Saving water

It has been well documented that South East Queensland is experiencing its worst drought on record. With six consecutive years of less than average rainfall, the dams have fallen to historically low levels—with a combined average level of just 26%.

With level four water restrictions looming, the heat is on everyone to save water, including businesses and large organisations. Mater Engineering and Environmental Services have been working hard with the Brisbane City Council to develop a water efficiency management plan.

Mr Ian Schuster, Director of Engineering says the plan will help Mater develop and implement a number of initiatives to conserve, store and capture water for reuse.

“Some of the preliminary initiatives we are currently implementing include installing flow control devices to suitable tap ware, changing single flush toilets to dual flush systems and changing external tap ware to vandal proof taps.”

“We are also planning to install rain water tanks for the Convent, Reg Leonard House and the swimming pool and have incorporated a rain water harvesting tank into the plans for the new Mater Mothers' Hospital.”

“There are a lot of people working back of house to curb Mater's water usage and we encourage everyone to be water efficient and report any water leaks on site to the Engineering Department,” Mr Schuster said. As part of the plan, Mater Engineering and Environmental Services are also investigating a number of future water saving initiatives including:

• installing more rain water harvesting tanks (large and small) with reticulation systems to clean and use the captured water
• changing water jet to high pressure steam cleaning systems where possible
• developing water treatment and processing systems for cooling tower water that will provide for water recycling and reuse
• exploring with Brisbane Water and the Department of Resources and Mines on utilising a possible underground spring located underneath Mater Private Hospital Annerley Road.

For further information on how you can conserve water in your local area, please visit the SEQ Water web site, www.seqwater.com.au