Extreme ways Stanthorpe residents can save water

This drought-hit Queensland town is limiting residents to 100 litres per person per day — but this former plumber reckons they can do much better.

MAX Hunter is the “drought master’’ of Stanthorpe, whittling away at his water consumption to survive, in one record breaking streak, on 42 litres a day.

“I reckon we could exist on a bit less,’’ says the retired plumber of his and wife’s Jill’s consumption.

“It’s just a matter of using a bit of sense and getting yourself organised.’’

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Stanthorpe residents says few people outside the community understand exactly what happens when a town begins to run dry.

The council offers shower facilities in the town, washing water is saved for plants, toilets go unflushed for “number ones’’ and if you are outside town and need to top up the tank, it's a truck load of water costing anywhere between $250 and $500.

As a former master plumber, Max Hunter is well equipped to monitor his water usage. Picture: Lachie Millard

Mayor Tracy Dobie says the restrictions of 100 litres per person per day are being actively policed by a council which will soon be trucking in water to keep the town’s taps running.

“If you are not keeping to 100 litres per day per person you might get a knock on the door to ask why,’ she says.

The tough-as-teak Max, 70, a retired master plumber and plumbing inspector who oversaw the introduction of the first water meters to Queensland in the 1980s, doesn’t expect a knock on the door any time soon.

Energetic, vigorous, still knocking heads together to get his community moving in his role as president of the Apple and Grape Harvest Festival, Max draws on half a century of experience in plumbing to carefully monitor his water use, and recommends everyone in Queenslanders follow his example.

He rapidly identifies any leakage in pipes and using only top line parts in repairs, insisting the responsible home repairman does not pay less than $2.50 for washer.

“You find the problem quickly and you fix it and you use good-quality parts,’’ he says.

Max Hunter has shared his water-saving tips. Picture: Lachie Millard

With a 3000-litre tank in the back yard of his well-appointed Stanthorpe home, he laments the short sightedness of a building industry which once mandated the inclusion of a water tank on every home.

“That is one rule I would bring back immediately.’’

He and Jill wash once a week, and use the water from the first load of whites to wash the second load of more soiled washing, then put what water remains on the garden.

He recommends a regular reading of the water meter, the installation of water-saving shower heads, flow restrictors on taps (older houses often don’t have them), and capturing the first few seconds of flow when you turn on the hot water tap.

“Use that water out of the hot water tap — that often just goes into the sink when you turn on the hot water — to clean your teeth,” he says.

He also recommends doing the “three-step shower’’ — a quick soak before turning off the tab to soap up followed by an ever quicker rinse off.

“Sometimes I just don’t understand how people could be using 115 litres a day.”