stormwater recycling
Stormwater recycling project with a winning design
Design, science and sustainability have come together at a Sydney Park stormwater project. The project has won the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences category in the Good Design Awards — a prize given to products that have the potential to make a significant improvement to the quality of health, wellbeing or the environment.
T
he City of Sydney water
to increase storage and improve water
management by allowing park visitors to
re-use project harvests
filtering;
connect to the concept of water capture
and treats up to 850 million L of stormwater from Newtown’s Munni Street catchment each
• landscape improvement to create more recreation and play opportunities; • connecting wetlands via a picturesque series of water cascades;
year. The water is used to irrigate the
• improving the footpath network;
44-hectare parkland and supply water to
• installing new lighting, seating and
a neighbouring depot.
picnic areas;
and cleansing in a beautiful setting.” Director of Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Dolla Merrillees, called the Sydney Park water re-use development a ground breaking project. “We have selected a project which highlights important contemporary issues such
The elevated terracotta pipes that re-
• installing a dog water station to keep
as sustainability and social innovation, and
lease the cleansed water into the park’s
dogs away from the wetlands and give
addresses the increasingly critical issue
them somewhere to cool off;
of our natural resources,” Merrillees said.
main pond are now a popular waterscape feature for visitors.
• installing an artwork comprising a se-
“This community-focused project il-
Under the water harvesting plan, storm-
ries of elevated terracotta channels that
lustrates how Australian designers are
water is captured, stored and then treated
reflect the site’s history and aerate and
successfully responding to ‘real world’
to deliver a new sustainable water supply
distribute water throughout the wetland
problems, by planning our future cities and
to the wetlands, Sydney Park, and poten-
system; and
urban environment with a sense of social
tially for nearby industrial use. There is
• providing information to park visitors
also potential for other water users across
about the water treatment and ecological
the local area to access the clean water.
responsibility and purpose.” The City’s water reuse project brought
function of the wetlands.
together Sydney firms Turf Design Stu-
The $11.2 million Sydney Park upgrade
“This is the City’s biggest environmental
dio, Environmental Partnership, Alluvium,
was co-funded by the City and the federal
project to date and brought together design,
Dragonfly and Turpin+Crawford Studio,
government. Work included:
science and sustainability to create a sig-
who completed the two-year project in
nificant new piece of green infrastructure,”
October 2015.
• diverting stormwater through underground pipes; • filtering water through a pollutant trap and series of bio-retention beds; • revitalising the park’s wetland system
10 Sustainability Matters - Aug/Sep 2016
the Lord Mayor said.
The project plans will be displayed in
“It not only improves overall water qual-
the Success and Innovation gallery at the
ity and habitat, it also educates residents
Museum of Applied Arts and Science at
and visitors on the importance of water
Ultimo.
www.SustainabilityMatters.net.au