Learn why you should get a Garden Tune Up rebate!

What is Living Water Smart?

Living Water Smart is a Power and Water initiative working together with the community to ensure Katherine's tap water remains safe and reliable, both now and in the future. 

Living Water Smart aims to help reduce water consumption in Katherine by 20% or 650 million litres.  That's over 430 Katherine Town Pools.  

Why do we need to be water smart in Katherine?

It's important we all work together to use less water to help keep Katherine's water safe.

What is a Garden Tune Up?

A Garden Tune Up is a free service provided by Living Water Smart’s registered irrigators.  The irrigator will come to your home or business and reprogram your irrigation controller to provide your garden with the water it needs, when it needs it.  They will also provide water efficient gardening advice and make up to $50 worth of immediate, quick and easy repairs such as minor leaks and faulty sprinkler repairs.

What happens during the Garden Tune Up?

Living Water Smart’s Garden Tune Up provides a free garden irrigation audit by one of our registered irrigation experts. It usually takes around one hour and includes:

1. A seasonal water smart irrigation schedule for your garden, including run times and days per week. The irrigator will also set the program for you.
2. A review of your irrigation equipment and on-the-spot minor repairs up to the value of $50.
3. Other general advice on water efficient gardening, such as plant types, plant zoning and water requirements, garden design, fertilisers, local soil types and mulches.
4. Recommendations about smart controllers and other technologies to further improve your garden irrigation and efficiency.

Why are you conducting the Garden Tune Up program?

On average, lawns and outdoor irrigation account for almost 60% of total household and business water use in Katherine. Garden Tune Ups are a great opportunity to get a seasonal water smart irrigation schedule for your home or business, and save money.

What are the aims of the Garden Tune Up program?

1. To provide Katherine households and businesses with a water efficient irrigation schedule and increase awareness of appropriate seasonal irrigation adjustments.
2. To help Katherine households and businesses save water and reduce their water bill.
3. To increase awareness of the impacts over-watering can have on households, businesses and Katherine’s water supply.
4. To establish water efficient irrigation scheduling as standard business practice for Katherine’s irrigators and gardeners.

About the Garden Tune Up Rebate

What is the Garden Tune Up rebate?

Living Water Smart has agreements in place with our registered irrigation experts that see them provide a Garden Tune Up to Katherine households and businesses. The Garden Tune Up includes a free irrigation audit and water efficient gardening advice, including up to $50 of on-the-spot repairs.

Who can access the Garden Tune Up rebate?

To be eligible for a Garden Tune Up, you need to:

• You must have a working, programmable irrigation system or controller already in place.
• Your property must be connected to the mains water supply in the Katherine region
• You must be able to access your property's water meter.

What is included in the Garden Tune Up rebate?

Living Water Smart’s Garden Tune Up provides a free garden irrigation audit by one of our registered irrigation experts. It usually takes around one hour and includes:

• A seasonal water smart irrigation schedule for your garden, including run times and days per week. The irrigator will also set the program for you.
• A review of your irrigation equipment and on-the-spot minor repairs up to the value of $50.
• Other general advice on water efficient gardening, such as plant types, plant zoning and water requirements, garden design, fertilisers, local soil types and mulches.
• Recommendations about smart controllers and other technologies to further improve your garden irrigation and efficiency.

How do I access the rebate?

You just need to contact one of our registered irrigation specialists and organise a time for them to visit your house or business to do a Garden Tune Up.

You will be required to be in attendance onsite during the Garden Tune Up, and to complete and sign our customer registration form.

There must be someone there and you must be able to access the water meter. Remember that to be eligible you need to be connected to Power and Water potable water supply and have a working programmable irrigation system in place.

Upon conclusion of the Garden Tune Up, the irrigator will claim the rebate direct with Living Water Smart. So you don’t need to do anything.

Can I access the rebate if I am a renter?

Yes. You’ll just need to get your landlord or property manager’s permission to organise a Garden Tune Up as the landlord owns the irrigation system. Once you have the permission to go ahead, you can access the rebate by contacting one of our registered expert irrigators.

If you’re paying your own water bill, you may wish to advise your landlord or property manager of the Garden Tune Up service to help you reduce your water bill.

Alternatively, your landlord or property manager may organise the Garden Tune Up and contact you to arrange a suitable time for an irrigation specialist to visit.

Can I use any irrigator to claim the rebate?

No. Living Water Smart is working with Katherine irrigation experts that have applied to be part of the program and meet Living Water Smart’s water efficiency criteria. A list of registered irrigators can be found here.

Should your irrigation system require further changes or additional repairs outside of the rebate, the irrigator will provide you with a quote to carry out these repairs or upgrades.

From here, you can then decide if you would like to proceed with the registered irrigator, or if you would like your own irrigator to undertake the works.

How much will the Garden Tune Up cost me?

Nothing. Living Water Smart has agreements in place with our irrigation specialists that see them provide Garden Tune Ups to Katherine households and businesses at no charge.

Your irrigator may provide you advice and recommendations for further changes and additional repairs. If so, they will provide you with a quote and only proceed if you approve and accept their quote. You can decide if you would like to proceed with the registered irrigator, or if you would like your own irrigator to undertake the works.

Will I have to pay the irrigator for the rebate when they do the Garden Tune Up?

No. This cost is covered by Living Water Smart if you use our registered irrigators. The irrigator claims for the rebate directly with Living Water Smart. You will only have to pay if you go ahead with any quoted costs outside of the Garden Tune Up.

Why do I need to have a programmable irrigation controller to be eligible for the Garden Tune Up?

To be eligible for the Garden Tune Up service, Living Water Smart requires that customers have a programmable controller so our registered irrigation supplier can input an effective and efficient irrigation schedule when they visit. That way we can ensure that actual water savings will be made.

Our suppliers need to be able to record the programmed irrigation schedule that exists when they arrive, then record flow rates, and based on those factors they can calculate the per annum water use for the irrigation system and the savings that will be made after the new efficient schedule is in place. If you have manual timers then there’s no guaranteed set irrigation schedule, nor can we implement a new irrigation schedule for customers. It’s a key component to making sure that Living Water Smart can measure the water savings made.

Customers with automated tap timers are also eligible for the Garden Tune Up service.

Irrigators

I'm a registered irrigator; can my existing customers access the Garden Tune Up rebate?

Yes they can! As long as they meet the Garden Tune Up eligibility requirements. To be eligible, your customers need to:

• have a working, programmable irrigation system or controller already in place.
• be connected to the main Katherine region PWC water supply.
• be able to access their property's water meter.

If you are a Living Water Smart registered irrigator we encourage you to tell your customers about the Garden Tune Up rebate - don’t forget your Property Managers.

I'm interested in becoming a registered irrigator, how do I get in touch?

Living Water Smart will pay registered irrigators $300-$500 for carrying out eligible services as part of the Garden Tune Up rebate. Get in touch with us to find out how to get registered at info@livingwatersmart.com.au or call  (08) 8995 5861.

More Information

Where can I find more information about the Living Water Smart Garden Tune Up program?

Visit livingwatersmart.com.au/katherine or call (08) 8995 5861