Summer water use sizzles as Adelaide records highest level in 20 years

It’s official: Adelaidians have sweltered through a thirsty summer, with the city’s total water consumption reaching its highest level in more than 20 years.

After crunching the data, SA Water can reveal a total of 58.2 billion litres of water was supplied by its water treatment facilities to its customers across Adelaide this summer, which is the highest volume since 2003-04 and narrowly eclipsed the city’s water use during summer 2024-25.

The statewide total of 89.8 billion litres of water this summer is now the second highest since the Millennium Drought after falling short of the overall volume during summer 2024-25 by approximately 0.7 billion litres.

The utility also logged one of the highest volumes of water use for a single day on record this summer.

A total of 1.31 billion litres of water was supplied to SA Water customers to keep up with demand during the 24 hours to 8am on 27 January, which coincided with the warmest night ever recorded for Adelaide – a balmy minimum temperature of 34.2°C.

To put this number into perspective, it equates to about 525 Olympic-size swimming pools of water.

The prolonged heat also led to one of the highest 5-day periods of water use, when a total of 6.4 billion litres of water was consumed between 23 January and 28 January – a daily average of 1.28 billion litres.

SA Water’s Senior Manager of Water Futures and Security Dr Ashley Kingsborough said the state’s changing climate and population growth is pushing bulk water use back up to levels experienced prior to the Millennium Drought.

“While water users in South Australia are far savvier and individual households are still using less water on average, we are now seeing our total water consumption shift towards where it was during the early 2000s,” Ashley said.

“The dual impact of our changing climate and growing population is pushing overall water use higher, and this has certainly been evident across the past 2 summers through record levels of water consumption.

“Water use during summer 2024-25 and 2025-26 was approximately 21 per cent more than the previous 10-year summer average, which perfectly illustrates this shift.

“Despite these levels of water use, our water treatment facilities were able to meet this significant uptick in customer demand, and the diversity and flexibility of our water resources ensures our supply remains secure.

“For our residential customers, the relationship between weather and water use can sometimes lead to an unexpected surprise when they open their summer water bills.

“We have been sharing a range of water use tips with our customers across social media this past summer that can make a meaningful impact on their water bill and soften the summer shock.

“While we typically see the warmer weather hang around throughout March, with our gardens and lawns still requiring attention, indoor water use tips remains relevant all year round.

“For example, using a toilet’s half flush instead of the full flush is a really simple way households can reduce their water use and save money, and the amount people save depends on the age and efficiency of their toilet.

“Assuming 4 flushes per person per day, if you change from an older, single-flush toilet to a new dual-flush one, you could save $25 per person per year on your water bill.

“Older single-flush toilets use 12 litres per flush, whereas new 4-star Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) rated toilets – which we highly recommend – reduce that to 4.5 litres per flush. This represents about 11,000 litres of water saved per person per year.

“Showers are another easy place to make a difference. Simply cutting your shower time in half to around 4 minutes can save roughly $30 per person per year.

“I encourage our customers to visit sawater.com.au for more tips on saving water in and around the home.”