22 August
2006 - Applications for Round Two of the popular
Community Water Grants will close this Friday
(25 August).
The Australian Ministers for
the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell,
and Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, Senator
Eric Abetz, today reminded community groups about
the deadline for the popular programme and urged
groups to submit their applications by Friday.
“Australian community groups
are doing great things to save water through the
Community Water Grants programme – schools, Indigenous
Australian and charitable and sporting groups
are all making a contribution,” Senator Campbell
said.
“By undertaking practical, on-the-ground
projects, Australian communities are addressing
wise water use and improvements to water health
and quality in their own backyards and neighbourhoods,”
Senator Abetz said.
Grants worth up to $50,000 will
be available for water saving, recycling and treatment
projects that demonstrate community involvement
and a clear public benefit.
The $200 million Community Water Grants programme
is the community component of the Australian Government
Water Fund.
Round One of the programme was
an outstanding success, with $61 million awarded
to 1,1000 water saving projects expected to save
around 18 billion litres of water a year – enough
to fill 18,000 community swimming pools.
Examples of some of the great
projects approved in Round One are:
• the City of Bunbury, WA, will save 50,000,000
litres of water per year by installing a new weather
station to help determine the irrigation needs
of the cities five major parks and ovals – a total
area of 30 hectares
• the Dapto Community Farm, NSW, will save 5,000,000
litres of water per year through installing water
tanks, water meters and other irrigation improvements
• the Ballarat Christian School, VIC, will install
a gross pollutant trap to prevent rubbish entering
local waterways
The Ministers asked the community to think about
what they can do to build on the success of Round
One of the Community Water Grants programme and
help meet Australia’s water challenge.
Examples from Round One and demonstration projects
for each State and Territory is attached. A full
list of Round One projects is available at www.communitywatergrants.gov.au/grants/round1/index.html
Application forms and guidelines are available
from www.australia.gov.au/communitywatergrants
or by calling 1800 780 730.
Rob Broadfield (Senator Campbell’s office)
Brad Stansfield (Senator Abetz’s
office)
Community Water Grants
Round One and Demonstration Projects
New South Wales
Repairing the irrigation system at an organic
community farm Dapto Community Farm, Dapto, NSW,
$39,734.55 (ex GST)
The Dapto Community Farm uses
water from Mullet Creek as well as town water
to grow organic vegetables for Youth and Family
Services, the Youth Crisis Centre and the Warrawong
community kitchen. Continuous puddles of water
around the farm alerted the community that the
irrigation pipes were leaking and wasting a large
amount of water.
Landcare Illawarra funded a
facilitated planning session and a variety of
stakeholders were invited to attend. The group
consulted an irrigation specialist and their Aboriginal
Natural Resource Officer.
The resulting project will install
two water tanks on the farm, increasing the farm’s
self-sufficiency and reducing its need for town
water. It will also replace the current pump with
a variable flow pump to prevent pressure build
up and reduce future cracks. Cracked pipes will
also be replaced.
Water meters will be installed
to give an accurate water use figure so each stage
of improvements can be measured. The project will
occur in stages to allow for monitoring and data
collection, which will form the basis of educational
and promotional material for the benefit of farm
members, visitors, students and the broader community.
This project will save 5,000,000 litres of water
per year.
Saving the bore baths
Walgett Shire Council, Walgett, NSW, $45,454.55
(ex GST)
The Burren Bore Baths is one
of the most famous tourist attractions in the
Walgett region. Fresh bore water is constantly
fed into the baths and water is continually being
discharged at the same rate. The Burren Bore Trust
advised the Walgett Shire Council that unless
they could develop a way for the baths to stay
open without the significant waste of water, they
would cap the bore, meaning the baths would have
to close.
As soon as the word spread that
the bore that feeds the baths might be capped,
letters of support for the facility started pouring
in from all over south-eastern Australia.
The council held several public
meetings to discuss the options for keepingg the
baths open. They engaged a groundwater expert
to research the feasibility of using heat exchange
technology to keep the spa at an appropriate temperature.
They also looked into reinjecting treated wastewater
from the heat exchanger back into the Great Artesian
Basin.
A solution was determined:
a cap and pipe system will be built to reduce
the amount of water being lost through the bore.
The wastewater from the heat exchanger will also
be reused in the adjoining stock and domestic
reticulation scheme.
This project will save 180,000,000 litres of water
each year.
Western Australia
A weather station to control irrigation
City of Bunbury, Bunbury, WA, $45,287.27 (ex GST)
The City of Bunbury currently
uses 250,000 mega litres of water per year irrigating
five major parks and ovals – a total area of 30
hectares.
