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Water Campaign™ case study

FRANKSTON CITY COUNCIL, VICTORIA

Smart water sport: Low flow, vandal proof showers in sports pavilions

: Corporate action

: Water conservation

Frankston City Council is located 40 kilometres south of the Melbourne CBD and has a population of 123,315. Council is an ICLEI Oceania member and has been a participant in the Water Campaign™ since 2002.

Synopsis

Frankston City Council has retrofitted sports pavilion showers to reduce water consumption, choosing to use Aqualoc Valves instead of low flow showerheads as the valves are installed behind the wall, preventing theft and vandalism.

110 showers have been retrofitted across the municipality in the first round of the program.

The completed project will see showers in all council-owned centres fitted with Aqualoc Valves, followed by an extensive monitoring process.

Motivation

The ongoing drought and the development of a new recycled water pipeline prompted the formation of Council’s Water Working Group, its members including councillors, senior management and council officers.

After hearing about the showerhead exchange program that Council was undertaking with residents in partnership with South East Water, the Councillors thought that low flow showerheads should be installed in all council-owned sports pavilions.

While water use at these sites is not particularly high, the pavilions are frequently used by the community.

The council officers were tasked with investigating the options.

Funding and partners

Funding for this project came from Council’s budget. The first round of the project, which involved retrofitting 110 showers, cost $8580.

Council saw this project as a simple and cost effective action as it had a payback period of 2.8 years and did not require major capital works.

In addition, there are no ongoing maintenance or replacement costs because once the valves are installed they are not affected by vandalism or theft, as is likely with traditional low flow showerheads.

Process

The initial impetus to retrofit the sports pavilion showers came in late 2006 from the Councillors. The officers from Council's Environment and Infrastructure Departments were then asked to investigate the installation of low flow showerheads at council-owned sports pavilions.

: An Aqualoc Valve

As traditional low flow showerheads are prone to theft and vandalism, Council decided to use Aqualoc Valves instead of low flow showerheads.

The valves are robust and long lasting and, as they are installed behind the shower cubical, cannot be tampered with.

Council first trialled the product by installing it at one site for a month to gauge responses from the sporting community, and no complaints about the quality of water pressure were received. After one month eight other sites were upgraded.

The completed project will see showers in all council-owned centres fitted with Aqualoc Valves, followed by an extensive monitoring process and marketing campaign to promote the work to the community.

Savings and benefits

Water conservation benefits

With the installation of the new valves each shower has a flow rate of nine litres per minute as opposed to the 15 litres per minute before retrofit. Council will therefore save approximately 1000 kilolitres of water annually with the 110 showers that have been retrofitted so far.

Financial benefits

The 110 retrofitted showers will take 2.8 years to pay back the cost of the works, after which time there will be financial savings made due to reduced water use.

Community benefits

Council is demonstrating water saving initiatives in its sports pavilions, which are highly visible and frequently used community areas. Once the project has been completed promotional materials will be developed to educate the community of this action.

Further environmental benefits

By reducing hot water consumption Council is also reducing greenhouse gases. As every 15 litres of hot water used from an electric water heater generates about one kilogram of greenhouse gas, the 110 retrofitted showers equates to approximately 30,000 kilograms of greenhouse gasses saved each year.

Costs

Each shower retrofit requires two valves, one placed behind each tap. The valves cost Council $30 a pair, and installation by a registered plumber cost $48. Therefore, the first round of the project, which included the retrofitting of 110 showers, cost Council $8580.

Lessons learnt

: A close-up showing how the valve is fitted to the tap

To date the project has progressed smoothly with no negative response from the community, indicating that reduced flow rates have gone unnoticed by facility users.

Feedback from the community will be monitored when the project is complete and Council has released promotional material.

One logistical consideration was that of needing a licensed plumber to install the valves, requiring cost and timing involved in engaging a contractor.

However, this is a factor that cannot be avoided and needs to be integrated into the initial planning of similar projects.

Further information

Frankston City Council website

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

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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