Sydney’s first private urban recycled water scheme.
Resume, play! In a first for Sydney, Blacktown Workers Sports Club now recycles its water to maintain their state-of-the-art sporting complex, and it’s all thanks to Aquacell. The Blacktown Workers Sports Club is located on the Harold Laybutt Sporting Complex and features:
- a clubhouse
- two soccer fields
- two rugby league fields/cricket ovals
- two bowling greens
- five all-weather tennis courts
- a baseball diamond, and
- a 120-room hotel.
The complex is host to over 7,000 athletes.
Previously all five playing fields were irrigated using a stormwater dam with a 1.4 mega litre capacity. Rainfall is irregular in the area and had recently been insufficient to maintain the playing fields in top condition. Water restrictions also prevented regular irrigation. Because of that the Club came to us to build a wastewater recycling facility on-site and utilise recycled water from the Club and hotel to fill the gap in its water supply. Now, the Club’s wastewater is mined and treated in an Aquacell SC100 aboveground membrane bioreactor system and it’s game on all year round.
The Aquacell SC100 system
The Aquacell SC100 model installed at Blacktown Workers Sports Club has an operating capacity of 100 kilolitres per day. The system includes an aerobic biological treatment zone and an enclosed, submerged ultrafiltration zone. The recycled water is further disinfected using ultraviolet rays.
The storage tanks have a total capacity of 108 kilolitres and are used to store recycled water prior to irrigation. A recycled water supply pump is used to transfer this water to the irrigation system and out onto the fields.
Benefits for the Club
Installing an Aquacell water recycling system has benefitted the Club and the environment.
- Recycling saves water that would otherwise be lost to the sewer and wasted.
- Recycled water is less expensive than mains water supply.
- Water recycled on-site is always available, regardless of rainfall or water restrictions.
- The amenity of the Club is greatly improved when the fields are lush and ready for play.
- The Aquacell system can be moved if required.
- The capacity of the system can be increased if required.
- Water quality from the system exceeds the current guidelines for irrigation.
“Another advantage is that the system can be relocated. We have significant expansion plans for the club, so being able to move the unit in future gives us a lot of flexibility,” said Mr Allen from the Club.
Colin Fisher, Managing Director of Aquacell, says “Blacktown Workers Sports Club has shown a lot of vision when implementing this system. They are aware that many sports fields around the country have become dangerous to play on during the drought and that the only way to secure a water supply is by recycling its own water. The condition of the grounds is exemplary and this project has set a strong precedent.”
A project ahead of its time
Similar projects are being implemented around the country in clubs, schools, apartment blocks and commercial buildings, and those too are benefitting from the knowledge gained through the Blacktown project. Increasingly, our precious water supplies are in jeopardy and projects like Blacktown are making a major contribution to protecting them for generations to come.
Please explore our website to discover how Aquacell is helping re-use our precious water supplies across the country. Or contact us for more information about the Blacktown Workers Sports Club project.