Displaying items by tag: Sportsground
The Sportsfield Irrigation Software is targeted at helping review Melbourne’s future developments and existing irrigation practices for sports fields.
Its objective is to provide an information package for decision makers on the development and management of sports fields, with a software model to quantify irrigation water and nutrient demand and their dependence on the use of alternative water sources.
This project will see Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) investigate and trial the use of alternative harness racing track surface materials to determine their effectiveness at reducing water demand while also remaining acceptable for training and racing purposes.
The trial site will be Bendigo Harness Racing Track – one of Victoria’s largest harness racing facilities – with one race track and two training tracks.
Due to prolonged drought conditions and water restrictions, the thoroughbred racing industry in Victoria had been at risk of not receiving adequate water supplies to ensure the continued well being of the industry.
This challenge was to replace 450ML of irrigation water with an alternative supply and to replace domestic appliances with more water efficient variants to save a further 28ML per year.
Bowling greens are subject to very intensive use, and Blackburn Bowls Club in Melbourne's eastern suburbs is no exception, with the Club estimating that there is over 62,000 hours of competitive, practice, and social play annually.
With the drought unrelenting and the likelihood of ongoing water restrictions, there was a clear need for Blackburn Bowls Club to address its water use if the club wanted to survive.
Albert Park Lake and surrounding parkland have, to date, used drinking water for irrigation and until 3 years ago, lake replenishment.
This project explored community attitudes to finding alternative sources – recycled water (including sewer mining), treated stormwater or seawater - for times when water is scarce and because views on drinking water usage are changing.
Because of the large volumes of visitors, Flemington Racecourse management believed it would be economically feasible to demonstrate sewer mining as a form of water recycling using the Multiple Water Reuse (MWR) wastewater treatment technology patented by Waste Technologies of Australia (WTA).
The Smart Water Fund provided $270,000 towards the project for development and demonstration of the sewer mining technology.
The Club is using recycled water supplied from their local water authority to support a durable yet impact-resistant surface.
It has also utilised a new and highly innovative sub-surface irrigation system.
Senviro Pty Ltd, a small manufacturing company, received funding to develop and trial a low-cost soil moisture sensor to optimise watering systems.
The technology base for Senviro products was originally developed by the Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for Micro-technology.
Maintaining Victoria's State Netball Hockey Centre's two synthetic wet hockey pitches to international standards required around 24 megalitres of drinking quality water every year.
This huge drain on Melbourne's water resources was a concern shared by sportsmen and women, the wider community and the Centre's management. In response, the State Netball Hockey Centre took up the challenge to find an alternative source of water.
Providing a safe playing surface for users of sportsgrounds has increasingly become an area of concern during drought, as grounds receive less rainfall and water restrictions prevent them from being irrigated as frequently.
While transitioning sportsgrounds to warm season grasses has been recognised as one solution, Knox City Council in Melbourne's east also saw the potential to recycle water from other water intensive community facilities within close proximity of thirsty sportsgrounds for irrigation purposes.