Issues such as climate change and global warming are expected to impact the supply of water in Australia in the future, which can lead to severe consequences such as prolonged droughts.

[7] In less urgent times, residents are still encouraged to conserve water and apply practices such as effluent reuse, rainwater harvesting and using greywater for various applicable purposes.

Larger scale projects in wastewater reclamation have been discussed in many major cities and successfully applied in Adelaide and Brisbane.

Two water management areas (Great Artesian Basin and Mereenie Sandstone – Alice Springs) had consumptive use greater than total annual inflow.

Non-conventional water sources, such as seawater desalination, play an increasing role in Australia's water supply, with one desalination plant commissioned to supply Perth and others being built in Sydney, the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide, and another is planned to be built at Port Augusta.

The use of reclaimed water – the non-potable reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation of green spaces, golf courses, agricultural crops or industrial uses – is common and increasing in Australia.

At full capacity the above-mentioned reservoirs hold about 200 million cubic meters of water, or a little less than one year's supply for metropolitan Adelaide.

[14] A desalination plant near Port Augusta has been proposed which will supply almost all the residential water needs of towns on the Spencer Gulf.

A Southern Regional Pipeline is also under construction that will share Gold Coast water with the rest of South East Queensland.

[16] A severe drought in 2005–2007 triggered major investments, including the Tugun desalination plant and the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project.

[19] The Yarra River above the falls was the main source of drinking water till the completion of the Yan Yean Reservoir.

Legislation to create the Murray-Darling Basin Commission was passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in August 2007 in the form of the Water Act of 2007.

[24] In March 2008, Premier John Brumby indicated that the Victorian government would participate in the program, in return for $1 billion to upgrade irrigation and continue water security for farmers.

Households receive a set number of STCs based on the system size, installation location, and remaining scheme duration.

[28] At the local level, commercialisation and corporatisation of many Australian urban water businesses has led to management responsibilities being vested in commercial utilities, in contrast to earlier arrangements where services were provided directly by an arm of government.

The role of the utility's board members is to provide commercial skill and focus, as well as to buffer the organisation from arbitrary political interference.

[32] SA Water retains ownership of all infrastructure, sets service standards, and implements the government's pricing policy.

A government-owned multi-utility, the Power and Water Corporation, provides services to the larger and less remote communities in the Northern Territory, including Alice Springs and Darwin.

The implication is that increases in the price of utility services, if not accompanied by other compensation, will have a regressive and disproportionately negative impact on low-income households.

Across Australia, the average typical annual residential bill for water supply and sewerage services was A$713 in 2007 (US$557 using the January 2007 exchange rate of 1.28).

[3] Demand management measures to encourage consumers to use less water include advertising, education, pricing and appliance redesign.

[37] Furthermore, the use of alternatives to conventional water supply such as effluent reuse, rainwater harvesting and greywater use are also being encouraged through state-based rebates and the national not-for-profit Smart WaterMark label.

A series of restriction levels, depending on remaining storage capacity in reservoirs, can curb the maximum daily consumption during drought periods.

Two major capital cities in Australia, Adelaide and Brisbane, have already committed to adding reclaimed effluent to their dwindling dams.

Brisbane has been seen as a leader in this trend, and other cities and towns will review the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project once completed.

Indirect potable reuse (IPR) has been considered for regional communities in Goulburn, NSW, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Toowoomba, Queensland.

[41][40] In Perth in Western Australia, the Western Australia Water Corporation operated a three-year demonstration project investigating the feasibility of reclaiming water from the Beenyup wastewater treatment plant using MF, RO and UV disinfection prior to injection into the Leederville aquifer (production of 5,000 m3 per day).

The demonstration concluded in 2012, and in 2013 the Western Australian Government agreed to a full-scale groundwater recharge scheme, which commenced construction in 2014.

To enhance the quality of the marine discharge from the Davis wastewater treatment plant, a number of different, proven technologies have been selected to be used in the future, such as ozonation, UV disinfection, chlorine, as well as UF, activated carbon filtration and RO.

[40] Non-potable reuse (NPR) examples: Melbourne,[42] Mount Buller Ski resort uses recycled water for snow making, Sydney.