It has recently been confirmed that Perth’s water charges will be climbing again next year.

On top of a steep price hike of 17.7 per cent for Western Australia’s domestic water users, it has also been confirmed that another increase is on the horizon in 2011. Next year’s cost will rise by an additional 8.4 per cent.

Not easy on the pocket but perhaps of greater concern is that Water Corporation chief, Sue Murphy, has highlighted a lack of viable alternatives to excessive use of garden sprinklers to keep Perth lawns looking green.

The West Australian’s take on the story was that “WA householders have to give up their Desperate Housewives ideal of manicured green lawns and gardens if water-guzzling Perth is going to slash its consumption.”
But there is another answer and the proof lives in some of Perth’s choicest suburbs.

I took a trip down to Applecross recently as Green Planet Grass were staging a photo shoot of some of their new (and not so new) installations in the sought after neighbourhood on the banks of the Swan River.

From the foreshore in Applecross there is a stunning view across the city skyline but if you take a leisurely stroll down Alness Street, a few blocks back from the river there are some stunning properties which would not look out of place in Bel Air or Beverley Hills.

There are some pretty nice looking lawns too. And most of them are pretty green. Yes, it’s winter but it’s been one of the driest Junes on record in Perth so one suspects a fair bit of sprinkler action has been seen in these seductive streets to keep up appearances of the grass.

On closer inspection though, you’ll find that arguably the best looking lawn has no patches or imperfections at all. The house looks a million dollars and the lawn is a fitting tribute to the property too. But it’s fake.

The owners who live in this house had a beautiful garden but working during the week, they’d had enough of losing their valuable weekends to the lawn inside their walls and the council-owned verge that surrounds their home; dedicating too much time tending to the grass that kept growing.

So they enlisted the help of Green Planet Grass and let WA’s experts in synthetic grass do their thing. Their reward is obvious – a lush-looking (and very real looking!) green lawn surrounding their home. The less obvious reward is the one that the home owners have got their weekends back and now enjoy their spare time.

They are also saving a lot of water in the process.

Ok, so the cost of living is certainly escalating in WA but you can make genuine savings in the long term if you invest in the best synthetic turf available Down Under.

An increasing number of WA householders, schools and sports clubs are now benefiting from reduced water bills and maintenance costs as a result of installing synthetic turf but they are also helping reduce pressure on our water resources.

“Our water resources are under serious pressure right now and that problem is not going to be solved overnight,” Jeff Dennis, Managing Director of Green Planet Grass told me. “However, the installation of artificial turf in domestic, public and business environments can all play a genuine role in reducing pressure on our water supplies.

“Home owners can have a lush-looking, green lawn all year round without using a drop of water, simply by installing the latest generation of synthetic grass. The most up-to-date artificial lawns now look like the real thing but they will not fade in the sun or lose their impressive appearance when the weather is hot and dry. This really is a viable alternative to natural grass which requires the kind of irrigation that is unsustainable in the Perth climate.”

It is estimated that a natural ‘Buffalo’ grass lawn measuring 50m2 can waste around 73,000 litres of water a year to keep it green 365 days a year. Synthetic turf of course requires no watering and therefore eases the pressure on the resource. You could quite feasibly save thousands of dollars in water bills over a ten-year period and with the Water Corporation hiking prices in the coming years the amount you can save is growing all the time!