The City of Joondalup’s implementation of a new smart irrigation system, including a web-based central control system, has been recognised at the LG Professionals Western Australian Awards night.
The LG Professionals Western Australian annual awards celebrate and honour local governments that have achieved outstanding outcomes for their local community.
The City of Joondalup won the Environmental Leadership and Sustainability Award for its Smart Control Irrigation System technology, which was installed at more than 200 parks across the City.
Linked to a web-based central control system, the technology enables the City to monitor, adjust and maintain its irrigation system in real time.
This can be done from a smartphone, laptop or any web-enabled device.
The system captures data and information to adjust various irrigation programs for different parks and public open spaces, resulting in an 86,000kl reduction in groundwater use between 2019/20 and 2020/21 –14 per cent below the City’s licensed groundwater allocation.
City of Joondalup Mayor, Albert Jacob, said this latest accolade gave the City confidence it was striking the right balance between the provision of water services for the community with the protection of water resources in the context of a drying climate.
“Not that long ago if there was rain over the weekend in summer, City officers would have to go out to each park on a Monday morning to turn off the individual irrigation controller. This cost the City money and affected the City’s water efficiency due to the slow response times,” Mayor Jacob said.
“The central control system means responses occur in real time, ensuring our irrigation programs are as efficient and effective as possible.”
Mayor Jacob said the initiative was undertaken at a relatively low cost and could potentially be replicated across other local government areas.
“At the City of Joondalup, our commitment to water conservation and water quality is strong and demonstrated by the many effective programs and strategies we have implemented to improve how we sustainably manage this precious resource,” Mayor Jacob said.
The Smart Control Irrigation System aligns with the City’s Environment Plan, Water Plan and participation in the Waterwise Council Program.
The City of Joondalup was named Western Australia’s Platinum Waterwise Council of the Year, the highest accolade a Western Australian Local Government can attain for water conservation in early 2022.
In 2021, the City of Joondalup also won the Water Sensitive Cities Award from the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, for its water-sensitive practices and work to address water efficiency and water quality.
The City of Joondalup manages and cares for 393 (1080ha) of parks, natural areas and public open spaces, which all play an important role in the wellbeing of residents and the wider community.
Image of Macauley Park, courtesy of the City of Joondalup.
