Canberra
19.4 Delivery to urban water system users

The volume reported in the water accounting statements (39,117 ML) represents the total volume of water delivered to urban water system users within the Canberra region during the 2011–12 year.

This volume is comprised of two components:

• water supply to users from the urban water supply system (38,852 ML)
• water supply to users from the recycled water system (265 ML).

Canberra's urban water system comprises three sub-components: 

• Urban water supply system
• Wastewater system
• Recycled water system.

Almost 99% of the water delivered to urban water users during the 2011–12 year came from the urban water supply system (38,852 ML).

During the 2011–12 year, approximately 93% of the urban water supply system outflow was water supply to urban users (38,852 ML). The remaining urban water was lost through leakage to groundwater (19.3) and operational losses (19.20).

The following figure shows all the inflows and outflows associated with the urban water supply system. For more detail on a particular flow associated with the urban water supply system, refer to the line item notes.

Schematic diagram of water inflows and outflows during the 2011–12 year for Canberra's urban water supply system. Line item numbers are provided in brackets.

Less than 1% of water delivered to urban water users came from the recycled water system (265 ML).

During the 2011-12 year, approximately 6% of the recycled water produced was delivered to urban users, primarily for industrial use and local irrigation. Approximately 94% of the recycled water was used on-site at wastewater treatment plants throughout the region.  The following figure shows all the inflows and outflows associated with the recycled water system.

For more detail on a particular flow associated with the recycled water system, refer to the line item notes. Note that volumes annotated with an * indicate flows between sub-components and are not reported in the account. As such, these flows do not have an associated line item number.

Schematic diagram of water inflows and outflows during the 2011–12 year for Canberra's recycled water system. Line item numbers are provided in brackets.

This line item is made up of the potable, non-potable and recycled water provided for residential, commercial, industrial and municipal uses, and individual agricultural users. Volumes were calculated for each water quality and each user category for both ACTEW Water and Queanbeyan City Council (QCC). The information is given in the following table.

Break down of urban water class and usage in the Canberra region

Organisation	Type of water based on water quality	Water usage	Volume (ML)
ACTEW Water	Potable	Residential	26,326
		Commercial, industrial, municipal	9,120
		Other including agriculture
		Environment
	Recycled	Residential
		Commercial, industrial, municipal	265
	Sub-total for ACTEW Water		35,711
QCC	Potable	Residential	2,786
		Commercial, industrial, municipal	539
		Other including agriculture	81
		Environment
	Recycled	Residential
		Commercial, industrial, municipal
		Other including agriculture
		Environment
	Sub-total for QCC		3,406
Total			39,117

Billing data.

QCC.

Data with a residential charge code were extracted from the billed metered consumption for 2011–12. The value is derived from measured data, with some post processing of the data. There is potential for errors in the data; e.g. where an incorrect charge code has been applied to some meters.

The uncertainty is estimated to be of the order of +/– 10%.

The uncertainty estimate was not quantified.

Billing data.

ACTEW Water.

Data with a residential charge code were extracted from the billed metered consumption for 2011–12. The value is derived from measured data, with some post processing of the data. There is potential for errors in the data; for example, where an incorrect charge code has been applied to some meters.

Nil.

The uncertainty is estimated to be of the order of +/– 10%.