University acknowledged for significant water savings

Nov 17, 2006

The University of Wollongong and the University's Maintenance and Energy Manager, Mr Chris Hewitt, have been acknowledged by the State Government for helping to achieve significant water savings.

The acknowledgments were made at the annual Every Drop Counts Business Program Awards ceremony held in Sydney on November 15.

The Minister for Water Utilities, Mr David Campbell, said that since the program was launched in 2001 it has attracted more than 340 members and generated savings of about 24.1 million litres of water a day or 8.7 billion litres a year.

The University of Wollongong was commended after investing in Australia's first waterless, wet-dressed artificial grass hockey field, which will save an estimated 16,000 litres of water a day.

Mr Hewitt won an individual award for significant achievements in water conservation.

He has introduced a number of water-saving initiatives on campus, including plans to harvest rainwater from roofs to irrigate sports fields and using vacuum systems in laboratories that do not use water.