation.
And with El Nino officially returning, and likely less rainfall, the new water system initiatives are timely.
“At the moment, drought's not a problem, but it's not looking great,” Fernando says.
“So these demand management programs will become very useful.”