Australian Bureau of Statistics 4610.0 - Water Account for
Australia, 1993-94 to 1996-97 Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30
AM (CANBERRA TIME) 03/05/2000 |Page tools: Print Page Print All
RSS Search this Product| Australians Use More Than 1 Million
Litres of Fresh Water Per Person Each Year Despite living on the
driest continent on earth, Australians used more than 1 million
litres of fresh water per person during 1996-97 according to a
report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
today. Of the 22,186 Gigalitres (GL) consumed in 1996-97 in
Australia, agriculture accounted for 15,502 GL (70%),
households; 1, 829 GL (8 percent), water supply, sewerage and
drainage services; 1,706 GL (8 percent), electricity and gas;
1,308 GL (6 percent), manufacturing; 728 GL (3 percent) and
mining; 570 GL (3 percent). (One Gigalitre is 1 billion litres.)
Agriculture consumed the vast majority of the water, but the
economic return per unit of water used was relatively low. The
agricultural sector earned $588 of in