Adelaideans increase water usage during COVID-19 lockdown with consumption up 30pc Posted 3 d days ago Tue Tuesday 24 Nov November 2020 at 2:55am updated 3 d days ago Tue Tuesday 24 Nov November 2020 at 3:41am South Australians used nearly a billion litres of water on the first full day of lockdown. Adelaideans in lockdown turned their attention to drenching their gardens and staying cool and consumed about 630 million discover here litres daily, according to SA Water. Water use patterns indicate that people rose from bed later in the morning SA Water Joshua Zugajev says after the lockdown ended the water consumption dropped down to a "typical" 470 million litres Adelaide water reservoirs are at 70 per cent of capacity with a wetter than average summer expected The two-and-a-half-day hard lockdown was imposed last week due to a COVID-19 cluster in the city's northern suburbs, which was compounded when a pizza shop worker lied to contact tracers and sparked fears of a major outbreak . Water demand statewide was just shy of a billion litres on Thursday when temperatures on the first day of lockdown passed 35 degrees Celsius at locations across South Australia. Joshua Zugajev from SA Water said the increased demand represented about a 30 per cent increase on the previous week's daily average. "There's a very direct correlation between our increasing temperatures and the amount of water we use — in our garden and in appliances like evaporative air conditioners," he said. "Our morning water consumption pattern also shifted during the few days of lockdown, indicating that many people enjoyed a sleep-in and avoided the usual morning rush of showering and preparing breakfast." Mr Zugajev said the same pattern was reflected in sewerage flows, which peaked at the Christies Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant two hours later than usual and increased by nearly 30 per cent daily. He added that after the hard lockdown ended prematurely on Friday afternoon , Adelaide's water consumption dropped down to a "typical" 470 million litres on Saturday as people were allowed to leave the house to exercise. Mount Bold Reservoir in the Adelaide Hills is filled to a healthy 70 per cent. The city's biggest reservoir, Mount Bold, is holding 32.5 gigalitres of its 46.4GL capacity, compared to 26.1GL at the same time last year.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-24/adelaideans-turn-on-the-waterworks-during-covid-19-lockdown/12914534