Qenos
In 2003, Australia's sole producer of polyethylene to the plastics industry, Qenos, implemented two ongoing water saving initiatives at their Altona Olefins, Elastomers and Plastics site; together, the initiatives are expected to save around 250 Olympic sized swimming pools worth of fresh water each year.

"One project set about reducing the amount of fresh water used to cool our effluent stream to meet the Trade Waste Agreement temperature limit," says Chris Evans, Environmental Engineer at Qenos. "This required a complete system overhaul and assistance from City West Water. "The other initiative has resulted in treated effluent from the plant being used as make up for our cooling water tower – again eliminating the need for fresh water."

Qenos (which has another base in New South Wales) is committed to continuous improvement of their environmental performance.

Australian Graphic Servicing Pty Ltd
For more than 10 years, Australian Graphic Servicing has provided technical support to the Flexographic, Label Printing and commercial printing industries across Australia. Today, this support has expanded into helping conserve water during print production, through the design of a simple Water Saver circuit that times water requirements on pre-press equipment. The average results are water savings of 40 to 60 per cent with some companies reporting savings of more than 100,000 litres per month.

"Typically when a printing plate enters the processor, wash water comes on 40 seconds before it’s required and may run two minutes longer than required. At one site we calculated that 3,000,000 litres of water was being wasted each year," says Rene Wendt, Business Development Manager at Australian Graphic Servicing.

"To solve this we designed a programmable controller to monitor all processes and control water flow and duration times. It’s a method that has proven to be cost effective, simple to implement and flexible to operate."

Australian Graphic Servicing, based in Mulgrave, developed the Water Saver in response to a customers request to help reduce the water usage of their pre-press equipment; they are now committed to assisting all of their customers with water conservation in a production environment.

City of Melbourne
The goal of City of Melbourne's 'Watermark – Towards Sustainable Water Management by 2020' plan is to use less water in 2020 than was used in 1999 – even though the municipality's population is expected to more than double over that time. In designing the plan, Council first audited water use in commercial, industrial and residential sectors, as well as within their own operations. The results were then used to set a series of ambitious water saving targets, which have so far seen total municipal water consumption decrease by 17 per cent (2,073ML) in the year 2002/03 compared to 1999/00.

"There are many initiatives in the Watermark plan, from communication programs for industry and community to upgrading irrigation equipment in municipal parks and gardens – which is where nearly 82 per cent of Council’s water is used," says Lord Mayor John So. Other initiatives include developing and distributing household water saving calculators and embarking on leadership initiatives to save and reuse water at the Queen Victoria Markets, Royal Park Wetlands and new Council administrative building, CH2.

The Watermark program is being implemented with the support of partners Melbourne Water, City West Water, South East Water, ICLEI, Sustainable Gardening Australia, Green Plumbers, RMIT University, Melbourne University and CSIRO. Watermark and its methodology for setting water saving targets are now promoted by the State Government as a model water strategy for other metropolitan councils developing water saving plans.

Grampians Water
Grampians Water, which has supplied reclaimed water for irrigation since 1972, aims to reclaim and use 100 per cent of the wastewater generated from the towns it services (excluding those with evaporation systems) by the end of 2004. Currently, 93 per cent of the region's wastewater is reclaimed and used for pasture improvement, horticulture and vineyards, and for watering recreational facilities and parks.

"The benefits of reclaimed water use play a major role in Grampians Water’s overall water conservation strategy," says Peter McManamon, CEO of Grampians Water. "Use of this resource has meant that in many cases, water doesn’t have to be drawn from town water supplies and therefore, the implementation of higher level water restrictions has been prevented for the majority of our customers."

In 2002/03 the company commissioned a reclaimed water scheme in Warracknabeal that now provides around 110 megalitres of irrigation water annually for use on the local racetrack and golf course. A further seven reclaimed water projects will be commissioned in 2004.

"Grampians Water is also engaging government, community and other stakeholders to assist in a Reclaimed Water Strategy for the region. The aim is to identify further opportunities for reclaimed water use in our region to deliver further environmental, social and economic benefits to our communities," Mr McManamon says.

Education and Communication Programs

'Educate not regulate' is the philosophy that underpins all educational activities undertaken by Grampians Water, which promotes water conservation throughout the arid Wimmera-Mallee region. They are committed to reaching all age groups through a variety of platforms, including school visits, treatment facility tours, weekly radio segments, community events and participation in programs like National Water Week.

"Our latest customer survey revealed that 44 per cent of households have changed their water usage patterns in response to information communicated by Grampians Water," says Peter McManamon, CEO of Grampians Water. "This in turn resulted in a 38 per cent reduction in regional urban water use over the 2002/03 summer period. This equates to a saving equal to more than the annual consumption of our largest town, Horsham." According to Mr McManamon, "new, innovative ideas are the key to encouraging community participation and promoting the better use of our scarce water resources."

Pilkington (Australia) Limited
Pilkington (Australia) Limited, specialist manufacturers of automotive glass, reduced their company water consumption by 25 per cent in 2003 by applying the '3R principals' of waste management to water conservation: reduce, reuse and recycle. The reduction was the result of four major projects: recycling rinse water in glass washing machines, using recycled cooling water for the glass toughening furnace, recycling grinding fluids in new glass grinding machines and linking the old machine to a recirculation system.

"We're committed to the efficient use of natural resources and the pursuit of environmental improvement," says Brendon Lane, Plant Manager of Pilkington (Australia) Limited's North Geelong Site. "Overall, the Geelong site has reduced its per piece water consumption by 61 per cent in five years and is using 70,000 kilolitres of water less each year in its manufacturing processes than in 1999.

