Sutherland Shire Council in New South Wales has achieved a massive reduction in water, gas and chemical usage at a local leisure centre.
In 2015, Council completed a comprehensive overhaul of the Sutherland Leisure Centre’s chlorine disinfectant process and aging ‘Ozone’ water filtration system with a state of the art UV disinfecting technology and ‘Defender’ filters.
The project covered the 1.6 megalitre combined indoor program pool, aquatic play area and spa and was completed in a ten week timeframe during the winter months when patron activity was at its lowest.
The replacement of the aged and deteriorated underfloor sand filtration vessels, which had been installed back in 1991, in conjunction with the new UV disinfecting process has resulted in crystal clear water that has been met with positive reviews from regular patrons of the facility. The new Ultra Fine Filtration (UFF) system is also more serviceable at plant room level, reducing overall servicing costs and remaining a sustainable asset into the future.
The financial and environmental benefits of the new systems were felt immediately, with reductions in gas usage for water heating due to the dramatically reduced amount of wastewater needing to be discharged per month.
The previous figure of 50 kilolitres discharged between Monday and Friday each week has been reduced to just 14 kilolitres per month since implementation, and the reduction in the use of chemicals to keep the pool clean has significantly reduced the environmental impact of the facility
The new filtration system requires less water to clean the filters and is more efficient, filtering water down to one micron compared to the previous sand filtration system, which was rated between five-tenWW microns depending on the sand quality.
The reduced backwash of water means that more warm water can be re-circulated, reducing the amount of gas used to heat new water.
The UV disinfection system is a state of the art, chemical free system, which has meant a significant reduction in the amount of chlorine that needed to be regularly topped up under the previous system.
This project falls in line with Sutherland Shire Council’s commitment to sustainable projects for the community.
