You may be aware that Australia is the driest continent on earth with the lowest rainfall. All major cities are experiencing water shortage and they have taken different water restriction measures to change the water use pattern of households. Two such measures may be very useful for Bangladesh.

I would like to elaborate those two measures.

1. Rainwater tank: Sydney water (equivalent to Dhaka Wasa) has made it compulsory for all new households to install a 5000 litre capacity rainwater tank in every house.

They will use this water for flashing toilet, gardening plus cleaning driveway etc. In doing so pressure on consumption of main water supply will reduce by 30%, though cost of construction will increase by 5%.

The storage facility of rainwater will also help reduce flooding of city roads due to heavy rainfall.

2. Increase tariff on scale of consumption: Wasa should consider tariff on an incremental scale based on consumption.

For more information you can visit the Sydney water website.