Showerhead Swap on Course at Moonee Valley Racing Club

21 July 2010

Moonee Valley Racing Club helping residents to slash water use in the home...

Moonee Ponds residents and racing enthusiasts will have the opportunity to swap their old showerheads for free at Moonee Valley Racing Club Saturday 24 July, helping to slash household water use and achieve Target 155.

City West Water Managing Director, Anne Barker, said that Moonee Valley Racing Club has been playing their role in reducing water usage and are encouraging local residents and racegoers to participate by holding a showerhead exchange at the racecourse.

“With the shower being one of the biggest users of water at home, the showerhead exchange at the Moonee Valley racecourse makes it easy for householders to swap their showerhead without having to go out of their way to start saving water,” Ms Barker said.

“The showerhead exchange has been made as easy as possible – customers just need to bring their old showerhead and a City West Water bill to the exchange location to receive a new water saving showerhead.”

“Ensuring your home has an efficient showerhead in each bathroom is one of the easiest ways to save water and reduce your water and energy bills, particularly when you consider that old style showerheads can use up to 20 litres per minute while a 3-star showerhead uses only nine.”

Ms Barker said that installing a 3-star water saving showerhead can help household finances by saving on the cost of water and cutting hot water bills.

“By changing a showerhead to a more water efficient one and shortening showers to four minutes or less, one person can save up to 13,500 litres of water in their home and cut $60 from their hot water bill per year.

“I encourage everyone who hasn’t already done so to take advantage of the free showerhead exchange and watch their water usage drop dramatically.”

The showerhead exchange at Moonee Valley Racecourse follows the successful implementation of a multi facet Water Management Strategy, a joint partnership between City West Water and Moonee Valley Racing Club which has lead to some amazing results.

Potable (drinking) water consumption at the Moonee Valley Racing Club has dropped by a staggering 60 million litres in just one year.

Moonee Valley’s Manager - Operations, Brian Masters puts the savings into perspective, “Most people cannot comprehend that amount of water. Think of it this way, our saving is equivalent to 24 Olympic Swimming Pools full of water, an amazing result in just twelve months.”

In 2009 the racecourse and City West Water entered into an agreement to develop an enhanced stormwater capture system. Stormwater captured from the racecourse grounds, buildings and some surrounding streets is collected into the racecourse dam. It is then used to irrigate the racetrack and some of the lawns and gardens by a state of the art irrigation system.

The stormwater harvesting program has been so successful it has all but eliminated the need to use town water to irrigate the racetrack.

The stormwater harvesting project is also having added environmental benefits because a Gross Pollution Trap was installed to collect rubbish and sediment that would otherwise have found its way into the Moonee Valley Creek and downstream waterways.

However the enhanced stormwater capture program is just part of the strategy. As toilets are refurbished throughout the racecourse they have been fitted with more efficient flushing mechanisms and in some cases waterless systems. The gardeners are also playing their part, designing and installing drought resistant gardens with stone mulch and direct dripper watering systems.

“Our Commercial Laundry that cleans all our linen is also helping to reduce water consumption because the main washing machine was replaced with one that recycles the last rinse water and reuses it as the first wash cycle water on the next load. That saves up to 20% of the washing machine water used in the Laundry.” Mr Masters said.

It is a whole of Club approach that is resulting in these massive savings. The next phase in the Club’s strategy is to replace all showerheads in the Jockey’s and Staff washrooms with the 3-star rated ones.

As part of this program and with the kind support of City West Water, Moonee Valley residents, Race Club members, staff and racegoers in general will also be offered the opportunity to swap their old and inefficient shower head over free of charge at the race meeting on Saturday 24 July. City West Water representatives will also be on course to provide details of other water saving initiatives.

With Master planning for future redevelopment of the racecourse well underway, the knowledge and experience learnt through the joint Water Management Strategy will be a key component incorporated into the development.