A landmark venture between Knox City Council and an international company is breaking new ground in council and community partnerships, while saving millions of litres of water along the way.
Located in Melbourne’s east, Knox has teamed up with leading international technology company Siemens to tackle ongoing water restrictions in the local community.
Last month the two organisations launched a new stormwater harvesting project that uses cutting edge technology to make the most of a simple idea — taking millions of litres of stormwater previously lost, and using it for the good of the community.
Siemens Headquarters is located 1.3 kilometres from one of Council’s best reserves and its enormous building catches countless litres of water every time it rains. In seeing the opportunity for a unique project that could drought proof its prized football ground, Council and the Committee for Bayswater approached Siemens with a straightforward proposal.
“It was a matter of putting two and two together,” said Councillor Adam Gill. “Siemens has millions of litres of water gushing out its down pipes, and we have a football ground to irrigate.
“We asked Siemens if we could take their stormwater and use it to irrigate our local football ground, and needless to say, they jumped at the opportunity and the project took off.”
By using innovative Siemens technology and creative engineering, Council is pumping the water captured from Siemens headquarters to a specialised water tank at Marie Wallace Bayswater Oval. Once stored, the water is treated by Siemens technology, before being used for irrigation.
In all, the project will save up to 19 megalitres of water in Bayswater each year, the equivalent of seven Olympic sized swimming pools. It will allow full irrigation of the ground for six weeks during the hottest, driest part of summer.
“This is great teamwork between Knox Council and Siemens to save water for the benefit of our community,” Councillor Gill said. “What we’re seeing is a commitment from the public and private sectors to address a serious community issue.
“Marie Wallace Bayswater Oval is a regional facility, home to the Eastern Football League grand final each year, and one of our best reserves. This project will secure its place as one the best grounds for football and cricket in the region.”
While stormwater harvesting is now common practice in Local Government, using a private enterprise as an opportunity to access stormwater is something Councillor Gill believes to be unique, and a model that can be replicated across the country.
“So many Australian sportsgrounds are close to factories and office blocks —millions of litres of stormwater right at their fingertips. The spirit of team work between Siemens and Knox Council demonstrates what is possible when a private commercial land owner is willing to work together with a local council to use excess rainwater for a public use.
“Local sport is such a vital part of every community, and it’s great to see a company as big as Siemens make such an important contribution. Not only will our local sports clubs survive these prolonged drought conditions, they can actually thrive.”
Siemens also contributed financially to this project, providing $154,000 on top of Knox Council’s $200,000. In addition, the Federal Government’s Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program delivered $150,000, while $50,000 was allocated from the Victorian Government’s Drought Relief for Community Sport and Recreation program, and South East Water contributed $25,000.
For more information on the Knox Council/Siemens stormwater harvesting project, contact Sam Sampanthar, Council’s Sustainability Officer, on (03) 9298 8000.
