A new dawn for decentralised sewerage

Sunrise at 1770 is a sustainable sub-division of 172 lots located on the coast of Central Queensland. Sunrise is a high-end development being a gated community where an economic premium is placed upon the environment. It is completely off-the-grid in regards to its water network and has implemented an integrated decentralised system. Each house has a minimum of 48 000 L of rainwater tank storage to provide the potable supply. Supplementary potable supply is available from a nearby aquifer. Recycled water is provided to each house for toilet flushing and external water usage through a dedicated purple pipe system. Recycled water is also used to irrigate a large (200 000 seedling) endemic native plant nursery used for revegetation, a community car-wash, and in emergencies fire-fighting water. The decentralised network provides the fire-fighting water for the development primarily through the aquifer and for localised bush-fire fighting the rainwater tanks. The decentralised water system has successfully provided the water requirements for the development throughout 4 years of drought without the need to bring in water from external sources. In 2007 Sunrise at 1770 won the most sustainable development in Queensland from the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA), won Australia’s most sustainable development (UDIA) in 2008, and made the finals in the United Nations Australian 2008 World Environment Day Awards for Water Design.