Hobart’s Brighton district has transformed itself. Once shunned, the district now attracts new residents and businesses largely due to a range of environmental projects.
Prior to 1999, the district had 165 unoccupied public housing dwellings. People refused to move in even though their housing situation was desperate. Today, Brighton has a waiting list for public housing. Environmentally friendly companies are keen to locate in the municipality. There is a growing pride among residents engaged in large community tree plantings.
Brighton district borders the Derwent Estuary. Its economy was threatened and its tourism and fishing industries stressed with the growing degradation of the Derwent’s waters.
Eleven Hobart sewage treatment plants and two large industrial plants discharge treated effluent directly to the Estuary. It also receives urban runoff from 10 major urban rivulets and over 270 drains.
According to Brighton’s Physical Services Manager, Ron Sanderson, the Council first resolved to treat effluent as a resource in its 1998 strategic plan. It committed to have all the Municipality’s effluent out of the Derwent by the new millennium.
In meeting this goal, wastewater and stormwater redirection from the Bridgewater treatment plant has been assisted with a grant of over $780,000 from the Commonwealth Government’s Clean Seas Program.
A partnership with Brighton Council and local landholders has constructed 24kms of reuse pipeline for irrigation rather than pollute the Derwent Estuary.
Ron Sanderson said , “We used public money to get the pipes out to the storages and private money pays for the storages”
Crops irrigated with the recycled water include cabbage seed, broccoli seed and poppies. Other enterprises may include cereals, wine grapes, fruit trees, olive trees and nuts. Irrigation of a new golf course is also planned.
Paul Marshall owns a property adjoining a large winter storage dam and secondary treatment lagoons. He is very happy with the positive effect that using the effluent has had on his poppy crops.
Farmers like Paul have agreements with the Council to use a quota of effluent each year based on their available area, equipment and crop plans. Council has agreed to subsidise the cost of effluent supply for five years to allow farmers to establish new infrastructure.
Some 1000 megalitres per year of effluent and stormwater is available for irrigation. The total irrigation area is approximately 1000 ha. From January to the end of July 2000, approximately 400 megalitres of treated effluent and 10 megalitres of stormwater was diverted from the Derwent River and sold to farmers.
This project has reduced phosphorus and nitrogen entering the Derwent by about eight tonnes to 28 tonnes respectively.
The Brighton Council’s environmental initiative has contributed to an increased quality of life and opened doors for new business opportunities and regional development. Improvements in the Derwent Estuary’s water quality will justify its Celtic derivation &endash; Derwent means ‘clear water’.
