Car-washing banned with worse to come

PEOPLE in Melbourne will be banned from washing cars, filling new pools and using sprinklers from New Year's Day under stage-three water restrictions.

PEOPLE in Melbourne will be banned from washing cars, filling new pools and using sprinklers from New Year's Day under stage-three water restrictions.

The bans come as rainfall over water catchments dips to 40 per cent below levels in 1982, the previous recorded low.

Rainfall into Melbourne's reservoirs has totalled 5.2mm this month -- just 6 per cent of the usual monthly average of between 84 and 89mm.

Announcing the new restrictions yesterday, Water Minister John Thwaites warned that if autumn rains did not come, householders could be banned from using any water at all outside the home under stage-four restrictions.

Under the stage-three plan, residents will be able to water gardens only twice a week, and lawns not at all. Even-numbered households can water on Saturdays and Tuesdays between 6am and 8am or 8pm and 10pm, while odd-numbered households can water on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Sprinkler and spray systems will be banned, and automatic drip systems will be restricted to twice a week between midnight and 4am.

Drivers will not be allowed to wash their cars at home, and commercial car washes will come under scrutiny for their water efficiency.

New pools and spas cannot be filled, and existing pools and spas can only be topped up with a bucket.

Mr Thwaites said although the 36.9 per cent trigger point for stage-three restrictions had not yet been reached -- water storages for Melbourne are currently 40 per cent full -- the storage levels were likely to fall below that trigger level next month.

"The situation continues to be extremely serious," Mr Thwaites said. "We've had an extraordinarily dry December, extreme dry conditions right throughout winter and spring.

"If we don't get any rain then there is a real risk that we can go on to stage four."

South West Water managing director Dennis Cavagna said though the restrictions only applied to outdoor-water use, householders must be vigilant inside the home. "We're encouraging people to have four-minute showers. In other words, for your teenagers at home, a one-song shower," he said.

Carwash businesses, which experienced a boom when the first water restrictions came into force, are expected to flourish with the total ban on car washing at home.

At Envirowash car cafe in Melbourne's Collingwood, manager Bradley Williams said business had more than doubled with the advent of water restrictions, and he expected sales to go through the roof next year.

Deputy Opposition Leader Louise Asher said water was the "great failure" of the Labor Government. She accused the Bracks Government of a cover-up in not announcing stage-three water restrictions during last month's election campaign.

"The Government clearly had been advised by Melbourne Water that these restrictions were necessary prior to the election," Ms Asher said.