The ‘end use’ of water is a breakdown of the total household water usage such as water used for toilets, showers, washing machines, taps, lawn watering, etc. Understanding end uses of water will enable water planners, water authorities and household owners determine where water is used/wasted, how much and how often. This paper describes the end uses of water from a number of single-family homes in Greater Melbourne, Australia. The study involves the analysis of water consumption data recorded at 5-s intervals from logged households collected by Yarra Valley Water in Melbourne in 2004. The study determines how much water is used for outdoor and indoor purposes in a single-family home in Melbourne and compares the water usage during winter and summer. Hourly patterns of major end uses of water are also developed. The aim of this study is to improve the understanding of the end uses of water and to assist where to focus water conservation efforts that would be most effective financially and environmentally, and be acceptable to everyone.

A preliminary analysis of the effectiveness of a rainwater tank rebate scheme for both the Victorian Government and individual householders who participated in the scheme was undertaken, together with a determination of the factors affecting the water savings achieved. Yarra Valley Water provided the data for 4,391 households who received a government rebate for installing a rainwater tank and for 4,400 households who did not participate in the scheme. The water savings from different tank sizes were calculated. A comparison of water consumption between households with rainwater tanks and those without was also undertaken to determine the benefit of rolling the rebate scheme to households who are currently not under the scheme. The analysis revealed that installation of rainwater tanks contributed to a reduction of 42.5% in average household water consumption. The results also show that, depending on the tank size and uses of rainwater, the payback period (PP) ranged from 12 to 47 years for householders and 1 to 12 years for the Victorian Government. All rainwater tank sizes except 2,000-4,999 L with connection to toilets and/or laundry have PPs of less than 20 years to householders. This is due to the high capital and operating costs even with higher rebates from the government

Green Infrastructure (GI) is gaining attention in urban flood management for its ability to reduce peak flow and volume while providing multiple urban and environmental benefits. Climate change and urbanization intensify GI development needs but also amplify design, management, and performance challenges for local governments and stakeholders. Understanding the complex challenges of implementing GI is essential for advancing sustainable urban water management in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 13 (Climate Action). Previous studies have often focused on specific components of GI systems, but this research provides the first comprehensive work covering it from pre-design to post-installation—of GI implementation in metropolitan Melbourne. Through a targeted survey of local councils and water consultancies, our study bridges the gap between theoretical design and practical application. By incorporating practitioners’ real-world experiences alongside technical modelling challenges, we reveal how factors like limited real-time data and regional parameterization can affect GI performance. Our approach uniquely examines interlinked obstacles, from financial constraints to maintenance protocols, giving decision-makers valuable insights to enhance GI project outcomes. This research addresses critical knowledge gaps, such as the need for community engagement and tailored technical expertise, providing actionable solutions for improving GI planning, implementation, and sustainability. Our findings offer a practical framework for future GI initiatives, helping practitioners pre-emptively tackle challenges, optimize resource use, and establish a resilient urban infrastructure that supports clean water access, sustainable urban growth, and climate adaptation.

Assessing the effectiveness of stormwater treating wetlands is limited due to the lack of resources, guidance, motivation and appropriate maintenance.

The occurrence of rainfall is significantly affected by climate change around the world. While in some places this is likely to result in increases in rainfall, both winter and summer rainfall in most parts of New South Wales (NSW), Australia are projected to decrease considerably due to climate change. This has the potential to impact on a range of hydraulic and hydrologic design considerations for water engineers, such as the design and construction of stormwater management systems. These systems are currently planned based on past extreme rain event data, and changes in extreme rainfall amounts due to climate change could lead to systems being seriously undersized (if extreme precipitation events become more common and/or higher in magnitude) or oversized (if extreme rainfall events become less frequent or decrease in magnitude). Both outcomes would have potentially serious consequences. Consequently, safe, efficient, and cost-effective urban drainage system design requires the consideration of impacts arising from climate change on the approximation of design rainfall. This study examines the impacts of climate change on the probability of occurrence of daily extreme rainfall in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The analysis was performed for 29 selected meteorological stations located across NSW. Future design rainfall in this research was determined from the projected rainfall for different time periods (2020 to 2039, 2040 to 2059, 2060 to 2079, and 2080 to 2099). The results of this study show that design rainfall for the standard return periods was, in most cases, lower than that derived employing the design rainfall obtained from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). While most of the analysed meteorological stations showed significantly different outcomes using the climate change scenario data, this varied considerably between stations and different time periods. This suggests that more work needs to be performed at the local scale to incorporate climate change predicted rainfall data into future stormwater system designs to ensure the best outcomes.