Salisbury Wetlands: Keith leans a sustainable way to capture the water, clean it and store it for a not so rainy day in the Adelaide City region of South Australia
Our modern suburbs are a far cry from what the Adelaide plains used to look like before European settlement. Where once the precious rains soaked into the earth of the Kaurna people, our modern landscape of rooftops, paving, roads and drains directs a shameful amount of that valuable storm water straight out to sea.
But not in the City of Salisbury. Here, the water is channeled into a system of unique wetlands like the one at Greenfields where the water from nearby Mawson Lakes bubbles under busy Salisbury Highway.
Colin Pitman is the brains behind the scheme - he's come up with a sustainable way to capture the water, clean it and store it for a rainy - or perhaps for a not so rainy day. And a pleasant bonus is the network of wetlands we can all enjoy. Visit and they'll give you a map and a key so you can explore the wetlands for yourself and see why they are so highly regarded around the world.
About fifty wetlands covering more than 300 hectares, all within the City of Salisbury silently work around the clock, filtering and cleaning hundreds of thousands of litres of polluted storm water through their reed-beds and ponds.
Colin Pitman, City of Salisbury: "Take a walk in here and you really get a sense of the magic of it all. You (can hear) the rumble of traffic in the distance but the birdlife doesn't seem to be effected."
We pause to listen to some very vocal frogs happily croaking away. "They are a sign that the water is clean," explains Colin. "It means the frogs can survive in that quality of water and that tells us the environment is in balance."
We can thank about 20 carefully selected species of water plants for that. The reeds and other plants aren't here for show - they help filter the slow-moving water. More than 170 bird species have been recorded in the wetlands - many of them haven't been seen for years… and because 40 native species breed here, the wetlands are a favourite haunt for 'twitchers' or birdwatchers.
The network of walking trails and boardwalks are a relaxing way to take it all in but there's more to these wetlands than getting in touch with nature. The second stage of Colin's ingenious plan is what to do with the cleaned water.
Colin Pitman, City of Salisbury: "Once cleaned we need somewhere to store the water so we can use it in summer. While we don't have a reservoir above ground we do have one about 190 metres below the ground. It extends from south of the Adelaide airport to Port Wakefield so it's a very big underground, horizontal confined aquifer or sand layer."
Colin takes us to a shed housing a big pump. "What we're doing at the moment is pumping water into the aquifer because it's winter. It's being pumped into the aquifer at about 60 litres a second. It's coming out of the wetlands being pumped into this bore along with five other bores. It's going down about 190 metres."
The water is stored in the aquifer until we need it again - in one, two or maybe ten year's time. It's a scheme that has Salisbury Mayor, Gillian Aldridge rightly proud.
Gillian Aldridge, Mayor - City of Salisbury: "You know what? We live in the driest state in the driest continent and here we have Salisbury as an oasis of green. We have 5,000 houses in Mawson Lakes using recycled water. 70 percent of our reserves use our recycled water."
There are big plans to extend the scheme - already 21 local schools are connected with 10 more to come. 56 industries use the water and new developments like Mawson Lakes have two sets of pipes. You can experience it all on the self-guided trail or arrange a tour or school visit. Then there's the aptly named Watershed Café and Function Centre where you can enjoy a meal, a drink or simply the view.
When you pause and reflect this is really multi-layered. What began as a way of preventing polluted stormwater heading out into the gulf and messing it up, has turned into a way of cleaning it up, storing it and then returning it to the community. And along the way, almost as a byproduct there's this beautiful triangle of nature that we can now come into.
The Greenfields Wetlands are next to the Salisbury Highway, next to Mawson Lakes. The watershed Café's open 9am until 4pm daily. For bookings call 8250 8070. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Salisbury Wetlands
Salisbury Highway
Mawson Lakes Tours: 8258 0862The Watershed Café & Function Centre
Salisbury Highway
Mawson Lakes
Bookings: 8250 8070Published 8th August 2010
