Ecologically Sustainable Sydney
Biodiversity
Water in Sydney & NSW
Urban Sensitive Water Design to reduce Flooding and Storm Water Runnoff
Wikipedia provides a comprehensive overview of Water-sensitive urban design, including Principles, Regulation and examples of Projects in Australia...more
Inundation of Sydney Harbour and other Bays with Fresh Water
- Increasing Fresh water inundation...due to runoff from hard urban surfaces...more
- Stormwater Treatment Objective- Relative Measure (STORM), Melbourne Water method of simplifying the analysis of stormwater treatment methods. The STORM Calculator is designed for the general public to easily assess Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) measures on their property...more
- Urban growth has resulted in vegetated areas being covered with hard (impervious) surfaces such as roads, roofs and paving. These hard surfaces prevent stormwater soaking into the soil and the stormwater is carried away by pipes and open drains to the local creeks and harbours.... a stormwater buffer slows down the rate of flow from your property compared to a rainwater tank that only stores stormwater....more
- In Red mangroves,prop roots extend above most high tide levels. Black mangroves are excluded as water depths increase. In freshwater communities other species may out compete the mangroves for space. more
- Stormwater and erosion: Make sure that your property has as little hard surface as possible, and maintain vegetation like trees, flowers and shrubs, especially near the shoreline. A 20m (66ft) vegetated buffer is recommended. If rainwater is able to infiltrate the soil, this allows plants to use the nutrients in rainwater before it enters the lake. Where possible direct run-off from hard surfaces away from the lake into rain gardens and soakway pits....more
- How healthy is my shoreline quizz...more
AquiFer
The other side of storm water and runoff is that because a lot of the land in Sydney is covered by impervious surfaces such as roads and buildings the level of runoff is increased and less water is absorbed into the ground. The move to rainwater tanks stores some of this water but if it is used to water gardens or flush toilets, it is likely to evaporate and flow into the sewerage system. The alternative is soak pits which replenish the aquifer. This water is available to plants and eliminates the need for watering.
Urban Puddle corner of Collins and Trafalgar Streets Annandale, June 2007
Stormwater Control by Biodiversity in Glebe and Chippendale (November 2012)
Photographs courtesy of Ted Floyd
Water Quality of Runoff into Sydney Harbour
When it rains it pours in Sydney. The NSW Government's Urban Stormwater Program, administered by the Stormwater Trust, was designed as a short- to medium-term program to provide seed funding to address stormwater quality hot spots and to give the stormwater industry and stormwater managers an opportunity to develop new ways of addressing the serious problem of poor stormwater quality. - www.environment.nsw.gov.au/stormwater
Two of the projects are filter water which flows into the creeks that bound Annandale. Federal Park Tidally-Influenced Salt Marsh Wetland in Annandale, which filters the water which flows into Johnston's Creek and White's Creek Wetland both filter water that runs into Rozelle Bay.
- Water Cycle
- Creekcare
- "Inner West Council’s Rainwater Tank Incentive Scheme—a workshop and rebate program—is available to all rate payers, residents and businesses in the local government area..."more
- NSW Government rainwater tank rebate stopped in 2012
- Sydney Water Rainwater Tank Rebates - There are two parts to the rebate*:
- A tank capacity rebate - for the size of your rainwater tank
- An internal connection rebate - for connecting your rainwater tank to a toilet(s) and/or washing machine
Sydney Tank Stream
The spot chosen for the settlement was at the head of the cove, near the run of fresh water which stole silently along through a very thick wood the stillness of which had then, for the first time since the Creation, been interrupted by the rude sound of the labourer’s axe. (David Collins, Account of the English Colony of New South Wales, 1802) - Source City of Sydney.
Sewerage
There are ten coastal treatment plants in Sydney. The three largest are located at North Head, Bondi and Malabar and treat most of Sydney's sewage, discharging via deep ocean outfalls. More at: Coastal Waste Water Treatment Plants
Waste water is now being used to keep parklands and golf courses green - Sewer Mining
Drinking Water
- Quality of Tap Water in Sydney - see Quarterly Drinking Water Quality Report
- NSW Health Policy Directives, Guidelines and Information bulletins
Rainwater Tanks Where a Public Water Supply is Available - Use of
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BASIX requires all new homes in NSW to use up to 40% less potable water and produce up to 40% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the average home.
From 1 October 2006, BASIX will also apply to major alterations and additions to existing homes.
- The Water target ranges from 40% to 0% across NSW, taking into account the significant variances in the climate...* 90% of new residential development will be covered by the 40% water target.
- Gardening with recycled light grey water and rainfall
- Install a dual flush toilet cistern outlet valve to save water
Waragamba Dam
The Waragamba Dam collects water from catchment area of the Wollondilly and Coxs River systems, to form Lake Burragorang. This is the largest urban water supply in Australia and contains four times the volume of water of Sydney Harbour.
The Dam was constructed between 1948 and 1960. More than 2,300,000 tonnes of sandstone was removed from the site. 305,000 tonnes of cement and 2,500,000 tonnes of sand and gravel were mixed into concrete on the site. - www.sca.nsw.gov.au/dams/warragamba.html
BOM: Monthly Climate Summary
Desalination
Further Reading
www.ramin.com.au/eco-sydney/water.shtml © Ramin Communications 2007. Previously modified 29 November 2013. Last modified 2 Feb 2017
