Manly Council’s innovative Filtered Water Bubbler Project has taken out second place from among 30 entries at the recent inaugural Local Government Innovation in Waste Awards.
The Filtered Water Bubbler Project aims to combat climate change and decrease impacts on the environment by reducing the purchase of bottled water and its associated waste.
Manly Council first turned on six custom made, wheelchair accessible filtered water bubblers in high use areas, including the beachfront and The Corso in August 2008.
Fifteen filtered water bubblers have now been installed along Manly Corso and Manly Ocean Beach, with three more to be installed by the end of 2010.
Based on the current usage of the bubblers, which are metered, when all 18 bubblers are operational, enough filtered water will be dispensed to fill the equivalent of two million, 600 millilitre bottles per year.
Short listed from among the top five award contenders drawn from across Australia, Manly Council was required to give a presentation on the Filtered Water Bubbler Project program at the Waste 2010 Conference held in Coffs Harbour in
May, as part of the final
judging process.
The entries were judged by a panel of industry experts and assessed according to their environmental and community benefit, cost, community consultation and promotion.
“The filtered water bubblers continue to be hugely successful in reducing water bottle waste, natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions,” said Manly Mayor Jean Hay.
The installation of the bubblers was the result of a partnership between Manly Council, water filtration company Culligan Australia, and the Bottled Water Alliance.
