Water Use and Reuse Stream Projects

Assessing and Improving the Sustainability of Urban Water Resources and Systems (AISUWRS) – Mount Gambier Case Study

Introduction

This research program assesses the potential for the urban water systems of Mount Gambier to contaminate Blue Lake, which is important as the city’s reticulated water source and for tourism. Contaminants can be delivered to the unconfined Gambier Limestone aquifer, which recharges Blue Lake, from leaky sewers after infiltration through the unsaturated zone and from stormwater drainage bores discharging directly into the aquifer. Furthermore, the karst nature of the Gambier Limestone aquifer provides the potential for contaminants to be delivered rapidly to the Blue Lake. This program contributes to the Assessing and Improving the Sustainability of Urban Water Resources and System (AISUWRS) project, jointly funded by the European Commission (EC) and the Department of Education and Science Technology (DEST).

Objectives/Scope

A risk assessment based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) framework within the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines allows both the health and environmental risks of contamination to be considered. Environmental and applied tracers are utilised to better understand the minimum travel time to the Blue Lake, which is then used to evaluate the protection provided by residence time within the aquifer.

Activities

• Evaluation of existing water quality data for stormwater, sewage, groundwater and the Blue Lake to identify and quantify the potential contaminants of concern
• Use of environmental and applied tracers to estimate the minimum travel time within the saturated system
• Development of a risk assessment consistent with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines to assess long-term impacts of sewer leaks and stormwater drainage on the quality of water in Blue Lake

Key CSIRO Staff

• Stewart Burn, Dhammika DeSilva, Tara Schiller (CMIT)
• Joanne Vanderzalm, Peter Dillon, Peter Cook (CLW)
• Ray Correll, Ros Miller (CMIS)
• Neville Robinson ( Flinders University)

Partners

• CSIRO Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology (CMIT)
• CSIRO Mathematics and Information Sciences (CMIS)
• South Australian Water Corporation
• South Australian Environment Protection Authority
• South Australian Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation
• South East Water Catchment Management Board
• Mount Gambier City Council
• AQUAREC Partners led by University of Karlsruhe

Timeline

2003-2005