More than 400 showerheads at Katherine hotels, motels and caravan parks have been replaced with more water efficient models to help save up to 14 million litres of water per year.

The installation of the new seven litre per minute showerheads was completed by Scatt’s Plumbing in partnership with Power and Water's Living Water Smart program and will save the equivalent to 1.5 million buckets, or 58,000 wheelie bins of water.

When we heard of the program, we had no hesitations and were more than happy to jump on board,” Boab Caravan Park managers Belinda Biddle and Glenn Amato said.

“Anything that can help the town has to be a positive. We are originally from WA and are used to conserving water and understand the importance of this precious commodity.

“Since having the showerheads installed, we noticed no difference to water pressure and we’ve had nothing but positive feedback from our guests. Plus, the new shower heads look amazing!”

The eight accommodation properties include the Ibis Hotel, Paraway Motel, Beagle Motor Inn, Boab Caravan Park, Riverview Tourist Village, River Lodge Motel, St Andrews Serviced Apartments, and the Pine Tree Motel.

St Andrews Serviced Apartments has saved approximately $110 per month on their water bill from the initiative so far.

“This is a help to any small business and I am sure there will be even more savings as we head into the tourist season. It’s our town and we need to look after it,” General Manager Paul Mullins said.

Living Water Smart Program Manager Jethro Laidlaw says Katherine accommodation properties use on average, around 15% of their total water use in guest bathrooms.

“The old showerheads being used were around 15 to 20 litres per minute, so the new seven litre per minute showerheads will essentially halve this water use,” Mr Laidlaw said.

“Overall the Katherine business community has been doing a great job helping to reduce water use.

Knotts Crossing Resort has extended their infrastructure to enable bore water to be used for irrigation. In addition, they are replacing single flush toilets with dual flush toilets, and are running an ongoing leak detection and fix program.

Along with the showerhead swap, the Ibis Hotel fixed significant leaks and shut down part of their campground facilities to reduce excess water during the wet season.

St Andrews Serviced Apartments only water their grounds twice a week for 10 to 15 minutes and turn the water off each night to any rooms not being used in case of leaks.

“It’s important that the onus of saving water is not on one sector only and it’s commendable that water use has now dropped to below seven million litres per day.  It goes to show that everyone is working together as a community to keep Katherine’s drinking water safe,” Mr Laidlaw said.

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