"Pilkington strives for the highest standards in all areas of our business, recycling our waste and saving natural resources is no exception. All of our automotive sites in Australia are certified to ISO 14001 and this nomination is a credit to the commitment of all our employees."

R&J Sellwood
R&J Sellwood at Undera in the Goulburn Valley has transformed from a traditional flood irrigation farm into a high-tech permanent subsurface drip irrigation (PSDI) farm – with water savings of between 50 and 80 per cent on fodder crops grown for the dairy industry.

"Other environmental benefits are that we're no longer contributing excess nutrients to streams and rivers because the need for drainage is nearly non-existent with a PSDI system,” says Ray Sellwood. "With the succession of dry years in Victoria, PSDI is a viable alternative to traditional irrigation methods - it offers a compromise between farmers, urban development and the environment."

Applewood
Applewood is a residential community for over 55 year-olds in Doncaster, which in 2003, incorporated water saving applications like water flow control valves into every home. Hydrocell foam (which increases water retention by up to 70 per cent) was added to all landscaped areas, which are maintained by state of the art computer irrigation systems. Reclaimed water also plays a part in Applewood's water conservation plan.

"We wanted to provide a truly sustainable outcome in regards to the environmental, economic and social impact of water," says Phillip David, Development Manager and Gandel Group. "Applewood achieved this by minimising water consumption across the site and generating real, ongoing cost savings to the residents. We also increased social awareness in regards to water sustainability."

John Danks & Son
Plants Plus Garden Centres, a group of independent retailers operating under the John Danks & Son umbrella, have been proactively producing marketing communications to encourage water conscious gardening amongst their customers. In-store, the Centres have been grouping water-wise plants and associated dry goods under themed signage, supported by information leaflets, catalogue promotions and other literature delivered around local Plants Plus Garden Centre areas.

"We developed the campaigns to encourage positive gardening activity through drier periods and to support the overall conserve water message," says Ann Sanfey, Brand Manager - Plants Plus at John Danks & Son. "We wanted to show gardeners that they could return to their beloved past-time even though there are water restrictions, but felt a responsibility to demonstrate how they could do so responsibly and effectively."

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
Water sensitive landscape design and careful plant selection are just some of the reasons why Long Island at Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens uses 70 – 80 per cent less water than the site's other equivalent, irrigated gardens.

"This development transformed a nondescript area into a significant collection of 10,000 indigenous plants adapted to local climate and rainfall. Hence, there is minimal irrigation," says Richard Barley, Divisional Director, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. "We’ve also mulched all garden areas to minimise runoff and evaporation losses and the area is regularly audited to maximise water use efficiency through a centrally controlled Automatic Irrigation System, and aids such as an Automatic Weather Station and soil moisture sensors."

Community and school group planting days have given Melbournians a sense of ownership of Long Island and on-site education programs demonstrate the importance of sustainability, water use and quality for tertiary and secondary students.

Davey Products Pty Ltd
Davey Products in Scorseby has developed RainBank®, a revolutionary automatic controller that makes using rainwater for domestic use easy. RainBank® controls the water supply for toilet and laundry applications by automatically switching the water source from the domestic mains to rainwater when it senses available rainwater in a storage tank.

"If all new homes in Victoria install a rainwater tank with RainBank®, and one per cent of existing homes do the same, Victoria can save 3,400 megalitres per year," says David Cleland, Managing Director of Davey Products. "It can save up to 40 per cent of a household’s drinking water."

CERES Community Environment Park
Community demonstration and education activities about water conservation form the centre of an $800,000 water project being implemented at CERES Community Environment Park in Brunswick East. The site features demonstrations ranging from water efficient appliances, through to rainwater collection, composting toilets and wastewater treatment and reuse.

"The demonstrations are supported by education programs for primary and secondary students, research projects for higher education groups, community and industry workshops and seminars, and site tours for national and international delegations," says Eric Bottomley of CERES Community Environment Park. Each year the site treats 300,000 litres of wastewater and collects 400,000 litres of rainwater for reuse on site. The site has reduced its water consumption by 50 per cent, from 8.4 megalitres in 2002 to 4.1 megalitres in 2003.

Project partners and supporters include: Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development; EPA Victorian Stormwater Action Program; Yarra Valley Water; Centre for Design at RMIT; CRC for Catchment Hydrology; Moreland City Council; and CSIRO.

Michael Blewett
Michael Blewett of Mount Waverley has made his entire home into a model of water conservation and estimates that he and wife, Jodie now save more than 570 litres of water per day – over one year, that's the equivalent of four back yard swimming pools.

"When I ride my bike to work and see the huge amount of rainwater rushing past me down the stormwater drains, I think of how much of Melbourne's fantastic drinking water we are simply flushing away down the toilet," Michael says. "If everyone made an effort to use rainwater and to re-use greywater, just think of the amount of our beautiful water we can save."

At his home, Michael has installed a 4,500 litre rainwater tank and pump to water the garden, service toilets and supply the washing machine. The toilets and washing machine have a dual feed so that if the tank runs out he can still switch back to mains water. He has replaced old leaky gutters with new enclosed gutters to feed the rainwater tank, created mulched garden beds and a water wise garden, installed water-efficient shower heads, and replaced an old washing machine with a AAA rated front loader. A 20 year old dishwasher was also replaced with one that is both water and energy efficient.

"We have done almost everything we can do to the house with the exception of greywater use – and that's next on the list," Michael says.