Integrated Urban Water Management
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Australian Water Conservation and Reuse Research Program Integrated Urban Water Management A review of current Australian practice V. Grace Mitchell CMIT-2004-075 April 2004 ISBN0 643 09187 4 © 2004 CSIRO To the extent permitted by law, all rights are reserved and no part of this publication covered by copyright may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means except with the written permission of CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology. Important Disclaimer CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology advises that the information contained in this publication comprises general statements based on scientific research. The reader is advised and needs to be aware that such information may be incomplete or unable to be used in any specific situation. No reliance or actions must therefore be made on that information without seeking prior expert professional, scientific and technical advice. To the extent permitted by law, CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology (including its employees and consultants) excludes all liability to any person for any consequences, including but not limited to all losses, damages, costs, expenses and any other compensation, arising directly or indirectly from using this publication (in part or in whole) and any information or material contained in it. Cover Photograph Description: Hoffman Brickworks redevelopment, Brunswick, Victoria Photographer: V. Grace Mitchell © 2004 V. Grace Mitchell 1 This is a report of the Australian Water Conservation and Reuse Research Program, a joint initiative of CSIRO and AWA. Stakeholders of the Program, who supported this research are: Victorian Smart Water Fund United Water International Australian Water Association Water Corporation WA Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines Northern Adelaide Barossa Catchment Water Management Board Patawalonga Catchment Water Management Board City of Albury NSW Brighton City Council Tas City of Mount Gambier SA City of Mitcham SA Queensland EPA Albury City Council Western Water 2 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. 3 TABLE OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... 4 TABLE OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... 4 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 5 1.1. WHAT IS INTEGRATED URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT?........................................................ 5 1.2. SCOPE OF THIS REVIEW..................................................................................................... 8 1.3. STRUCTURE OF THIS REPORT ............................................................................................ 9 2. REVIEWING CURRENT AUSTRALIAN PRACTICE ........................................................... 10 2.1. SUMMARY OF THE CASE STUDIES REVIEWED ................................................................... 10 2.2. EMERGING THEMES ......................................................................................................... 12 2.3. AREAS IN WHICH PRACTICE CAN BE IMPROVED.................................................................. 13 3. FUTURE CHALLENGES...................................................................................................... 16 3.1. BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION ....................................................................................... 16 3.2. KNOWLEDGE GAPS AND RESEARCH NEEDS....................................................................... 16 4. PRINCIPLES FOR THE APPLICATION OF IUWM.............................................................. 19 5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................... 23 6. REFERENCES......................................................................................................................25 APPENDIX 1: CASE STUDIES OF OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS................................................. 28 CHRISTIE WALK, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA ........................................................................... 29 NEW HAVEN VILLAGE, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA................................................................... 31 CARINDALE PINES, BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND............................................................................... 33 ROUSE HILL, SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES................................................................................. 34 HOMEBUSH BAY, SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES .......................................................................... 36 KOGARAH TOWN SQUARE, SYDNEY............................................................................................. 38 FIG TREE PLACE, NEWCASTLE, NEW SOUTH WALES.................................................................... 40 CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY THURGOONA CAMPUS.................................................................... 42 INKERMAN OASIS, MELBOURNE, VICTORIA................................................................................... 44 RESERVOIR CIVIC CENTRE, MELBOURNE, VICTORIA .................................................................... 46 APPENDIX 2: DESCRIPTIONS OF SELECTED CASE STUDIES IN THE PLANNING, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PHASES................................................................................................. 47 MAWSON LAKES, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA .......................................................................... 48 AURORA, MELBOURNE, VICTORIA................................................................................................ 50 SHARLAND PARK, GEELONG, VICTORIA ....................................................................................... 51 PIMPAMA COOMERA, QUEENSLAND ............................................................................................. 52 MANLY WEST ESRD, BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND........................................................................... 53 APPENDIX 3: OTHER INTEGRATED URBAN WATER MANAGEMENT SITES AND DESKTOP STUDIES OF INTEREST.............................................................................................................. 55 APPENDIX 4: AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE ZONES......................................................................... 57 3 Table of Tables Table 1: Characteristics of ‘old’ and ‘emerging’ paradigms of urban water systems ...................... 7 Table 2: Reported social benefits of the recycled water elements of New Haven and Mason Lakes .............................................................................................................................................. 31 Table 3: Components of the water management system.............................................................. 43 Table 4: Other sites and studies of interest................................................................................... 55 Table of Figures Figure 2: Summary of the case study sites features ..................................................................... 11 Figure 3: The widening scope of urban stormwater management ................................................ 15 Figure 4: Being divergent and then convergent ............................................................................ 21 Figure 5: Internal pipe detail (left) and the roof garden in construction (right) .............................. 30 Figure 6: The Homebush Bay water management scheme.......................................................... 36 Acknowledgements The contents of this review have been informed by the work of many people. During the course of the review, the following persons contributed through informative case study discussions: Peter Coombes, Andrew Jackson, Cherie Hoyle, Murray Hutchesson, Matt Sherb and Jennifer Winlaw. The valuable comments of the reviewers is also acknowledged. 4 1. Introduction This document is a review of Australian urban development and practice in the application of the concept of integrated urban water management (IUWM). The purpose of this review is to comment on the success or otherwise, to date, of integrated urban water management in Australia, derive principles for the application of integrated urban water management, identify knowledge gaps and provide signposts to fruitful areas of future research and demonstration. 1.1. What is Integrated Urban Water Management? Conventional urban water management considers water supply, wastewater and stormwater as separate entities, planning, delivering and operating these services with little reference to one another. Current urban water systems harvest large volumes of water from remote catchments and groundwater sources, deliver drinking quality water to all urban uses and subsequently collects generated wastewater. This wastewater is removed, taken to treatment plants usually located on the fringe of the city or town, then discharged to the surrounding environment. Only 9% of this wastewater is currently reused (Radcliff, 2003). Large volumes of stormwater are also generated within urban areas due to the increased imperviousness of urban catchments. The majority of this stormwater flows out of the urban area, with little management of its quality and even less of it being used. As a result, the adverse impact of conventional urban water management on the