Chinderah Golf Course gets rid of its ‘water hazard’
September 20, 2009
Tweed Shire Council and the Chinderah Golf Course have launched a new drive to score a win for the environment.
Council has a mutually-beneficial agreement with Chinderah Golf Course for the supply of recycled water from Kingscliff Wastewater Treatment Plant to irrigate the 18-hole course and driving range.
“This plant is one of the most advanced in Australia in terms of nutrient removal, which means the recycled water is odourless and of a very high quality,” the council said.
“Chinderah Golf Course has been operating for 15 years as a golf course and driving range facility.
“Over this period the golf course has relied on the Cudgen ground water aquifer for its water supply.
“The recycled water, which has been treated to a very high standard for reuse, is being used on trees and grassed areas all year round, overcoming problems in low rainfall periods.
“Artificial wetting agents are no longer necessary to keep the course green and lush all year round.
“The environment benefits as the recycled water is not released into the waterways. Nutrients in the waterways are not desirable but the same nutrients on the grass are beneficial for plant growth.”
Director Community and Natural Resources David Oxenham said the council had been working with Chinderah Golf for the last four years to complete a detailed design of the recycled water transport system and negotiate an agreement to supply recycled water to the golf course for the purpose of irrigation.
“It’s great news for the environment as we estimate that this scheme could reuse up to 100 million litres of recycled water each year which would otherwise be discharged to the estuary,” Mr Oxenham said.
“With recent droughts still fresh in the memory and considerable uncertainty about the impact of global warming on our traditional surface water supplies, there is an increasing focus on alternative water sources as a substitute for traditional potable sources, particularly drought-proof sources such as recycled water.
“Tweed Shire Council has been recycling small quantities of water since the 1980s, and over the last decade has attempted to increase the amount of water recycled throughout the Shire.
“This process is ongoing and has already delivered a number of recycled water projects which have increased the usage of recycled water from three per cent to nine per cent in 12 months.”
Chinderah Golf Course Operations Manager Jeff Holloway said it was an arrangement of mutual benefit.
“It’s been such a good project and so well-managed – council has been great and helped me through it,” Mr Holloway said.
“We’ve been doing it for about six to eight weeks and you can see the great results when we’re only at 50 per cent capacity because we’re waiting for an upgrade of power.
“We did extensive consultation and all the feedback has been positive – there really are no negatives.
“We’ve improved the course so much we’re hoping to hold a PGA pro-am here this time next year.”
Action 13 of the revised Tweed Shire Integrated Water Cycle Management Strategy identifies the need to assess opportunities for recycled water use within the shire.
The council undertook a Recycled Water Options Report in 2006 which proposed the investigation of several practical water reuse options for the Tweed.
Another recycled water project on the Les Burger Field at Bogangar is scheduled to be operating next year. This project has the potential to recycle up to 55 kilolitres a day.
Chinderah Golf Course constructed and funded the transport and storage system from the supply point to the golf course irrigation network.
The club obtained funding from the Federal Government’s Community Water Grants for the internal transport system. The golf course will pay operation and maintenance charges to council.
Fact sheets and further information is available on the council’s recycled water use and the Integrated Water Cycle Management Strategy on Council’s website www.tweed.nsw.gov.au
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