Home | Contacts | Payments | Site Index               

» Search «

Monash Bulletin - 17 October 2006

Doing Our Bit For Water Conservation

Monash City Council is continuing to boost its water saving measures to help cope with water restrictions this summer.

Mayor Joy Banerji said Council is determined to increase its self-sufficiency in water given the new technologies available to improve conservation.

"We want to maintain the garden character of our city and in order to do that we need to understand that water is a finite resource and we have to improve our efficient use of that resource," she said.

" In a bid to lessen the impact of water restrictions each summer, Council has progressively introduced a range of water conservation measures at its parks, reserves and other facilities, including buildings.

" In some instances this has saved almost 90% of water use that would otherwise have to come from the mains system."

She said a stormwater harvesting project was also being considered that could divert 60 million litres of water currently lost down drains to be used for irrigation at the Council's two golf courses at Glen Waverley and Oakleigh.

" Council is complying strictly with the current water restrictions and surpasses many of these voluntarily. Our Water Use Management Strategy is designed to lead to a high level of self-sufficiency in non-domestic water usage."

Among measures Council has already introduced to conserve and/or recycle water are:

• Progressive installation of rainwater tanks at sporting grounds and reserves to replace mains water use.
  • The new $650,000 Glen Waverley North Pavilion has six 10,000 litre rainwater tanks - one for use in taps and toilets in the pavilion and the other five for irrigation. Tally Ho Reserve has two tanks for irrigation and Freeway Reserve one tank for toilets
  • There are older style tanks at Central Reserve (for irrigation of Central Reserve North and the athletics track), Mount Waverley Reserve (irrigation) and Glen Waverley Golf Course (toilets)
  • Council is investigating the possibility of installing rainwater tanks at Southern Reserve, Clayton Reserve, Monash Gardens and Mulgrave Community Centre and Gladeswood Reserve and Community Centre.
• A stormwater harvesting project at the Council's Depot at Ferntree Gully Road allows rainwater from the Depot's roof area to be collected in two 45,000 litre tanks on site and used in the Council's wash bay. In the past year, rainwater supplied 88 per cent of all water used in the wash bay - more than 988,000 litres out of a total of 1.2 million litres. The water is used to clean Council vehicles and rubbish bins.
• Drought-resistant native grasses, shrubs and trees are planted in parks and reserves. Closer control of irrigation systems has been a priority in the City's water saving initiatives and rain sensor gauges have been installed so that once 5mm of rain has been measured, they automatically shut off.
• Water saving initiatives have been extended to Council buildings and other facilities. These include flow restricting valves on taps, replacing single flush toilets with dual flush units, waterless urinals and water efficient shower heads in pavilions.

Stage 1 Water Restrictions

The key restrictions under the new Stage 1 water restrictions include:

• Manual watering systems (the kind you turn on or off by hand) can only be used between 6 am-8 am and 8 pm-10 pm on alternate days*
• Automatic watering systems (the kind you set to turn on and off automatically) can only be used between midnight-4 am on alternate days*
• Hand-held hoses fitted with a trigger nozzle can be used at any time to water gardens and lawns
• A bucket, high pressure cleaning device or commercial car wash can be used to wash vehicles at any time. A hand-held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle can be used for pre-rinsing and rinsing only
• Hosing down driveways, paths, concrete and paved areas is not permitted
• Consult your local water company before filling a pool.

* Alternate days means odd numbered houses can water on odd dates of the month and even numbered houses can water on even numbered dates. For example if you live at 45 Park Street, you can only use your watering system on the 1st, 3rd, 5th etc... of the month.

For further information South East Water 131 867, Yarra Valley Water 131 721.

Page top

Published: 17 October 2006

[ Up: Monash Bulletin 17 October 2006  |   Forward: Sounds Like Fun ]