Rebates top $1.4 million

IN the three months since the inception of the Waterwise Rebate Program by the Western Australian Government, more than $1.4 million has been provided in rebates to more than 11,000 applicants.

An internal Water Corporation staff newsletter states that at the end of May, rebates on washing machine purchases were proving the most popular with 5,789 applications received and $868,207 worth of rebates granted.

Rebates totalling more than $415,000 had been received for 1,392 new domestic bores, $38,160 for 3,265 shower heads and $102,350 for 907 rainwater tanks.

A four-man Finance and Reconciliation team has been operating at the Water Corporation’s customer centre in Balcatta, to process about 215 applications per day.

Team leader Paul Hamilton said about 1,300 applications had been rejected because the purchases had been before the program began or the items did not qualify under the Water Services Association water efficiency guidelines.

Of the total rebates, around $225,000 went for applications in regional WA.

Port Kennedy was the leading area for bore claims with 68 bores in the past three months, while Thornlie and Bunbury were the leading areas for washing machine claims with 87 and 82 claims respectively.