HEALTH AND SAFETY 27 a day’ s worth of water in a tank that can be pumped around the site. There is also a switchover to change back to boiled water if needed.
“ There are some redundancies built into it all,” Stewart said.“ There’ s also the way it was built into the ground; if there is an issue with the pipework bursting or being dug up, we can isolate a section and the rest of the site can continue pretty much unhindered.”
Another major project was the installation of four 27 000-litre rainwater tanks, which will be filled during the wet season and used solely for drinking water.
There is a perception among some communities that groundwater is dirty, partly due to past experiences with failing septic systems. Even though modern water treatment ensures it’ s safety, some people still associate groundwater with contamination, making them less willing to drink it.
“ It’ s perceived as being dirty, so people don’ t like groundwater even though they understand that’ s how it has to be for the majority of the water,” he said. The rainwater system has a first flush water diverter that prevents the first runoff of rainwater from entering the tank, so it will be ready to drink when it is captured. Stewart said the catchment should fill up within the first couple of weeks of the wet season and remain full throughout, and there should still be water in the tanks at the end of the dry season.
“ Having a good supply of drinking water on site alleviates the need for bottled water to be brought in for cooking and drinking,” he said.“ It fills a lot of gaps, and the development of the site will continue; it’ s sort of the springboard into building new buildings on site now.”
The base hosts an annual meeting whose attendance can exceed 100 people, as well as visitors from other ranger bases and Aboriginal areas.
“ These activities are all helped by the infrastructure that we’ ve installed,” Stewart said.“ It gives them more of an opportunity to develop further the capacity of the rangers.”
Stewart is optimistic this is just the start of things to come in Australia. He has continued working with Mimal CEO Dominic Nicholls to plan similar upgrades for other remote ranger outstations, some of which are up to 160 kilometres away from the base. The hope, he said, is to develop more infrastructure so people can stay at the outstations.
Reflecting on the significance of the project, Stewart emphasised the personal and professional fulfilment it brought him. Having spent decades working on water and sanitation initiatives worldwide, he expressed a deep sense of pride in contributing to a project so close to home.
“ I’ ve done a lot of work over the past 25 years around the world, and being in my backyard, being able to give back to the First Nations people in Australia, is brilliant,” he said. PA