Posts Tagged ‘stormwater’
Water-Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) Tour – Stonnington & Port Phillip
Posted in Events, Movements by Kate Archdeacon on September 28th, 2011
| 14 October , 2011 | ||
| 8:50 am | to | 1:30 pm |
Source: Clearwater
Clearwater’s latest tour highlights an array of WSUD stormwater treatment measures and harvesting systems across the City of Stonnington & Port Phillip.
Council experts and design consultants will be onsite to provide insights into the development and management of each project, discussing challenges, learnings and outcomes from concept to completion. This tour will visit tree pits, raingardens in both commercial and residential areas, stormwater harvest systems designed for open space irrigation and vehicle washdown sites. You will gain an insight into project goals, costs, engineering, landscaping and maintenance considerations and community engagement. The tour will include visits to 7 sites; morning tea; sit down networking lunch. Suitable for anyone involved in sustainable water planning or asset maintenance / design, including developers, planners, architects, environment and maintenance staff.
8:50AM – 1:30PM, Friday 14th October 2011
Meeting point to be advised upon booking your place.
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The City of Port Phillip Water Plan is a great example of a municipal strategy, that sets long term integrated water management targets and promotes a water sensitive approach to urban water management. The plan sets considerable targets for reduction in council and community mains water consumption, and promotes the substitution of mains supply with alternative water sources where appropriate. Pollution reduction targets are set to be achieved through an increase in water sensitive urban design (WSUD) projects in road, drainage, and streetscape works.
The City of Port Phillip Water Plan recently won the 2011 Stormwater Victoria Excellence Awards in the category of Research, Innovation, Policy and Education.
Read more about the City of Port Phillip Water Plan.
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10,000 Raingardens Program: Add yours to the list
Posted in Movements, Research by Kate Archdeacon on September 20th, 2011
Melbourne Water’s 10,000 Raingardens Program promotes a new, responsible way of gardening so everybody can create their own water sensitive garden and do their bit to help the environment and protect our rivers and creeks.
The aim of the program is to show you how easy it is to create a water efficient garden in your own backyard. By building a raingarden you will enjoy the benefits of a self watering, low maintenance garden while also contributing to healthier waterways by reducing the amount of pollutants that would otherwise wash into our rivers and creeks. Until now we have been working with local councils and the community to create raingardens in public spaces such as streets, parks and schools. The program has recently expanded and we are now providing easy, step by step instructions so people can design, build and maintain raingardens in their own homes. Our target is to see 10,000 raingardens built across Melbourne by 2013. To achieve this we need your help.
>>Find out what a raingarden is, why you should build a raingarden and how to build one. (And then add yours to the Map!)
http://raingardens.melbournewater.com.au/
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Urban stormwater: Public nuisance or precious resource?
Posted in Events, Research by land-environment on September 12th, 2011
| 21 September , 2011 | ||
| 5:30 pm | to | 7:30 pm |
Speaker: Associate Professor Tim Fletcher
Urbanisation results in major disturbance to the water cycle, with infiltration and evapotranspiration greatly reduced and the volume and rate of runoff greatly increased. Resulting pollution and degradation of receiving waters is one of the major threats to waterways in Australia and around the world. At the same time, water shortages in cities have resulted in stormwater being considered seriously for the first time as an alternative water resource. This presentation will focus on a new approach, which aims to retain and use stormwater within the catchment, rehydrating urban landscapes, and protecting receiving waters from degradation. It will present as a case study the innovative long-term catchment-scale experiment – the Little Stringybark Creek Project – discussing social, economic and technical lessons for stormwater management.
To register, please visit: http://www.land-environment.unimelb.edu.au/deanslectures/fletcher/
Wednesday 21st September
Time: 5.30pm
Location: Lower Theatre, Melbourne School of Land and Environment building, University of Melbourne
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Australian Stormwater Harvesting Guidelines
Posted in Movements, Research by Kate Archdeacon on August 22nd, 2011
Source: Clearwater
Are you undertaking a stormwater harvesting project or water augmentation project that requires you to consider water treatment?
Clearwater has prepared a simple diagram to help you familiarise yourself with the relevant national guidelines available on our website. There are no specific laws that dictate what stormwater can be used for or what quality standards stormwater must meet, however responsible parties have a duty of care to make sure their scheme will not place people or the environment at risk. Guidance on how to meet duty of care is provided in the Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling: Stormwater Harvest and Reuse (Phase 2). The Australian Guidelines provide guidance on water standards for various reuse and recycling scenarios, and were prepared in two phases.
Phase 1 – Managing Health and Environmental Risks (2006) which provides a framework for the management of recycled water. Phase 2 – A set of three guidelines providing more detail on:
- 1. Augmentation of Drinking Water Supplies (2008)
- 2. Managed Aquifer Recharge (2009)
- 3. Stormwater Harvesting and Reuse (2009)
Underpinning the Water Recycling Guidelines are the 2004 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (currently being reviewed). This document provides the water supply industry with guidance on what constitutes good drinking water quality and are referred to both phases of the Australian Guidelines for Water recycling.
http://www.clearwater.asn.au/content/relevant-national-guidelines-stormwater-harvesting
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Improving Urban Streams Through a Stormwater Retrofit Approach: Forum
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 23rd, 2011
| 29 June , 2011 | ||
| 9:30 am | to | 1:00 pm |
Image: eXtension.org: Gardens, Lawns, and Landscapes via flickr CC
Clearwater in partnership with the University of Melbourne, Monash University and Melbourne Water invite you to a unique event where you will hear insights into the contrasting approaches of two innovative catchment-scale stormwater retrofit programs:
- Shepherds Creek project – Cincinnati, Ohio
- Little Stringybark Creek project – Melbourne, Australia
Both projects aim to improve the condition of receiving waters using novel incentives to engage the community. These incentives encourage the uptake of allotment and streetscape scale stormwater retention and treatment systems.
