Water Campaign™ case study

CARDINIA SHIRE COUNCIL, VICTORIA

Strategy for the future: Complete retrofit of Council-owned buildings

: Community action

: Corporate action

: Partnerships

: Water conservation

: Water quality

Cardinia Shire Council, population 58,540, is located approximately 55 kilometres south-east of the Melbourne CBD. Council joined the Water Campaign™ in 2002.

Synopsis

Cardinia Shire is now in the first year of a three-year water conservation program in which all Council-owned facilities are being retrofitted with water efficient appliances.

This strategic approach sees all toilets, taps and showerheads retrofitted and rainwater tanks installed while at the same time engaging with the community through the various user-groups of these facilities.

Motivation, Funding and Partners

: Old single-flush toilet cisterns have been removed for replacement with dual-flush cisterns

It became clear through Council’s Water Campaign™ Milestone 1 inventory that the sporting facilities and other Council-owned buildings were high water users, so these was identified as a key area of focus in the Milestone 3 Sustainable Water Use Plan.

In early 2008 South East Water approached Council with the mandate to reduce water use by 10 per cent overall within each sporting facility. As the grounds were becoming increasingly hard from reduced irrigation and rain, it was considered ideal to reduce water consumption within the club buildings to enable the continued irrigation of sportsgrounds.

Then in mid-2008 Council received a $300,000 Local Infrastructure Works Program grant from the state government to install a subsurface irrigation system at one oval and to install 45,000-litre water tanks at 18-20 sports pavilions and clubrooms across the municipality.

However, by this time momentum was building in Council and in September 2008 it was decided that Council would allocate sufficient money from its own budget to retrofit all Council-owned buildings. This includes:

$200,00 for 2008–09 to retrofit all Council owned and managed facilities, including public toilets, community centres, maternal/child health centres, senior citizens and bowling clubs, and community/public halls
$200,000 for 2009–10 to retrofit all Council owned facilities that have a Committee of Management, including private residences, sporting clubs, and all other tenant buildings, including the installation of large water tanks connected to toilets at high profile community centres.
$100,000 for 2010–11 to retrofit all remaining facilities.

Council’s CEO, Gary McQuillan, has been a driving force in this project from the outset.

Process

The three-year water conservation program was project managed by the Environment Department and is now being implemented by the Major Projects and Engineering Department, making it corporate business as opposed to a short-term project.

To obtain the water usage data on Council-leased properties Cardinia Shire Council wrote to each Committee of Management requesting one bill from each utility, and will use this to request the full usage history from South East Water. As well as access to their water usage history, the community groups will receive financial benefits from the subsequent retrofits as a result of the reduced water consumption.

The next stage will be to promote this project throughout the community, primarily through Council’s magazine, Cardinia Connect. A communication strategy has been developed for the program and will be progressively rolled out in media releases over the next 12 months.

Savings and benefits

: A newly installed dual-flush toilet cistern

Water conservation benefits

Water savings are yet to be calculated, however, with 94 buildings being retrofitted in the first year alone, the savings will be considerable.

Financial benefits

Reduced water consumption at Council-owned and -managed buildings will generate financial savings, while retrofits to Council-leased buildings will be of direct financial benefit to the community groups that pay for water usage.

Community leadership

This project demonstrates that Council is innovative and proactive in supporting the community to deal with reduced water availability.

This is particularly relevant for groups that rely on the use of sport grounds, as an overall reduction in water consumption enables continued irrigation and use.

Social benefits

Greater quality and access to reserves and sports fields increases social wellbeing within the community.

Additional environmental benefits

The reduction in hot water usage will minimise energy use. There is also the scope to extend the project to energy conservation, as Council requested energy data for all Council-owned facilities at the same time as obtaining water data.

Lessons learnt

The two biggest challenges were changing Council’s approach from reactive to proactive, and supporting an all-of-Council approach to share the importance of this work. Both of these challenges were negotiated through support from the CEO.

Another challenge was obtaining the raw data for Council-leased facilities, which was addressed by bringing all the relevant parties together to discuss the options.

This project has paved the way for future cross-Council projects, successfully involving the Environment Department, Major Projects and Engineering, Parks and Gardens and Sustainable Communities (recreation). It has also strengthened relationships with the community by working with all sporting and community groups using Council-owned facilities.

Further information

Janene Vurlow, Environmental Planner
Ph: +61 03 5945 4267

Cardinia Shire Council website.

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 Council staff 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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