Rainwater tanks and other water sensitive design measures are being increasingly adopted to assist with Total Water Cycle Management (TWCM) in urban catchments. As part of a range of initiatives, Kogarah Council was recently handed a rebate cheque from Sydney Water after installing rainwater tanks in 12 schools within its boundaries.
NSW Energy and Utilities Minister, Frank Sartor, presented the cheque to Kogarah Mayor, Michael Platt, at a World Water Day event at Carlton South Public School. Minister Sartor said by teaching children to conserve water through programs such as Rainwater Tanks in Schools we are spawning a new generation of water wise adults.
“There is growing pressure on water supplies across Sydney, the Illawarra and Blue Mountains, not only from this once in a century drought but from the arrival of up to 1,000 extra residents a week,” the Minister said. “The Carr Government’s $1.4 billion Metropolitan Water Plan includes a number of initiatives to encourage conservation, while diversifying the sources of Sydney’s supply by pumping excess water from the Shoalhaven and investigating desalination.
“I congratulate Kogarah Council on funding this initiative and urge more Councils to follow its lead. This program not only saves scarce drinking water but can also reduce schools’ water bills, while educating children and their families about saving water.” Mayor Platt said Kogarah Council’s program is expected to reduce water use by seven million litres per year.
“Rainwater tanks will also be fitted to the remaining 11 schools within the area, at Council’s expense, allowing schools to use rainwater to meet up to 70 per cent of their irrigation and sewerage needs,” he said.
Council’s Catchments and Waterways team also set out to investigate if rainwater tanks can have a dual benefit of reducing the amount of flood water. The aim was to simulate 5,000 litre rainwater tanks for each of the houses in Beverley Park catchment.
Kogarah Council’s Manager Catchments and Waterways, Amit Chanan, said as part of the urban design, water saving measures are becoming important, particularly due to the current drought. The modelling study conducted by Cardno-Lawson & Treloar for the Council, looked at any additional benefits from these measures.
The conclusion for Kogarah’s Beverley Park catchment was that rainwater tanks certainly helped in water conservation, but did not aid in reducing flood peaks. Amit Chanan said the conclusion was quite surprising as it would be thought that using a collective body of rainwater tanks attached to houses across the catchment would help both conserve water and reduce flooding. The project team delivered the ideas in a paper to the 45th New South Wales Floodplain Authorities Conference held in Narooma in February.
For more information contact Amit Chanan, email amit.chanan@kogarah.nsw.gov.au
