Anger at country water price hike
Posted on December 6, 2008, 8:08am and updated on December 9, 2008 at 8:44 am
Increases in water prices by almost 20pc across the state have been criticised by a South East civic leader who has claimed country residents should not have to pay to solve Adelaide’s water woes.
Treasurer Kevin Foley announced yesterday the average South Australian household water bill would increase by 90 cents a week in 2009-10.
He said the average 17.9pc increase from July 1, 2009, was needed for critical water security investments, including Adelaide’s accelerated desalination plant.
But Grant District Council Mayor Don Pegler said the desalination plant plans were “ridiculous”.
“The first thing they should be looking at is trapping water that already falls in Adelaide and reusing stormwater and other waste water,” he said.
“A lot of that work, and being more water smart, should be done before they start talking about desalination plants and I don’t see why people in the country should be paying for the reliability of water in the city.”
Mr Foley said building the plant was complex and expensive and further water price increases would be needed in future to fund the project as construction work commenced.
Water Security Minister Karlene Maywald said the new pricing system would encourage all users to be more efficient with water consumption.
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4 Responses to “Anger at country water price hike”
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The fact is water prices are too low at the moment, it is a precious resource that we see people wasting all the time… if it was more expensive people would appreciate it a lot more… and besides it is not a massive increase it is 90cents a week. About half the price of a can of coke these days.
You can usually spot the evil water wasters…they have green lawns.
My neighbour is guilty of the crime of water waster of the century.…constantly at it.…how does he get around such an evil deed?
He has not been dobbed in..yet?.…but who will do it? perhaps council could advertise in the employment section.
WANTED — Water waster watcher.
SKILLS — Empathy, sense of humour, attitude, death wish.
LIFE INSURANCE COVER — preferred.
Country people (in our area) do not benefit from paying the River Murray Levy, Now we are expected to compensate Adelaide users for a desalination plant. Why then don’t Adelaide residents compensate us for freight costs on food & goods and fuel delivered to our areas? If it’s good enough for them it should be good enough for us.
I tend to agree with Jason. 90 cents a week for a precious commodity isn’t worth whinging over. Sure it may not affect us locally, but we’re all in this world together.
As for the green grass, I know a couple who were victimised as water wasters because their grass was so green. Turns out they had fake turf that didn’t need watering, and were actually doing the environment a favour. So you know, don’t be so quick to judge.