3.4 billion litres of water have been saved during the 2009/10 financial year by some of Western Australia's leading businesses and Government agencies.

 

The savings have been made through the State Government Water Efficiency Management Plan (WEMP) program that all organisations using over 20 million litres of water a year were required to join.

 

Under the program, organisations map their water use to gain a greater understanding of overall water management, highlighting inefficiencies in current processes and helps prepare an action plan to identify potential water savings.

 

366 businesses were involved in the program with 33 of them being Government agencies.

 

Another 33 organisations became exempt from the program as they had reduced their water use so significantly that they no longer fell into the high water use category.

 

The savings were made through a range of improvements from high-level process enhancements, improvements in cooling tower efficiencies and the introduction of recycling options, through to more everyday options such as toilet and showerhead replacements and the introduction of waterwise gardens, efficient irrigation systems and rainwater tanks.

 

The WEMP program was introduced in July 2007 by the State Government and is mandatory for all organisations in Western Australia that use over 20 million litres of water per annum.