An 8.75-kilometre-long recycled water pipeline – further testament to UQ’s commitment to saving water – will be officially recognised at a special ceremony on Friday at 10am.
The Gatton Recycled Water Pipeline will deliver 150 million litres of recycled water from Gatton township to the Gatton campus each year, initially stored in the lined and covered MacArthur ring tank on the eastern side of the campus near the piggery.
The water will irrigate 50 hectares of pasture, fodder and crops via a “dribbler” system preventing atomisation of particles into the air.
Funded by UQ Gatton, the Australian Government Water Fund – Community Water Grant, and the Gatton Shire Council, the $428,000 pipeline was completed in July last year – another example of the Gatton campus working with its surrounding community to protect the environment.
Staff from Gatton Shire Council's Water and Sewerage Department built and commissioned the pipeline.
Acting Executive Dean for UQ’s Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, Professor Richard Williams, Gatton Shire Council Deputy Mayor, Janice Holstein, and Federal Member for Blair, Cameron Thomson, will attend and address the ceremony at 11 Treatment Plant Road, Gatton.
Professor Williams said the recycled water pipeline would not only save water but add to UQ’s water research efforts. The soil, crop and surrounding environment will be monitored weekly in accordance with Queensland Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
Just a few weeks ago, UQ signed a Memorandum of Understanding to lend its expertise to a $50 million Urban Water Security Research Alliance.
The five-year initiative will develop Australia’s largest urban water research program, and its findings will underpin the third-largest water-recycling scheme in the world.
The Alliance is the first water research project with a specific focus on urban water recycling, and its immediate concern will be the needs of Australia’s fastest-growing urban region, which is in the grip of drought.
In February this year, Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman presented UQ with Brisbane’s Water Champion Award for outstanding water conservation efforts in saving about 240 million litres of water over the past year.
UQ has cut its annual water consumption in half (46.3 percent) in the past year through the development and adherence to a comprehensive water-conservation plan.
Professor Williams said the pipeline was another example of the University’s investment in Gatton campus infrastructure which also includes a modern dairy, piggery, poultry unit, equine centre and wildlife enclosure.
In January this year, UQ awarded a contract for the development of a $33 million Centre for Advanced Animal Science (CAAS) at UQ Gatton. CAAS is a joint project between UQ and the DPI&F.
Media inquiries: Susanne Schick (0409 265 587).
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