One precious resource helping another
Siemens has developed and supplied a system for the irrigation of the cricket and football grounds of Bayswater Oval in Melbourne that collects water from roof space, parking lots and other run-off areas, cleans and stores it until it is used.
When outdoor sports facilities are threatened by closure, entire communities are affected. Such was the case with the Marie Wallace Bayswater Oval, a major cricket and football grounds in an outer eastern suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Drought conditions and water restrictions had rendered the facility as unsafe for public use, threatening to shut it down. A local water harvesting initiative supported by Siemens provided a game-changing solution.
Saving a valuable venue
Sports facilities like the Bayswater Oval play a vital role in Australian communities. Home to local cricket clubs in the summer and football clubs in the winter, they are used all year round. Even more than that, they are important social gathering venues and points of local interaction. Losing such a facility has a profound impact on the overall quality of life of a community.
Outdoor sports grounds need regular irrigation to allow grass to recover from use and to provide a smooth surface for safe playing conditions. However, Melbourne as well as many other states in Australia had been experiencing drought conditions for over 10 years. This prompted local authorities to consider additional water conservation measures. It was only a question of time before the water used for irrigating the Bayswater Oval grounds, primarily drinking water, would no longer be available. Located just 2 km from its Bayswater office, Siemens chose to take action. According to Roslyn Sayers, Siemens VP of Sustainability, there were several good reasons to get involved: “It wasn’t just the fact that the sports facility was practically located in our backyard. We knew we had the technology, the know-how and the drainage infrastructure to help. And helping was simply the right thing to do.” Combining forces with ‘us’ Utility Services, South East Water as well as Australian local, state and federal governments, Siemens engineers came up with a viable solution for the facility – one based on stormwater harvesting.
In a 1.5-megaliter water tank at the Bayswater Sports Oval in Melbourne, purified storm water is collected for irrigation.
Using resources effectively
As a result, Siemens supplied and developed an innovative system that collects water from roof space, parking lots and other run-off areas over a 50,000 square meter radius at the Headquarters of the Siemens Office for Australia and New Zealand. First collected in an underground water tank at Siemens Headquarters after oil and debris separation, the water is UV treated and then pumped 1.3 kilometers to a 1.5-megaliter water tank located at the Bayswater Sports Oval. There it is used for irrigation. In total, Siemens invested some 107,500 euros for design, engineering and system components. Local, state and federal governments topped that sum with another 279,000 euros. All in all, the entire project was financed with roughly 500,000 Australian dollars (approx. 410,000 euros).
2011-Feb-23 | Author
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