In an attempt to reduce water
use, the council researched successful weather
station projects and discovered that water savings
of 20 to 30 per cent were both achievable and
reasonable. The new weather station will measure
temperature, humidity, solar radiation, evaporation
and rainfall and automatically send these measurements
to the central control irrigation system.
The irrigation system will adjust
watering times and settings based on these factors.
As well as promoting water wise irrigation to
the community, this project will save 50,000,000
litres of water per year.
Precipitation and Sumpwater
Infiltration Swale with Borewater Recycled onto
School Oval
Beachlands Primary School, WA, $41,322.32 (ex
GST)
This project will allow rainfall,
fog and dew to infiltrate the porous pavers, the
swale and the garden-beds to recharge the watertable
with freshwater. The freshwater will be recycled
via the school's ten bores and used to irrigate
the school oval. In addition, seven of the high
water using trees will be removed and replaced
with native species.
Victoria
Improving the flow at Nine Mile Creek
Stanley Spring Ditch and Wetlands Reserve Committee,
Stanley, Vic, $7,221.82 (ex GST)
Stanley is a small town surrounded
by state forest and pine plantations. The channel
running through the middle of town to Nine Mile
Creek has been slice mined for gold and after
20 years of neglect, is infested with weeds. The
area was an eyesore and a fire hazard.
The water running through the
channel is promoting weed growth and making it
difficult to control weeds. In crucial summer
periods, water flowing into the current channel
does not reach the creek.
This project will construct
a diversion channel to an existing waterway, install
culverts and a channel stop and revegetate the
area around the new channel. This will increase
the volume of water reaching the main creek and
allow weed control in the existing channel, decreasing
the fire hazard in the area.
A retention basin, pollutant
trap and wetlands $41,214.55 (ex GST)
Ballarat Christian School, Ballarat, Vic
Ballarat Christian School developed
this project to address the issue of a dangerous
drain outlet on school property. After discussions
with a drainage engineer, local water authorities
and environmental groups, the project grew to
also offer long-term water savings.
There is a large volume of run-off
from the school that flows, via this drain, into
the Yarrowee River. To relieve pressure on town
water resources, this project will harvest run-off
to supplement the school’s water supply.
A gross pollutant trap will
be installed in the mouth of the drain outlet
to collect and remove rubbish before it enters
the river. Reed beds will be planted to filter
the water. This will help stop the build up of
silt and improve the quality of water entering
the river.
The local church community is
supporting the project through working bees. This
project will rehabilitate 0.5 hectares of land
and waterways.
South Australia
Recycling piggery effluent
Yates Piggery, Kimba, SA, $10,443.25 (ex GST)
Water is a major issue on the
Eyre Peninsula. Groundwater, combined with water
from the Tod River Reservoir, is the main source
of the region’s reticulated water.
Yates Piggery at Kimba uses
10,000 to 14,000 litres of water each day to flush
pig waste into existing ponds. Over 6,000,000
litres of water is discharged to the environment
each year.
The piggery discovered that
it is possible to recycle their wastewater without
safety concerns for either pigs or humans. Yates
Piggery consulted health experts and received
support from the Eyre Regional Development Board.
They also consulted a vet who strongly supported
the project.
This project will recycle piggery
wastewater several times rather than just once,
as is currently the case. The proposed system
will divert wastewater from the pig shed drains
through a series of ponds. As water moves through
the ponds it is progressively filtered and pumped
through the piggery to flush out pig waste again.
The local farm improvement group
will promote this recycling strategy as a model
for other farmers in the Eyre Peninsula area.
The result will be a saving of 4,000,000 litres
of water each year and a reduction in wastewater
discharged into surface and underground water
systems.
Harvesting stormwater for toilet
flushing
Caritas College School Board, SA, $45,454.55 (ex
GST)
When Caritas College School
Board heard about Community Water Grants they
were eager to tap into a long-term water solution
for the school. They attended community meetings
run by the Department of Primary Industries to
discuss possible options.
The school engaged a consultant to do a feasibility
audit and study of the site. The consultant recommended
water will be diverted through a collection sump
and a new pipeline to an existing (currently unused)
underground concrete tank. A new treatment unit
will be installed and a pump will divert water
to the toilet blocks for flushing.
The school reviewed the Regional
Water Strategic Plan to make sure their project
was in line with larger plans.
A new unit of work will be written
and incorporated into the school curriculum. This
project will be transferable to other schools
of similar size. A fact sheet will be developed
for distribution by the Catholic Education Office
and the project will be actively promoted through
the school newsletter.
An analysis of annual rainfall data and the school
surface area shows the project will harvest 6,000,000
litres of water each year. This will reduce total
water used for toilet flushing at the school by
25 per cent.
Queensland
Laser lab water-cooling refurbishment
Griffith University, Brisbane, Qld, $45,390.91
(ex GST)
Griffith University thought
carefully about the most cost effective way of
using a Community Water Grant to achieve a substantial
reduction in their water use.
