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Water Campaign™ case study

CITY OF YARRA, VICTORIA

Kevin Bartlett Reserve

: Community action

: Corporate action

: Partnerships

: Water conservation

The City of Yarra is an inner metropolitan municipality adjacent to the Melbourne CBD and has a population of 74,823. Council is an ICLEI member and joined the Water Campaign™ in 2003.

Synopsis

: A worm farm waste system has replaced the septic tank at Kevin Bartlett Reserve

The City of Yarra has implemented a series of water saving actions at the Kevin Bartlett Reserve, a large sporting reserve located in Burnley.

Rainwater tanks were installed for each of the three pavilions and connected to the toilets. At two of the pavilions they were also connected to the hot water system.

The public toilets' septic tank was replaced with a worm farm waste system and a rainwater tank was installed to collect water for flushing.

The worm farm waste system naturally processes sewerage into aerated odour-free liquid that is pumped to the surrounding area and used for irrigation. Interpretative signage was installed at each retrofitted site.

The works at the Kevin Bartlett Reserve are part of a series of water saving initiatives that are funded through the State Government Stormwater and Urban Conservation Project. The overall project is called the Yarra Water Showcase.

In addition to the Kevin Bartlett Reserve, the Yarra Water Showcase involves installing tanks and water efficient fixtures at four other community sites within the municipality. Interpretative signs have been installed at each of the sites and a ‘Water Walk’ map will be developed at the end of the project.

Motivation

The current drought conditions have required Council to find ways to conserve water. The Yarra Water Showcase promotes the need for water conservation to a broad cross-section of the community at the same time as saving water at Council facilities. This project is in addition to Council’s planned works.

The Kevin Bartlett Reserve was chosen as a site for water conservation as it is a highly used facility containing three large pavilions. The public toilet septic tank troughs were also blocked and required maintenance, replacement or connection to the sewer. This provided an opportunity to trial a non-conventional means of sewerage treatment and fitted in with the ‘showcase’ aspect of the project.

The action of installing tanks and water efficient fixtures to council-owned community facilities was identified in Council’s Water Local Action Plan.

Funding and partners

The works at the Kevin Bartlett Reserve were funded through the State Government Stormwater and Urban Water Conservation Fund on a 1:1 basis. The matching funds from Council would not have been available for water conservation initiatives if it were not for the external funding.

The letter of support provided by ICLEI Oceania, detailing Yarra’s involvement in the ICLEI Water Campaign™ and support for the identified project, strengthened Council’s application.

Process

: A water tank has been installed to collect water for flushing the public toilets

Grant Application

Consultants were contracted to identify water saving opportunities at the Kevin Bartlett Reserve. The report included a description of the works, estimated water savings, costs and payback periods.

Prior to submission the proposal was presented to relevant Council officers and then presented to senior management for approval and incorporation into the 10-year capital works plan.

Implementation

Council’s plumber installed the tanks at the three pavilions along with check meters to measure the amount of mains water being used for the toilets, plus the hot water systems at two of the pavilions.

A local advertising company was contracted to develop a logo for the project, design and install the interpretative signage.

The project brief originally called for a specific type of worm farm system to replace the septic tank at the public toilet. Council’s initial plan to contract this project out changed when the sole tenderer decided not to take on the job.

Instead the installation of a worm farm was handled in-house, with staff dealing directly with the supplier. This change added a layer of complication as, rather than outsourcing the whole project, a Council officer was required to oversee the various components of the project. These included:

finding a site for the worm farm waste system
employing a company to survey the land for electrical wiring to ensure no wires were damaged during construction
locating the outlet of the sewer pipe of the public toilet
connecting the worm farm waste system to the sewer pipe
connecting of the rainwater tank to the downpipe
decommissioning the septic tank.

Due to staff changes three officers managed the project over its lifetime. Ideally the project would have been allocated solely to one Council officer at the time of submitting the proposal.

Once the worm farm waste system was installed the occasion was marked by a photo opportunity of the worms being placed into the system. The Melbourne Times covered this story.

The upkeep of the tanks and the worm farm waste system has been incorporated into Council’s maintenance schedule. The manuals and warranties have been passed onto the Assets area of Council.

: Interpretive signgte at Kevin Bartlett Reserve

Training and education

The project involved three education components that were targeted at the general community, sporting clubs and schools. These included:

the installation of interpretative signs at each of the pavilions and the public toilet
fact sheets and posters installed at each of the pavilions
articles in the local media.

The next step is to develop a ‘Water Walk’ map that guides the community on a walk through Yarra’s water conservation initiatives.

Costs and benefits

Financial costs and savings

The long payback periods did not solely justify the project, however, the installation of the worm farm waste system was considerably cheaper than connecting the toilet to the sewer or repairing the septic tank. The worm farm waste system and tank cost $44,000, not including the landscaping costs.

Water Conservation Benefits

The water conservation component of the project is a significant benefit to Council, however the savings are yet to be calculated.

Further environmental benefits

The embodied energy of the worm farm system has been substantially reduced as 98 per cent of the components are recycled materials.

Soil quality is also improved as the worm farm system releases aerated liquid fertiliser containing worm castings into the surrounding area. It is the first time this system has been installed in a built up area, thus potentially acting as a model for other inner-city councils.

Leadership example

A significant benefit is that Council has demonstrated leadership in water conservation to the community.

Maintenance benefits

There are minimal maintenance requirements for the system as it is non-mechanical and the worms prevent the trenches from blocking, which is a common problem with septic tanks.

: Council staff emptying worms into wormfarm box

Health benefits

The worm farm waste system is an approved EPA Victoria waste treatment system and rated to treat 3600 litres per day.

It is estimated that the daily average amount of sewage produced is 1500 litres, but there is the additional capacity for the occasional high use day. To be extremely safe Council will plant out the area with native grasses and bushes, however this is not an EPA requirement.

The system also prevents the common problem of odours associated with septic tanks, as the liquid produced from the worm farm waste system is odourless and aerated.

Lessons learnt

The installation of the worm farm waste system was the most complex part of the Kevin Bartlett Reserve project. Rather than aiming for a particular type of system it may have been better to present the objectives of the project and then allow consultants to come up with a solution and accurate costings. This would have provided Council with a greater selection of solutions and consultants to undertake the project.

Council would have benefited from a more comprehensive audit of how much water was being used for toilet flushing and hot water systems within the pavilions and toilet block to provide accurate baseline data to track the water savings.

It was also decided to use the check meters to measure the amount of mains water was being used to substitute the tank water, whereas more useful data would have been provided if the check meters recorded how much tank water was being used.

The allocation of the project solely to one position agreed at the time of submitting the proposal would have resulted in clarification of responsibility during times of staffing changes.

Further information

Karen Cameron
Environment Programs Officer
City of Yarra

City of Yarra 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

Thanks to Karen Cameron at the City of Yarra for her 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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