Council’s commitment to saving costs continues
Febrary 10, 2017
Colac Otway Shire’s latest efforts to save money whilst still delivering great services to the community now involve using innovative water saving technologies.
Over the last three years, a rolling program of service reviews has delivered more than half a million dollars of permanent savings to Council’s operations. This meant that last year Council was able to absorb the impact of rate capping without affecting the services that the community receive.
The latest initiative led by Council staff aims to save the amount of water Council uses as well as reduce the size of Council’s water bills.
Colac Otway Shire recently approached Barwon Water to see if there was a way to better understand water usage at sports grounds, parks and gardens.
Colac Otway Shire’s Team Leader, Parks & Gardens, Mark “Butch” Robinson, was impressed by Barwon Water’s innovative measures and investment in water-saving technologies and was keen to see it utilised widely across the shire.
“This program is still in its infancy but has already identified many cost savings for ratepayers. Especially while the weather is so warm, it’s helping us manage our usage like we’ve never been able to before,” he said.
Cr Stephen Hart recently inspected the new technology in Memorial Square.
“Working with Barwon Water has led to Colac Otway Shire’s immediate implementation of measures to save water and money. It’s been a very positive experience for all concerned – ratepayers, Council staff, Barwon Water and the environment,” he said.
Barwon Water Key Account Manager, Darren Milverton, said the collaboration proved to be a great success.
“We were able to recommend two low-cost solutions that provide detailed data and allow the shire to better manage irrigation through online monitoring,” he said.
“Barwon Water was pleased to work proactively with Colac Otway Shire to implement changes that ensure efficient water use and cost savings for ratepayers.”
Data logging devices have been attached to water meters at high water use sites across Colac, allowing Council staff to access meter readings through a website twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
The data loggers give Council the ability to instantly identify irregular water use or leaks and has already resulted in a saving of over 4,500 kilolitres of water and approximately seven thousand dollars. Council expects these savings to increase however they are dependent on the weather and individual projects at various sites.
The data provides an overview of the amount of water being used at the sites in intervals as frequent as 15 minutes.
Understanding the level of water usage at the sites allows Council to amend watering practices where needed, find leaks or issues with water pipes more quickly and allows management of the volume of water used on a daily basis.
This has been complemented by the installation of moisture readers in the grounds where the data loggers have been placed. The moisture readers have two underground probes sitting at different levels to allow Council to see how far the water is soaking into the ground.
Council staff can login online and get moisture readings from these sites and understand if the ground needs watering.
Both systems allow Council to set alerts informing staff of increased water use or high moisture levels underground.
Council Enquiries
(03) 5232 9400