Water Campaign™ case study

Hornsby Shire Council, NSW

‘Greenway Park’ Storm Water Harvesting Project

: Corporate action

: Water conservation

: Water quality

Hornsby Shire Council is located about 25 kilometres north of the Sydney CBD and serves a total of 156,808 residents. Council joined the Water Campaign™ in 2002 and in 2007 was the first local government in Australia to achieve Milestone 5 of the ICLEI Water Campaign™ – a reflection of Council’s strong commitment to sustainable water management.

Synopsis

As part of its ongoing commitment to water re-use and recycling, Hornsby Shire Council initiated a stormwater-harvesting project at Greenway Park, with the harvested water being used to irrigate two sports ovals.

: Work on the site of the new undergroud rainwater tanks at Greenway Park

Motivation

Irrigation limits imposed as part of mandatory water restrictions seriously affected the health of Greenway Park and its playing fields. A major motivator for this project was to improve the playing surfaces for enhanced social benefit.

In addition, damage to the 220-kilolitre aboveground stormwater tank had caused a leak, which led to an increase in the use of potable water for irrigation. The leak was identified through quarterly monitoring of water use in Council parks and was considered another motivator for improving water management in Greenway Park.

Strong Council plans and strategies for water management were a further driver for the project. As a result of Council’s Milestone 1 inventory process for the Water Campaign™, completed in 2003, parks and sporting fields were identified as a high water-use sector. A ‘Water Conservation and Reuse at Irrigated Parks Strategy’ was subsequently included in Council’s overarching ‘Sustainable Total Water Cycle Management Plan’.

The results of an analysis into implementation and maintenance costs to Council for managing its water related assets motivated Council to shift from installing additional assets, to maintaining and upgrading existing assets.

Funding and partners

Council contributed $274,000 towards this project, which was matched by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change’s Climate Change Fund. Park stakeholders were consulted and endorsed the project before it was approved.

Process

Council’s Water Catchment Team managed the project. An initial concept design was completed before assessments of irrigation demand, stormwater supply and storage capacity were made. These engineering and surveying processes led to adjustments in the concept design before a Review of Environmental Effects (REF) was prepared for community consultation. This review was exhibited to the community and park stakeholders for four weeks.

After the tendering process, construction commenced with the removal of the original damaged tank and excavation. The project involved two phases – the first phase involved the construction of four 110-kilolitre concrete tanks, and the second phase included the installation of the pipework electronics, and water quality treatment using a storm water treatment device.

The stormwater treatment device removes up to 90 per cent of sediments, organic matter and gross pollutants prior to the harvested water been stored. The four tanks are connected in series and store water as one tank, rather than in a cascading arrangement. Water for irrigation is pumped into a holding tank and sterilised with UV treatment before being pumped into the sub surface irrigation system.

Training and education

An important element of the project was community education. From the moment funding was secured to the completion of the project, press releases were used to promote the project and its environmental and social benefits to the community. Signage will be erected on site at a later date as part of an ongoing educational strategy directed at park stakeholders.

: The new underground rainwater tanks

Savings and benefits

Water conservation benefits

Estimates of water savings are changeable due to seasonal variability, however, it is anticipated that the project will deliver annual mains (drinking-quality) water savings of between 13 to 19 megalitres.

Water quality benefits

The gross pollutant trap screens and removes 90 per cent of sediment, organic and gross litter from all stormwater prior to storage, making it safe for irrigating the ovals. Water quality treatment processes further reduce the potential for sediment and particles to damage pumps and clog the sub-surface irrigation systems.

Community leadership

This project is expected to improve the condition of playing fields and enhance the visual amenity of the park, encouraging more frequent use of ovals, increased social interaction and a healthier, more active community.

Lessons learnt

This action simultaneously addresses three important aspects of water management:

conservation of a limited resource
safeguarding social amenities
maintaining biodiversity and healthy ecosystems.

Council discovered that it was important to gain input from engineers to address potential constraints at the beginning of the project, and develop a draft of the engineering concepts and design ahead of the detailed plans. It was also necessary to prepare contingency options with the engineering team and identify alternative scenarios.

Further information

Hornsby Shire Council website.

The original installation of the storm water tank at Greenway Park, and the development of the asset management plan for storm water assets, are covered in previous ICLEI Oceania case studies.

Contact details

For further information about the ICLEI Water Campaign™ in Australia please contact:

ICLEI Oceania
5/267 Collins St
Melbourne Vic 3000
Ph:   +61 3 9639 8688
Fax:   +61 3 9639 8677
Email:   oceania@iclei.org
Website:   www.iclei.org/oceania/water

Acknowledgements

Thanks to staff at the Shire of Hornsby for their assistance in producing this case study.

Photographs supplied by Council.

Quoted population figures are taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Report 3218.0, Regional Population Growth, Australia 2006-07, March 2008.

Call for future case studies

Does your council have an initiative that could be promoted by the Water Campaign™ as a future case study?

We’d like to hear if your council has implemented an innovative water saving initiative or project to improve water quality. Contact your Water Campaign State Manager with details.

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