Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Hansard source

I am advised by Senator Boyce that she also knows about biofiltration. I am very pleased about that. The innovative aspect of the Unity Park project is that it has a very small footprint—in other words, it does not take up much space. Of course, that is very important in convincing other councils to pick up this sort of technology. This could pave the way for widespread use of this sort of stormwater harvesting technology in urban areas across Australia where there are not large spaces available. The project also includes six new aquifer storage and recovery wells that are being installed along a nearby road verge, again demonstrating that big spaces are not required for this sort of stormwater harvesting and reuse technology.

Senator McEwen would be very well aware of our next stop, which was Parafield, where a Salisbury council project is diverting water from a drain, via a weir, into a capture basin. The water is then pumped into a holding basin from where it moves by gravity to a two-hectare cleansing reed bed. Nutrient and pollutant loads are typically reduced by up to 90 per cent by this process and the salinity of the treated water is significantly lower than that of water from the River Murray. This is a joint project with a local wool-processing company, which I am told is the largest in Australia. Wool washing requires significant quantities of water and the high costs of fresh water and sewerage disposal had lead the company to consider cheaper locations elsewhere. However, the development of this project will provide up to 1.1 billion litres of treated stormwater and waste water for wool processing each year, which will contribute to the security of about 700 jobs in the north of Adelaide.

Our last stop was the Stebonheath Flow Control Park, which is part of the innovative Waterproofing Northern Adelaide project. The Australian government is contributing $38 million to the overall Waterproofing Northern Adelaide project, which is run by a subsidiary of the Playford, Salisbury and Tea Tree Gully councils. It is good to see all of those councils working closely together. The $7.5 million Stebonheath Flow Control Park, which was opened by Senator Penny Wong in March last year, is one of 18 key stormwater harvesting, treatment and storage wetlands to be constructed or upgraded under the wider Waterproofing Northern Adelaide project. The park combines eight hectares of recreational open space with four hectares of wetlands. About 422 million litres of water each year from the wetlands will be injected into the Northern Adelaide Plains aquifer for storage and recovery. Eventually, about 570 million litres will be harvested from the park wetland for irrigation of City of Playford parks and reserves.

The wider project is a great example of how neighbouring local governments can work together on stormwater harvesting and reuse schemes. It is also an example of the federal government’s innovation-driving investment in stormwater projects across Australia. In conjunction with state and local governments, this investment is helping to secure urban water supplies in cities and towns across the country. The meeting and site visits certainly made for an extremely interesting and informative day, and I look forward to my next meeting with the Urban Water Stakeholder Reference Panel.