Water Campaign™ case study

The City of Prospect was a successful applicant in the first round of Australian Government Community Water Grants, enabling it to implement a water conservation project at Prospect Oval.

Prospect Oval is a well-used recreational space for the community and home of the North Adelaide Football Club, part of the South Australian National Football League.

The project involved installing water saving fixtures throughout the Prospect Oval complex and harvesting rainwater for re-use.

Rainwater is collected from the oval’s large grandstand and stored in a 20,000-litre tank, awaiting re-use in clubroom showers and toilets. A solar-powered pump also supplies water from a 4500-litre rainwater tank to a public toilet block at the oval, providing water for the urinal, four toilets and hand basins.

Newly installed water saving fixtures include 32 auto-off low flow taps, 14 low flow shower heads and 17 dual flush toilets.

The project is anticipated to deliver annual mains water savings of 185,000 litres.

After Council received confirmation of its successful Australian Government Community Water Grant it engaged an external consultant to assist in developing the project concept and act as project manager.

Council staff also assisted with preliminary design work, budget management and liaising with the various sporting and community clubs that regularly use the oval and its facilities.

These clubs were each consulted by letter during the design phase of the project and encouraged to speak with council staff if they had concerns about the proposal.

Few responses ensued, indicating a general level of comfort and support for the project from the outset.

Clubs were also consulted at various stages of the project where access was required to clubrooms to carry out works.

Following a tender process a contractor was engaged to undertake plumbing works including rainwater harvesting and water efficiency upgrades. Reticulation from tanks into buildings was left subject to further investigations.

On-site consultation between the contractor and Council identified necessary alterations to the original project concept.

A budget shortfall was avoided by further revision, such as substituting the proposed rainwater system at the cricket club with a solar-powered pump to supply water from a 4500-litre rainwater tank to a public toilet block.

The contractor provided additional quotes for, and then completed, the public toilet works, installation of the automatic switching pump and delivery of rainwater from the grandstand tank to the change rooms.

A risk management plan was developed to minimise health risks associated with the use of rainwater.

In order to reduce contamination, the rainwater collection and storage system was designed to contain leaf filters and mesh screens to minimise organic matter inputs into the tanks.

EnHealth (an organisation that provides national leadership on environmental health issues and is responsible for the implementation of the National Environmental Health Strategy) recommends these actions for protecting rainwater storage from insects, animals and faecal matter.

Once the appropriate measures were put in place to minimise the risk of contamination of the rainwater, a maintenance regime was developed for Council recommending that:

• gutters be inspected and cleaned annually (more frequently if high levels of organic material is present)
• the roof be inspected and cleaned annually (including clearing plant material and trimming nearby trees if they are contributing to debris on the roof)
• insect-proof screens and leaf filters be inspected and cleaned six-monthly
• the structural integrity of the tank and tank roof and the likelihood of animal access be inspected annually
• internal inspection of tanks be carried out annually for evidence of access by animals, birds, insects or algal growth
• the structural integrity of the pipe work be inspected annually
• the rainwater tank be inspected annually for sediment build-up.

The plumber who installed the system will be engaged for the first 12 months to carry out maintenance, with a view to handing over responsibility to council staff in subsequent years.

Staff will require training and the maintenance regime will be incorporated into their work schedules.

Signs explaining the new systems to the community have been erected near the large grandstand rainwater tank and at the public toilet block.

Notices about the use of rainwater have also been placed inside the players’ change rooms. This component of the project is a key part engaging the community in water conservation issues.