What Water Form?

macro water drop
Originally uploaded by Hypergurl.

Going out to get the post the other day I was confused by a Water Authority notice teling me that I had breached the regulations of water use and could be fined $500 next time.

Now, as everyone knows, you have your watering days which are Wednesday and Saturday in our case and you have to water before 9am or after 6pm. Fair enough and I know this.

But we have new turf and if you have new turf you can water it every day otherwise it'll die. Or so I thought.

It turns out that I can water it every day BUT only if I have applied for a water exemption certificate. Apparently the landscaping company should have mentioned this to us. And you can only water every day for 28 days and then you have to go onto your watering days and times because the turf should have bedded in by then.

Well now I know.

Comments

[D. Jensen]

Maintaining a lawn in a climate such as Perth's is a waste of water. You should have saved the money for your turf and planted hardy native plants that are better suited to the dry weather instead.

The ubiquity of grass in the garden's of occidental cultures is an expression of our will to gain control over nature; to subdue, homogenise and flatten the perceived disorder it presents to our senses (diversity). Grass is kept immature and never allowed to reach sexual maturity and seed. Its fresh, uniform green hue has a calming affect on the troubled suburban psyche.

The pervasiveness of grass is Perth is the perfect physical manifestation of the failing assumptions underlying our bankrupt ideologies. Any suggestion that the system that rewards us is based on a such assumptions would implicitly mean that we, the participants, might not be so extraordinary either. Such an admission pertaining to the self-worth we derive from physical affluence must be avoided at all costs and met with distaste. The perceived need to maintain a lawn on one's property, even in Perth, derives from the ardent wish to keep questions associated with the above topics at bay.

[Dan Wild]

Regarding the post - Bad news, at least they give you a warning before actually hitting you with a $500 fine though! Do you have car washing days over there too?

Regarding the first comment... is it not possible that we enjoy maintaining a lawn because, unlike flagstones or concrete or indeed hardy native plants, it is a nice soft base to lie on without the drawbacks of sand - i.e. getting particles of sand absolutely everywhere imaginable?

[Kirsty Allsop]

I think you are missing the point, the idea is to blend with the surroundings of Perth and not to re-create a space that exists in lush green countries where the grass is natural to that country.

Perhaps sun loungers could be used instead to save from the problem of sand everywhere!

[Dan Wild]

I'll give you that Kirsty - sun loungers would indeed prove to be a good alternative, though I personally love to lie on a nice rug on the grass 'picnic style' to sunbathe/read/relax etc. Personal preference I suppose.

Anyhow, I'm a big fan of imported luxuries, where would we be without foreign cars, chinese food, swimming pools (also not usually found in the un-touched Australian outback), or the green green grass of England?

[nikki]

hi
just woundering what kind of water recycling facilities do you have there? we are looking to move over next year. over here i use the kids bath water for the garden it gets syphend off into a water butt.which can be used any time.