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New Economy, Rainwater Harvesting, Stormwater Management, Multi-scale benefits

New Economy, Rainwater Harvesting, Stormwater Management, Multi-scale benefits

15 December – 9:30 am, David Spence Room, Level 2, Adelaide Town Hall, 128 King William Street Adelaide. Water Sensitive SA, in association with Rainwater Harvesting Association of Australia, invite you to join a discussion with Professor Peter Coombes who will challenge our thinking about the potential of rainwater and stormwater harvesting to deliver whole of society and system benefits via distributed solutions. We will also explore the myths associated with rainwater harvesting and reuse, and introduce the new Rainwater Harvesting Design Specification. The Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 together with Living Adelaide the 30 Year Plan Review, offers the best opportunity in more than 20 years to enable stormwater to support a Living Adelaide. Practical tools currently being developed to support industry to maximise the benefits of stormwater harvesting at the allotment scale will be showcased.

Big Data Water Security

Big Data Water Security

Presentation at the HWRS2016 conference in Queenstown New Zealand at 12 noon on Thursday 1 December 2016. The use of global average water demands rather than spatial and temporal detail in analysis of regional water systems generates dramatic reductions in certainty about system behaviour. This leads to uncertainty in understanding of system performance. Use of global averages in simulation of regional water systems is unlikely to describe the spatial and temporal contribution of distributed solutions that generate water resources or reductions in water demands within a metropolis.

Modern Urban Hydrology

Modern Urban Hydrology

A modern perspective on the hydrology processes of urban catchments in regional Victoria. Peter J Coombes, Mark Colegate, Luke Barber and Mark Babister. Presentation at HWRS2016 Conference at Queenstown New Zealand at 10:30 am on Thursday 1 December 2016. There is often considerable disagreement about the critical hydrology parameters and responses of ungauged urban catchments.
New methods from latest version of Australian Rainfall and Runoff (ARR2016) were used to analyse emerging urban catchments. This included Regional Flood Frequency Estimation, rainfall runoff observations from nearby gauged catchments and ensembles of full volume rain events.

Water cycle benefits of water conservation

Water cycle benefits of water conservation

Peter J Coombes, Michael Smit, Josh Byrne and Christopher J Walsh. Presentation at the HWRS2016 conference in Queenstown New Zealand at 10 am on Tuesday 29 November 2016. Households with rainwater harvesting and water efficient appliances made a profound contribution to Australian society by ensuring that cities did not run out of water during the millennium drought. In spite of this, the value of sustainable households is contested as the memory of drought fades. This investigation used audited metadata from national agencies and water utilities, peer reviewed research, case studies and a systems analysis of Australian capital cities to define the benefits of sustainable buildings. The key findings of this study confirm that source control measures including rainwater harvesting, water efficient appliances and vegetable gardens at households makes a substantial contribution to the viability of water resources and ecosystems in Australian capital cities.

Water Cycle Benefits Rainwater Efficiency

Water Cycle Benefits Rainwater Efficiency

Our research and data presented at the Stormwater2016 conference presents the evidence of the substantial contribution of sustainable buildings in Australia during the recent drought. In spite of this, the value of sustainable households is contested as the memory of drought fades.

Modern Urban Hydrology Regional Victoria

Modern Urban Hydrology Regional Victoria

A modern perspective on the hydrology processes of Armstrong Creek and Canadian Creek catchments in regional Victoria. Peter J Coombes, Mark Colegate, Luke Barber and Mark Babister. Presentation at Stormwater 2016 Conference: 11:05 am on Wednesday 31 August 2016. There is often considerable disagreement about the critical hydrology parameters and responses of ungauged urban catchments.
New methods from latest version of Australian Rainfall and Runoff (ARR2016) were used to analyse emerging urban catchments. This included Regional Flood Frequency Estimation, rainfall runoff observations from nearby gauged catchments and ensembles of full volume rain events.

Historical Benefits Water Conservation Source Control

Historical Benefits Water Conservation Source Control

Water resources, stormwater and waterway benefits of water conservation measures for Australian capital cities.
Peter J Coombes, Michael Smit, Josh Byrne and Christopher J Walsh. Presentation at Stormwater 2016 Conference: 2:15 pm on Wednesday 1 September 2016
Source control measures including rainwater harvesting, water efficient appliances and vegetable gardens at households makes a substantial contribution to the viability of water resources and ecosystems in Australian capital cities.

Impact of Economic Assumptions on Water Policy

Impact of Economic Assumptions on Water Policy

Resolving Boundary Conditions in Economic Analysis of Distributed Solutions for Water Cycle Management

Peter J Coombes, Michael Smit and Garth McDonald

Our research investigating impacts of engineering and economic assumptions on government policy has been published in the Australian Journal of Water Resources. This paper refers to those assumptions as boundary conditions and considers how those boundary conditions affect the outcome of analysis. Setting of boundary conditions (what is included, what is excluded and assumptions) in engineering and economic analysis dominates outcomes of decisions about government policy.

Rainwater Health Debate

Rainwater Health Debate

Michael Smit and Professor PJ Coombes: An important debate in this country is about the health of people using rainwater, however much of the commentary is research funded by water utilities which has a centralised water distribution perspective quite different to how rainwater harvesting works. One of the recent rebuttal papers by PJ Coombes has just been published and we thought we should discuss some of the issues and assumptions, as much to demonstrate there is a difference of opinion. A presentation at the RHAA seminar in Sydney about widespread use of rainwater and the absence of health epidemics is compelling. Australia has a substantial real world case study with over 2.3 million Australians relying on rainwater for drinking water and more than 6.3 million people using rainwater for some household use. In spite of claims of widespread health concerns, there are no health epidemics or widespread notifications of lead contamination by chief medical officers.

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