Key speakers include:
- Chris Walsh – Principle Research Fellow, University of Melbourne
- Tim Fletcher – Associate Professor Water Engineering, Monash University
- Bill Shuster – Research Hydrologist, US Environmental Protection Authority
- Darren Bos – Project Coordinator, Little Stringybark Creek project
- Helen Brown – UK Endeavour Award Fellow, University of Melbourne
Presentations throughout the day will be supported with facilitated discussion and the opportunity to meet and chat with three stormwater experts from the US EPA, over an informal lunch setting. The forum is ideal for water industry practitioners, environment staff, urban designers, town planners, engineers and contract staff. This forum will provide practical insights on: effective engagement of the community in stormwater management economic incentives for encouraging stormwater management at allotment scale design, construction and performance of streetscape and allotment-scale stormwater retention, harvesting and treatment systems the future of stormwater management objectives in Australia.
Price: $60 – includes arrival tea & coffee, morning tea and lunch
9:30 – 13:00, Wednesday 29th June
Visit the Clearwater website for more information and to register.
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Suburban Water: Water Capture & Storage Trial in Kingston
Posted in Models, Research by Kate Archdeacon on April 13th, 2011
A Sustainable Melbourne report from the 2011 Water Innovation Day, co-hosted by the Smart Water Fund and Siemens:
© Suburban Water
From a presentation by Jim Townsend, CEO Suburban Water, “Remote Storm Water Management”
Introduction:
Suburban Water was established to actively test and develop storm water harvesting technology in Australian suburbs. The premise of the project is that captured storm water doesn’t need to be treated to potable levels – between 30 -35% of current urban water use could be directly replaced with storm water.
As the recipient of a Round 3 grant from the Smart Water Fund, the company was able to install a pilot harvesting system in the city of Kingston, Victoria. Using the local aquifer, telemetry and a combination of existing and new infrastructure, the system allows water to be captured and shared between two separate sites, and increases each site’s ability to prepare for and capture heavy rain.
The System:
Storm water captured at Southern Road Reserve is fed into concrete tanks, where it is treated and returned to the aquifer as part of a managed aquifer recharge system. It is held there until needed either at Southern Road Reserve or at Parkdale Secondary College, just over a kilometre away. Parkdale Secondary College captures its own storm water and stores it in rainwater tanks, which provide toilet flush water and irrigation for the grounds. When these tanks are nearly half-empty, a monitor alerts the remote control at Suburban Water in Adelaide. The subterranean tanks at Southern Road Reserve pump water up into the existing Melbourne Water drain, and the water arrives to be treated and pumped into the school’s tanks 90 minutes later.
When significant rainfall is expected, the tanks at Southern Road Reserve empty into the aquifer in order to capture as much new rainfall as possible.
Key Outcomes:
The project is well into its prototype and testing stage, and while there have been significant challenges, CEO Jim Townsend emphasised the importance of being able to put a price on storm water capture and reuse – excluding the cost of installation but including regular running costs such as pumping and monitoring, the price is approximately $0.4/kL.
Further information available through the Smart Water Fund
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Stormwater Storage Aquifer: Rossdale Golf Club
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on May 20th, 2010
Source: Smart Water Fund
The Smart Water Fund congratulates Rossdale Golf Club on being announced as a finalist for the inaugural Prime Minister’s Water Wise Award. One of five national finalists, Rossdale Golf Club was nominated for its integrated stormwater harvesting and aquifer storage and recovery project. Working in partnership with the CSIRO, the Club received funding from the Smart Water Fund to implement Victoria’s first aquifer storage and recovery project (ASR). The project has seen the Club reduce its drinking water usage by 56 per cent, saving 35 million litres per year while still providing a high quality course for local golfers. This innovative approach to water management combines the harvesting of stormwater from a nearby drain with traditional dam storage and the innovative ASR process. ASR is the process of using natural underground aquifers as storage medium for treated urban stormwater that can then be used as required.
In Rossdale Golf Club’s case, stormwater collected during the winter months is stored within an aquifer until needed during the dry summer period.
Smart Water Fund CEO Christine Cussen congratulates Rossdale Golf Club on being recognised by this prestigious award. “To be nominated as a finalist for the Prime Minister’s Water Wise Award is a fantastic achievement for the Rossdale Golf Club and for the CSIRO research team, backed by the Smart Water Fund, who has contributed to the success of this project,” she said. “This project is a great example of research being applied to create real life water saving solutions. With such positive results, the lessons learnt by Rossdale Golf Club are already being leveraged by other golf clubs and local councils across Victoria who are investigating the potential of ASR,” Ms Cussen said.
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