A $1.8 million project for Flemington racecourse will see the equivalent of the average annual consumption of more than 1,000 Melbourne households of mains water saved every year.
The Flemington Water Strategy will see the installation of six desalination units to access a significant aquifer located beneath the racecourse.
The Victorian Coalition Government will provide half of the funding, through the Victorian Racing Industry Fund, to the joint project with the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) to provide the balance.
This project will provide 150 megalitres of desalinated water to Flemington Racecourse; reducing its reliance on drinking water and helping to maintain its 2.3 kilometre racetrack as well as the grass training tracks.
Each unit will provide 25 megalitres of water annually for use by the club, and eight 250,000 litre water storage tanks will be installed to store the water.
The Flemington Water Strategy was developed in consultation with City West Water and its water project partner Desaln8.
The VRC would be able to reduce its heavy reliance on Melbourne’s shared potable water resources and help drought-proof the racecourse.
Until now, underground desalination has not been successfully implemented anywhere in the world.
Using Flemington as a test bed for the desalination technology, the VRC and Australian company Desalin8 completed 18 months of development work before the units became operational.
[Image courtesy Victoria Racing Club.]