Sydney water re-use receives international recognition

A Sydney water reuse project has been recognised with an international award announced in New York this week.

The Architizer A+Awards recognised Sydney Park’s water reuse project with a Jury Award in the Architecture+Water category, beating out 430 finalists.

The water reuse project involves diverting stormwater to top up and irrigate the 44 hectare park’s wetlands, filtering it through a pollutant trap and a series of bio-retention beds.

Begun in 2013 and completed in 2015, the project captures 850 ML of stormwater each year. The water also supplies a neighbouring depot.

The project is a partnership between the City of Sydney and Turf Design Studio and Environmental Partnership and was co-funded with the Australian Government to the tune of $11.2 million.

"The project highlights the benefit of significant design team collaboration, successfully bringing together water sensitive urban design, new interconnecting civil infrastructure, environmental bio-retention and a local urban water re-use system," said Turf Design Studio founder Mike Horne.

Building on existing environmental improvements at the park, Turf Design and the City of Sydney design and installed water reuse infrastructure that will help the city achieve its 2030 target to reduce sediments and nutrients from stormwater runoff. The project will also help see 10% of water demand met through local water capture and reuse.

The project is the City of Sydney’s largest stormwater harvesting project ever undertaken; the water previously flowed untreated through a canal into Botany Bay.

By restoring the park’s wetlands, the project attracted growing numbers of native birds and other wildlife, including frogs and eastern long-necked turtles.

Architizer, which runs the awards, is the largest online community of architects in the world. The awards focus on promoting and celebrating the year’s best architecture and products. It seeks to nurture the appreciation of meaningful architecture in the world and champion products that bring great buildings to life.