Saving water in Randwick

The Water 4 Life partnership aims to create awareness and understanding of Randwick Council's existing stormwater re-use projects that are implemented across various sites and facilities in Randwick Council.

The water saved through these stormwater recycling projects is around 74 million litres of water which is equivelant to 29 Olympic swimming pools each year.

Water 4 Life poster  
(pdf 583 kb)

• Stormwater re-use
• Rainwater collecting
• Wastewater and backwash water re-use
• Water Wise Rules

Stormwater re-use

The stormwater re-use system operates by harvesting water from nearby Gross Pollutant Traps (GPTs) and re-using the water for the purpose of irrigation, hence avoiding the use of our precious drinking water.

The amount of water saved through this harvesting system is around 74 million litres of water which is equivalent to 29 Olympic swimming pools each year! Four of our stormwater re-use projects are featured in the Water for Life campaign. They are:

• Council's Community Nursery at Kingsford - A 140,000-litre underground stormwater re-use system has been constructed and is providing more than 60 per cent of the nursery's irrigation requirements
  
                    
  
  
• Clovelly beach, Clovelly - new treatment and irrigation systems are now in place providing treated stormwater for irrigation and toilet flushing and will be soon connected to Clovelly Lifesaving Club for flushing and washing down paved areas
  
                     
  
  
• Pioneers Park, Malabar - there is a new treatment and irrigation system recycling stormwater from the Gross Pollutant Trap in Cromwell Park saving around 40 million litres of townwater each year
  
                     
  
  
• Nagle Park, Maroubra - treatment and irrigation systems are providing treated stormwater for irrigation and saving Council 12 million litres of drinking water each year.
  
                     

Rainwater collecting in Randwick

• We've installed rainwater storage tanks, which hold more than 90,000 litres of water, dual flush systems in buildings and water saving showerheads and taps at our beach amenities
• More than 160,000 litres of rainwater tank storage systems have been installed across Council buildings including: 75,000 litres at the Works Depot at Maroubra; 20,000 litres at Council's Administration Building to help offset water used in the buildings air conditioning system; 20,000 at  the Des Renford Aquatic Centre, 20,000 litres at Bundock Reserve; 10,000 litres at Malabar Library; 10,000 litres at Perry Street Recycling Centre; and 14,000 litres at the Town Hall used to supplement car-washing and irrigation of garden areas.

Wastewater and backwash water re-use

• The wastewater re-use system at the Council's Storey Street Depot has just been upgraded and is providing around 70 percent of the Depot's water requirements
• Construction of a 240,000-litre water re-use system at the Des Renford Aquatic Centre at Maroubra has been completed, reusing and treating backwash water from each of the pools at the swimming centre.

Water Wise Rules

In June 2009, Sydney Water replaced water restrictions with Water Wise Rules.

The rules provide simple and sustainable actions, including:

• All hoses must now have a trigger nozzle.
• Hand held hoses, sprinklers and watering systems may be used only before 10 am and after 4 pm on any day - to avoid the heat of the day
• No hosing of hard surfaces such as paths and driveways. Washing vehicles is allowed.
• Fire hoses may be used for fire fighting activities only.

Exclusions

Recycled water, bore water and water used for testing fire systems, fire fighting and related activities are exempt from the Water Wise Rules. Water from rainwater tanks is also exempt if it is not topped up from Sydney Water's supply.