Flood warning for Adelaide

[Prospector]

I have heard it all now. We are in the midst of the driest period I can ever remember, everything is brown and dried, dust galore and tomorrow we are on flood alert. Maybe those rains will go over to Victoria and put out the fires though!

The problem Adelaide has is that it doesnt rain much. So we go into flood mode when we have heavy rain for only an hour or so. Our systems just cant cope with much water.

But just before Christmas? Sometimes the bureau doesnt get things quite right, : but having studied meterology at Uni (yes, I really did!) the weather pattern is exactly the one which gives us a lot (for SA standards) of rain - an upper level low combining with a trough for those that know

So, we wait...

 

[Rafa]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

bring it on i say, my lawn is almost dead and pool is half empty!

 

[MalteseBull]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

it is all hype

 

[constable]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

bring it on i say, my lawn is almost dead and pool is half empty!

Thats really funny i've hooked up a pressure pump to my pool to water our garden and guess what? mines half empty too!!!
Its probably even less now, but i 've rung around and to refill by a water carter it will cost $700 for approx 46000 litres. These bl**dy plants better not die on me !

 

[Prospector]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

it is all hype

Um, actually I think it isnt, based on the weather patterns. Time will tell but I so hope you are wrong - we need the water...

 

[chops_a_must]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

What the hell are you guys complaining about? This would be the most interesting thing to ever happen in Adelaide if it does happen.

 

[MalteseBull]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

What the hell are you guys complaining about? This would be the most interesting thing to ever happen in Adelaide if it does happen.

remember the whale who went for a swim from the brewery

that hit the headlines

wow adelaide is sad

 

[chops_a_must]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

remember the whale who went for a swim from the brewery

that hit the headlines

wow adelaide is sad

Or when Rene Arnoux took out Berger?

 

[nioka]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

Thats really funny i've hooked up a pressure pump to my pool to water our garden and guess what? mines half empty too!!!
Its probably even less now, but i 've rung around and to refill by a water carter it will cost $700 for approx 46000 litres. These bl**dy plants better not die on me !

The chemicals in the pool will probably kill the plants. The good news is you wont have to mow the lawn.

 

[Smurf1976]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

Thats really funny i've hooked up a pressure pump to my pool to water our garden and guess what? mines half empty too!!!
Its probably even less now, but i 've rung around and to refill by a water carter it will cost $700 for approx 46000 litres. These bl**dy plants better not die on me !

You are not allowed to use mains water in the garden at all? I didn't realise it was quite that bad in Adelaide yet.

 

[constable]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

You are not allowed to use mains water in the garden at all? I didn't realise it was quite that bad in Adelaide yet.

Sorry im across the border in ballarat!! We're on stage 4 restrictions and only allowed to flush the toilet every 2nd day, (seems that way sometimes)

 

[clowboy]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

Sorry im across the border in ballarat!! We're on stage 4 restrictions and only allowed to flush the toilet every 2nd day, (seems that way sometimes)

Youre having a lend of us right?

I can understand for number ones, and often dont flush myself to conserve, but number twos?

I should hope not

 

[constable]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

Youre having a lend of us right?

I can understand for number ones, and often dont flush myself to conserve, but number twos?

I should hope not

no its not quite that bad yet but we are on stage 4 which means no watering the garden ....at all . And if we have another bad season before bracks builds the pipline from melbourne things are going to be pretty grim. I think from last count our dams are at 22% !

 

[CartmanR]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

Not holding my breath, but I hope it happens. Flood warning I reckon because the ground's so hard it can't take it.

Adelaide's a great secret and we hope it stays that way.

 

[krisbarry]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

Adelaide is a beautiful city in the winter, but come summer its as brown as a skid marks in ya underwear

The city of Adelaide was built in the wrong location, it should be located way down south, closer to the VIC border. Much higher rainfall than its current 585mm a year. This year we have had about 260mm so it is a filthy dust-bowl

 

[swingstar]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

Still waiting... When's it coming?

http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR642.shtml

Still pretty dry over Ceduna, looks like there's a lot of cloud cover though.

http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR333.shtml
http://www.bom.gov.au/gms/IDE00035.latest.shtml

 

[Julia]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

The situation sounds just awful. I'm north of the Sunshine Coast in Qld and the only restriction is no sprinklers between 10am and 2pm. Plus reasonably regular rain is keeping everything pretty green and the town water supply dam nearly full.

I'd be very doubtful about using pool water on the garden - can't see how the chlorine and other chemicals wouldn't kill the plants and lawn . Suppose if it's that dry the lawn will be pretty much dead anyway.

Do all your houses have rain water tanks? If not, is there a Council plus State Government subsidy to install them? In Qld there are subsidies for rain water tanks, grey water systems, water saving inhouse devices etc.

Sympathies to all of you tolerating this drought. Must be heartbreaking for those who are gardeners.

Julia

 

[Smurf1976]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

The situation sounds just awful. I'm north of the Sunshine Coast in Qld and the only restriction is no sprinklers between 10am and 2pm. Plus reasonably regular rain is keeping everything pretty green and the town water supply dam nearly full.

No problem with water as such in Hobart, but the councils are having trouble pumping it into the distribution reservoirs fast enough on high demand days so have introduced an "odds and evens" system to limit maximum use on any given day.

Basically that gives you 3 days a week at any time of the day to use as much as you like but not everyone can do it on the same days. That way the maximum use at any one time is limited so the pumps can keep up (which is the problem). I'm told however that total water use doesn't drop at all, in fact it goes up, since people actually remember to water the garden when they drive past the restriction signs twice a day. But it spreads out the use more evenly and fixes the problem of too much being used all at once.

One very good idea down here, I'm not sure if it's done elsewhere or not, is that ALL outside water use is automatically banned whenever a total fire ban is declared. This is to ensure distribution reservoirs are kept full in case of fire. The only outdoor water use allowed is for fighting an actual fire or filling the gutters etc if one is approaching or other legitimate emergency use. It avoids the situation of sprinklers watering gardens etc causing loss of pressure for firefighters which I know has happened in some of the mainland cities and here in the past.

 

[moses]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

I'd be very doubtful about using pool water on the garden - can't see how the chlorine and other chemicals wouldn't kill the plants and lawn . Suppose if it's that dry the lawn will be pretty much dead anyway.

the greenest part of my lawn is around the pool

 

[Rafa]

Re: Flood warning for Adelaide

Adelaide's a great secret and we hope it stays that way.

Exactly...



on the subject of rain water...

i have the worlds worst rain water tank, i.e. it collects rain from barely 6 sq m of roof...

yet amazingly, somehow, in one of i driest years, it still caught over 2000L of rain water...

very underated these tanks, imagine if my whole roof surface area (> 100 sqm) was connected to a tank...

this is certainly my next project for the house... i was planning on solar panels, but i might demote that to second...

Any thoughts?