So, why do we need to save water in the Top End?
Good question! While it may rain a lot in the wet season, only a small percentage of this water actually falls in the Darwin River Dam and surrounding catchment area. Around two thirds of this water evaporates due to our climate, and we never know how much rain we are going to get from year to year. Our increasing population over the years has meant increases in our water use, and it might surprise you to know we currently use almost twice as much water as other cities with similar climates.
In Darwin we use more water than can be captured and supplied in the long term. While Darwin plans for the future, everyone needs to play their part to be water smart. Find out more by taking a journey through Darwin's water story.
Save water in your garden by checking your local weather.
Save water in your garden this dry season
Living Water Smart's Garden Tune Up provides a free garden irrigation audit at your home or business by one of our registered irrigation experts. The irrigator will reprogram your irrigation controller to provide your garden with the water it needs, when it needs it. It also includes up to $50 of on-the-spot irrigation repairs.
There are many different types of sprinklers and each one applies water at different rates, making it hard for you to work out how long to water your lawn and plants to reach the recommended 10 mm of water. A catch can test can help!
To make your existing irrigation system ‘smart’, the first step is to determine what type of irrigation system you currently have. Generally there are two types: Standard (central automated) [...]
If you’ve noticed pools of water in your garden or dry patches of lawn, you may have a problem with your irrigation system. Here’s what you need to check.
During the Dry Season your lawns, garden beds and native plants have to deal with six to seven months of no rain at all, so it is important to know how to keep them healthy without over watering. When [...]
A Garden Tune Up is a free service provided by Living Water Smart’s registered expert irrigators to help you save water in the garden.
Meet Peter from Residential Irrigation. Peter has lived in the Territory for over 43 years, with 10 years in the bush and the last 30 years in Virginia. “The Top End is just great! Laid back lifestyle [...]
Are water tanks the best way to save water in Darwin? Our research tells us that whilst water tanks are a great way to capture rain water for later use, installing a rainwater tank is generally not [...]
Meet Tony from Universal Plants NT. Meet Tony from Universal Plants NT. Tony’s an old hand at this (in fact he’s been in the horticulture industry for 44 years!) and has experience in all aspects of [...]
Meet Peter from Austec Irrigation. Moving here with his family in 1963, we think it’s safe to say he’s a true blue Territorian! Having been in the industry now for 30 years there isn’t much Peter hasn [...]
A smart irrigation controller automatically adjusts watering based on local weather conditions. For example when it rains the smart irrigation controller will reduce or turn off your irrigation to [...]
Many people struggle to know how much to water their garden. Do you water for 20 or 40 minutes? How many days per week? What if you have a mix of natives and exotics? It sure can be confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. There are some general rules of thumb to help you work it all out.
Living Water Smart's Garden Tune Up provides a free garden irrigation audit at your home or business by one of our registered irrigation experts. The irrigator will reprogram your irrigation controller to provide your garden with the water it needs, when it needs it. It also includes up to $50 of on-the-spot irrigation repairs.
An online tool that provide a fantastic resource of localised weather data, helping you to make smart decisions about efficient watering in the garden, based on the rainfall in your suburb.