STORMSAVER™ SYSTEMS PTY LTD

Australia’s Water Crisis

Australia, the second driest continent on earth, has become even drier in recent times due to an extended drought period & climate change.  Also, as the community’s water usage has continued during this drought period, the amount of water now available to the community has dropped dramatically.

Most government authorities have now recognised that the community’s water supply is not keeping up with demand and so have imposed restrictions on water usage in an effort to conserve the water in our dams.

StormSaver™: a New Alternative for Australia’s Water

Shirley Consulting Engineers P/L, in association with Water Recycle Solutions P/L have developed the StormSaver™ system to quickly and efficiently produce clean water that can then be used to augment conventional water sources.  StormSaver™ offers a unique method of cleaning and recycling urban stormwater that normally comes from house roofs & street gutters.  StormSaver™ can also recycle run-off from parks, gardens and sportsfields.

StormSaver™ works by storing the collected stormwater in especially designed, modular underground matrix tanks, then by a combination of sand filtration, water flow and natural biological processes, removes the pollutants from the water.

The treated water is then normally used for ‘non-potable’ [i.e. not for drinking] uses such as irrigation of parks & gardens, toilet flushing, industrial uses and car washing.  Also, by the addition of a simple ‘final treatment’ module, the treated water can be used for drinking purposes.

The StormSaver™ System.

Proposed StormSaver™ Pilot Program

StormSaver™ is a relatively new technology, built on long experience in stormwater and sportsfield design.  Currently, pilot programs for full scale trials are being investigated on the Central Coast of NSW and in the northern suburbs of Sydney.

These ‘pilot programs’ will test specific aspects of the StormSaver™ design and provide the necessary basis for government approval of the system [e.g. health standards, environmental impact, etc.].

The pilot programs are also intended to:

1. Demonstrate the water quality levels achieved.
2. Validate design assumptions & in-situ material strength properties.
3. Determine the necessary design improvements for the ‘production’ series of the system.
4. Confirm the cost / benefit of the system.

Advantages of StormSaver™

The principal benefits of StormSaver™  include:

1. Uses the existing urban drainage infrastructure; StormSaver™ is an ‘add on’ component that can be installed in a matter of weeks.

2. Produces ‘near potable’ water from urban run-off at a cost of about ⅔ the current cost of water supplied by Sydney Water.

3. Produces water of potable, or non-potable quality as needed.

4. Sportsfields and parks can be ‘self sustainable’ [for watering];  the sportsfield and parks can also be safely used by more people & sporting clubs as the grass cover can be maintained though times of drought.

5. The system is ‘invisible’ and less than a metre underground;  any surplus soil from the excavations can be used to landscape the site, or provide spectator / decorative ‘mounds’.

6. Modular tank units which are fast to assemble, and able to accommodate almost any size and shape.  The tank units are made from predominantly recycled plastic.

7. The StormSaver™ system treats the water through natural processes and thus does not use any chemicals.  StormSaver™ is also a ‘low energy’ system [i.e. it uses very little power] and is environmentally friendly.

8. The StormSaver™ system only requires intermittent maintenance.

9. The StormSaver™ system maintains environmental flows in rivers and creeks;  any excess cleaned water is discharged back into creeks and preserves the environment.