Hunter businesses helping conservation effort

Water is crucial to enable community life and economic activity. With the next phase of water restrictions commencing on January 20, I would like to urge small businesses to do their bit in saving this most valuable and precious resource. With the region experiencing severe drought conditions, Hunter Water has been supporting businesses to ensure they are as water efficient and sustainable as possible, while maintaining continuity of their operations.

The Lower Hunter’s dams are declining at a rapid rate of about one per cent each week due to a lack of decent rainfall and high evaporation caused by the very warm, dry and windy conditions. We need to do everything we can to save our precious resource and preserve the region’s supplies if this drought continues.

While our focus has been on working with our large business customers, we acknowledge that many small businesses have been playing their part to save water. As we head into the next stage of restrictions, we are now asking small businesses to identify more ways they can be efficient. Businesses who save water may also find they save money on usage charges and energy costs as well, helping drive more sustainable operations. By developing a plan now, they’ll be well prepared if the dry conditions continue, which could trigger Level 3 restrictions by mid-year.