Australian Water Management Review Vol 2 2013 | Page 15
The expanding definition of urban water services [source: National Water Commission (2011), Urban Water in Australia: future directions, ISBN 978-1-921853-06-7, April 2011, 68pp.]
The changing role of the urban water sector is highly likely to see the emergence of a new type of water retailer, operating at a highly decentralised scale and a consequential reworking of city water-based governance arrangements more broadly. There have been a number of ‘minor’ water retailer licences issued to local government organisations in the greater city of Adelaide owing to the significant expansion of aquifer storage and recovery schemes around stormwater harvesting. The recent establishment of the company Flow System (formerly The Water Factory Company) based in Sydney is worthy of a special mention. This company is delivering an integrated urban water cycle management solution at the precinct-scale. Their Central Park project is a good example of the creation of a precinct-scale water retailer Central Park Water who will own, operate and maintain all water related infrastructure (including its green infrastructure) within this 5.8 hectares development; effectively taking over the management of the water cycle within the precinct and servicing 5,000 residents and more than 15,000 workers and visitors daily. Water will come from seven sources, combining on-site rainwater and stormwater harvesting, wastewater recycling, collection of groundwater seepage from basements drainage with sewer mining of public sewers and water supply from Sydney Water mains. Central Park Water will bill customers directly and is subject to the same licensing requirements as Sydney Water. There is clearly a business case when resources are integrated and infrastructure delivers multiple benefits; the entrepreneurs’ have identified this, and now it is time for governments to invest in reformulating their economic valuation frameworks to facilitate this transition to more liveable, sustainable and resilient cities.
Guest Editorial Piece by Professor Tony Wong, CEO, CRC for Water Sensitive Cities Professor Tony Wong is Chief Executive of the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cit ???????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ???????5?????????A????????M?????????Q?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????]???M??????U??????????!???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Q?????????%??????????????????????????????????
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