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Water Campaign™ case study

CITY OF CHARLES STURT, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Stormwater Pumping Scheme

: Corporate action

: Partnerships

: Water conservation

A print version of this case study is available to download. [PDF document, 425 KB]

The City of Charles Sturt is a diverse community to the west of Adelaide, with a population of 104,464. Council is an ICLEI member and joined the Water Campaign™ in 2006.

Synopsis

A partnership with United Water saw Council receive 200,000 litres of mains water for reuse on its thirsty street trees in early 2007. While Council’s collection of water during pipe maintenance prevented wastage, the approach was discontinued due to water harvesting difficulties.

Subsequently, Council staff sought an alternative water source and developed an innovative stormwater re-use approach, drawing the stormwater from the Stormwater Water Pumping Stations around West Lakes and the Stormwater Wet Systems around the areas of Henley Beach and Grange.

An Australian Government Community Water Grant was a key element in the stormwater pumping scheme’s success, enabling Council to purchase five stormwater transfer pumps for their fleet of water trucks. These trucks deliver the stormwater to street trees and turfed areas in the City of Charles Sturt municipal area.

Motivation

Drought conditions and Level 3 water restrictions provided the impetus for Council to investigate stormwater capture and re-use opportunities. The ICLEI Water Campaign™ Milestone 1 Inventory process identified street trees as a priority, due to their high water use and associated cost.

By utilising stormwater, Council will no longer have to purchase precious mains water for use on street trees and some turfed areas, while maintaining the health of vegetation. Drawing stormwater from the wells allows for increased capacity during peak rainfall, reducing the risk of flooding to the surrounding areas.

Additionally, the amount of stormwater pollution entering the ocean is decreased, resulting in a healthier marine environment.

Funding and partners

: One of Council's water trucks

Council was successful in receiving a grant of $9,468 from the Australian Government Community Water Grants program, enabling the purchase of pumps for its fleet of water trucks. Receiving this grant was influential in leveraging $3875 of in kind support from Council for the project.

The application to the Australian Government for a Community Water Grant was strongly supported by the community with letters of support provided by the Western Adelaide Coastal Residents Association, Henley Surf Lifesaving Club and the Hon. Paul Caica, State Government Member for Colton.

TREENET have also expressed interest in undertaking a study on the project. TREENET is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the urban forest. The proposed study will address how street trees respond to the application of stormwater.

Process

Due to the ongoing drought and Level 3 water restrictions Council was looking for innovative ways of saving water. The idea of going into partnership with United Water to collect mains water when pipe maintenance repairs were undertaken within the municipal area was considered.

Through this partnership with United Water, Council collected 200,000 litres of water at no cost in January 2007. This water was then used to water street trees around the municipal area.

The reason United Water undertakes this pipe maintenance is to cleanse the pipes or to respond to burst pipes. Due to the sporadic nature of this maintenance work and location of the maintenance work, Council does not harvest water through this process regularly.

: Map showing locations of stormwater wells

However, Council does continue to utilise this water if the United Water works are being undertaken in close proximity to a Council reserve. In these situations Council diverts the water to flood irrigate reserves.

Council then developed a second innovative approach, drawing stormwater from Stormwater Water Pumping Stations around West Lakes and Stormwater Wet Systems, which are located around the municipal area but mostly in and around Henley Beach and Grange. The stormwater captured in these wells is supplied from a 549,115m2 catchment area.

Five stormwater transfer pumps were purchased with the Australian Government Community Water Grant money to fill the fleet of water trucks.

Each of the five trucks has a 4500-litre capacity and takes seven minutes to fill from the stormwater wells. In peak tree watering season, each truck is filled four times a day, using 90,000 litres of stormwater per day.

The Australian Water Quality Centre performed water quality testing on the stormwater and Streamline Environmental Consultants analysed results. The stormwater was deemed suitable for irrigating street trees, with continued periodic water quality testing required.

If the TREENET study commences, it is likely that regular, ongoing water quality testing will be undertaken.

Training and education

Internal training documents will be developed for the watering team and Occupational Health and Safety and Environmental Risk Assessments are planned.

Discussions have been held with Council’s Community Services staff regarding educational opportunities for local schools, as there is potential to engage students to conduct ongoing water quality testing of the stormwater system.

Savings and benefits

Water quality benefits

Up to 34 million litres of stormwater has been saved from entering West Lakes, and a further 17 million litres saved from entering Gulf St Vincent.

Financial benefits

Substituting mains water for stormwater has saved Council approximately $55,000 per annum. Additional ongoing annual savings are approximately $3000 due to the reduction in fertiliser required for the turf because of the high nutrient level of the stormwater.

The payback period for the initial establishment costs of the project was three months. The ongoing annual saving for Council is $23,000, which accounts for the $55,000 water savings plus the $3,000 fertiliser savings minus the $35,000 fuel costs.

Further environmental benefits

Decreased stormwater entering the Gulf St Vincent leads to a healthier marine environment, including a potential reduction in seagrass death.
Drawing stormwater from the wells will increase the detention capacity of the stormwater system, reducing the likelihood of flooding and subsequent property damage.
Healthier trees improve the streetscape amenity.

Costs

The total cost of the project was $13,343: $9468 from the Australian Government Community Water Grant and $3875 Council in kind contributions.

Ongoing annual expenditure related to the project is approximately $35,000, which contributes towards diesel fuel for the trucks and unleaded fuel for the pumps.

Further information

Mark Hannan
Environment Officer
City of Charles Sturt
Ph: +61 (0)8 8408 1138

City of Charles Sturt website

See the Community Water Grants website for lists of previous grant recipients.

Contact details

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

ICLEI Oceania
4/267 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 Mark Hannan for his 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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