WA’s Water Corporation says Perth households have used eight billion litres more water than the target for this time of year.

At the same time, the number of fines issued for people using sprinklers outside allocated days has doubled compared to this time last year.

The state-owned utility says Perth’s household water use has declined steadily over the past decade, but there was an unprecedented spike in consumption from July to December.

The Water Corporation believes the dry winter, warm spring, and record low run-off contributed to the unusual consumption, with spokesperson Clare Lugar saying the vital resource was now under immense pressure.

“Our water use is about eight billion litres above target for this time of year,” she said.

“To put that in perspective, a billion litres is about one Domain Stadium filled to its goal posts.”

“We literally went from house to house issuing fines, and that is something that inspector tells me he has not seen, and he was been in that job for several years.

“So we are encouraging people to stick to their two rostered days and to limit their sprinkler time to 10 minutes.”

Illegal garden watering carries a fine of $100.