Tea Tree leads the way in water savings

The City of Tea Tree Gully efforts in gaining water security for its community has been acknowledged with a national award. Council has been named the winner of the Innovative Infrastructure Development category in the 2011 National Awards for Local Government.

Chief Executive Officer Di Rogowski said the waterproofing of Tea Tree Gully has not only benefited residents, but also the rest of the State by ensuring that high quality water produced by South Australia Water is available for other users, as well as helping to reduce reliance on the River Murray

“We have set up a model that can easily by used by other councils across Australia and a number of the features implemented have already delivered multiple benefits for our local community,” she said.

Mayor Miriam Smith said the Councillors had been long time supporters of the project and saw the significance of a reliable water source. The majority of Tea Tree Gully’s parks and reserves now use recycled stormwater and wastewater to sustain them. The City will most likely end up with excess in water that can be on sold to other organisations.

Council’s Manager Environmental Sustainability Brenton Curtis who led the project, said the City has achieved water security and halved its total water use over the last six years.

This has been achieved by:

• constructing eight
wetlands, 10 aquifers
and 33 kilometres of “purple pipe” to collect and
distribute recycled water

• developing of a sewer
mining and treatment
facility to produce recycled
water

• constructing a stormwater
treatment facility

• introducing water
efficiency measures at all
community buildings

• converting all Civic Centre
toilets to rainwater

• upgrading the area Council
uses to wash trucks and
machinery

• replacing irrigation
infrastructure, including
introduction of subsurface

irrigation for new
installations

• encouraging water
sensitive urban design
within all new
developments

• landscaping using drought
tolerant plants wherever
possible.

For further information contact Brenton Curtis on
(08) 8397 7444.