The university currently uses
mains water to cool lasers and other science equipment
in their two laboratories. The water is only used
once before it is discharged at a rate of 1.5
litres per second.
This project will upgrade an existing but defunct
recirculating system. This upgrade will mean the
university can reuse water to cool the lasers.
Other science equipment that is connected to the
existing loop, including 15 diffusion pumps and
a vacuum plant, will also be supplied with the
reused water.
This project has strong support
throughout the university community – lecturers,
technicians, management and maintenance staff
are all on board. Lecturers and technicians will
monitor the project and the university’s mechanical
engineer will maintain it.
As well as being promoted in
the university and wider community, the recirculation
system will be used as a working model for environmental
engineering students.
This project will save 40,000,000 litres of water
per year.
Newmarket Wiser Water Project
Newmarket State School, QLD, $41,322.32 (ex GST)
This project will reduce water
consumption throughout the school by installing
18 dual flush toilets, 2 waterless urinals, and
other water saving fittings; by using rainwater
collected in 5 23,000L tanks to supplement the
toilet water supply; and reducing the quantity
of water used in the garden by installing irrigation
controllers with rainfall and soil moisture sensors.
The expected annual water savings will be more
than 150,000 L.
Tasmania
Treating stormwater at Parson’s Bay $12,207.82
(ex GST)
Friends of Judd Park, Nubeena, Tasmania
After a period of relatively
dry winters, the south coast of Tasmania received
high rainfall last year, which really put Nubeena’s
existing stormwater system to the test. The rainfall
flushed accumulated sediments, rubbish and pollutants
into Parson’s Bay, where many locals observed
silt in the water. They also noticed that wild
oysters in the bay were dying.
The timely release of a draft
manual on water-sensitive urban design, which
demonstrated how towns and cities were changing
kerb and guttering systems to vegetated swales,
inspired the Friends of Judd Park to trial an
alternative stormwater treatment method.
Through their local council,
Friends of Judd Park consulted with a stormwater
officer. A combination of a bio-retention basin
and a vegetated swale was recommended by the Tasmanian
Department of Primary Industries and Water and
in the stormwater management procedures for southern
Tasmania.
The Aboriginal Heritage section
of the Tasman Council advised that an Aboriginal
Heritage assessment of the area would be needed
before on-ground works could begin.
Working bees are open to the
public and the project includes an education component
to teach the community how they can reduce pollutants
and rubbish entering the stormwater. The groups
will give presentations at the local school, the
youth house and other interested groups, encouraging
them to be involved in the project. Newsletters,
fliers and posters will also be produced.
Using a stormwater-modelling
tool, the group was able to simulate their stormwater
system and estimate the reductions in phosphorus,
nitrogen and suspended solids that could be achieved
using the simple treatment train.
Woodbridge Water Conservation
Project
Woodbridge District High School, TAS, $32,554.21
(ex GST)
This project will involve conducting
a water audit and implementing a water conservation
plan for the school. This include installation
of 10 waterless urinals, 9 water saving toilets,
and water saving taps; establishment of water
friendly demonstration gardens; creation of eco-carpark
with biofilters; and monitoring of water quality
at Mason's Creek. The implementation of these
projects are expected to save 1.5 million litres
of water per annum.
Northern Territory
Important water places
Nyirripi Community Council, Nyirripi, NT, $42,022.73
(ex GST)
Camel populations in the Northern
Territory have a negative impact on the quality
of water and the biodiversity associated with
wetlands by emptying and fouling waterholes and
trampling the surrounding vegetation. Being an
arid environment, the Walpiri and Kartangarrurru
Kurintji Homelands in the Northern Territory rely
on water holes as an important source of water.
The NT Parks and Wildlife Service
has indicated that these sites should be protected.
This project will protect 16 important water places
on Walpiri homelands near the Nyirripi Community.
Innovative techniques for excluding camels from
waterholes will include welded spider-like structures
over small waterholes. Strong fence-like barriers
will be constructed around larger wetlands.
Tangentyere Landcare will introduce
an education program about the importance of controlling
feral camels. Elders will take school children
around each site to share cultural stories and
talk about the importance of the protection of
the sites.
Monitoring should show gradual
improvements in the quality of water at these
sites. Greening Australia will assist the community
to set up an annual monitoring programme which
will include photo-points, water testing and macro-invertebrate
counts.
Oval Irrigation with Non-Potable
Mine Pit Water at Pine Creek School, Northern
Territory
Pine Creek School Council, NT, $40,180.62 (ex
GST)
This project will save approximately
16,900,000 litres of water per year by irrigating
the school oval with an alternative non-potable
water source (mine pit water).
