Located 15 kilometres east of Melbourne’s CBD, Whitehorse City Council is developing an innovative stormwater retention and reuse system at one of its reserves. The system will save up to seven megalitres of rainwater from being washed down the drain each year.
Whitehorse Councillor, Helen Harris, said the design of the $380,000 system is almost complete, with installation expected to be in place by October. She said the system is jointly funded by Council and a $150,000 grant received through the Victorian Government’s Stormwater and Urban Water Conservation Fund.
“Stormwater will be collected and stored in a large underground tank,” Councillor Harris said. “Once collected, it will then be treated so it can be reused for irrigation of Council reserves, to water street trees and garden beds and for cleaning drains and streets.
“In this day and age when water is such a precious commodity, anything we can do to collect and reuse it has to be of benefit.”
Aside from saving water, the project will also address a capacity problem with the drainage system in the area.
In the past, heavy rainfall has resulted in flooding. The new stormwater retention and reuse system will mean Council will not have to install larger drainage pipes under its city oval to address this problem.
Councillor Harris said the project is a model that can be adopted by other Councils and will also be considered for other locations in Whitehorse.
“It will be a significant boost towards achieving the goals set through Council’s Water Action Plan to reduce Council’s water consumption by 25 per cent by the year 2012,” she said.
“It follows earlier projects that involve collecting roof water from a number of Council buildings for reuse as toilet flush water and recent works at Council’s nursery, where 85 per cent of the water used is recycled.”
For further information contact Ian Goodes, Whitehorse’s Manager Engineering and Environmental Services, on (03) 9262 6488.
