Australia 2010-Sustainable Food, Environment and Social Systems

On Monday, May 31, we woke up to a beautiful morning at the Calperum Environmental Station. Our bus driver, and good buddy, Flick treated us to a wonderful breakfast of crumpets, toast, and tea and after a thorough cleaning of the camp we piled in the bus and departed for Banrock Station. As we were leaving we realized we were a bit ahead of schedule (no doubt a result of our no-nonsense day leader), so Flick decided to show us a few of her favorite lookout points on our way to Banrock Station in Morgan.

The Lookout Water Tower offered a spectacular view of the city, its neighborhoods, and the surrounding bush and mountains. Next we stopped at the Kingston Bridge and carefully crossed the road to snap a couple of photos of the floodplains. Before we left we noticed a rather peculiar sign, “ January 1830. Captain Charles Sturt had an exciting experience with natives.” Pondering the meaning of that sign, we once again loaded back on the bus and made our way to our first scheduled stop.

Banrock Station Wine and Wetland Center offered a fantastic example of a company implementing a sustainable business model to encourage environmental conservation.  Originally leased in the early 1850s, the property that would become Banrock Station was initially cleared and used for horticulture and grazing, and wouldn’t be purchased for use in the wine industry until 1993. Originally only 12 hectares worth of vines the station has expanded to more than 240 hectares of vineyards, containing 20 different varieties of grapes. There are currently 1,400 hectares managed for conservation, including 1,000 hectares of floodplains and wetlands.

Our guide Karen Sellar gave us a wonderful overview of the station’s sustainable approach to land and water use.  The key to their rehabilitation of the wetlands and floodplains area was the “ Boom and Bust” cycle in which they controlled the inflow and outflow of water to the area. By intravenously utilizing regulator gates the property simulated natural periods of flooding and drought, which provides a flush of resources and triggers breeding. This process saves 500 megaliters of water per year and provides immeasurable benefits to the species of flora and fauna within Banrock’s borders.

The sustainable approach to their vineyard management is the second phase of Banrock Station’s pledge to resource conservation. Recently Banrock installed sub-surface irrigators across a quarter of their vineyards in an effort to conserve water and improve efficiency. This state-of-the-art update to their infrastructure has reduced their water use by 50% and is the first large-scale trial of this innovative technology. After an informative question and answer period, we left the comfort of the station and went on a wetland tour. Throughout the tour we saw many species of birds and natural vegetation.

After a quick lunch, again prepared by our buddy Flick, we took a ferry and headed towards the Morgan/Whyalla Pipe Line. Upon our arrival we met our guide Tom Stegemann who first took us to the main control room of the water treatment plant.  This plant, which treats and pumps water across eastern South Australia, operates primarily at nighttime when electricity demands are at its lowest. The reason for this is the astonishing $30,000 a day electrical bill paid by the plant to pump the water to the Hanson holding facility. After the initial pump the rest of the pipeline is all gravity fed, which greatly reduces additional energy costs. Incoming water is treated through a variety of agitators, which mixes positively, and negatively charged particles. From there the water is sent to a settled water tank where sludge is vacuumed out and sent to a sludge holding tank. The water is then sent through a filtering process designed to simulate the natural filtration of water. First the water is fed through a layer of coal by-product, then through sand, fine gravel, and finally a layer of course gravel. Tom then led us to the historical pumping site, originally constructed in the 1940’s. Here we discussed the evolution of water treatment facilities in the area and finally, said goodbye to Tom.

Throughout our busy day we saw several examples of Australian ingenuity used to conserve water and other precious resources. At Banrock Station we saw the social, environmental, and economic benefits that a sustainable approach to business provides. The Morgan Water Treatment Plant illustrated water and energy conservation and demonstrated how Australia has grown throughout the years to increase efficiency and reduce misuse of Australia’s most precious resource. We left the treatment plant and headed back to Adelaide, tired, and ready to enjoy our free day the following day.

-John