Public survey open on Princes Park stormwater harvesting project

The City of Melbourne is calling on residents to provide comments and feedback on its proposed stormwater harvesting project for Princes Park.

The project will harvest excess stormwater from the Moonee Ponds Creek to water Melbourne’s iconic Princes Park in Carlton North.

This new source of irrigation water will protect the sports and recreation grounds and some of the city’s most significant trees in Princes Park from the impact of future drought, with project seeking to provide significant benefits to both the park and the creek.

Princes Park will receive 80 per cent of its required water from more than 60 million litres from Moonee Ponds Creek.

This sustainable natural water cycle will eliminate the need to use tap water to replenish the soil moisture in the park.

Moonee Ponds Creek will see the removal of litter and up to 20,000kg of sediment and 200kg of nitrogen annually.

The three steps in the water collection and distribution cycle start with capturing excess stormwater through a stormwater pipe, ensuring environmental flows are maintained, and passing it through a gross pollutant trap, removing litter and more significant pollutants and then through a sediment chamber to remove coarse sediment.

The second step is transferring the treated stormwater to underground storage tanks, holding up to five million litres of water, at McPherson Field in Royal Park.

Finally, the stormwater will be pumped via a UV disinfection system, removing pathogens, into an irrigation tank in Princes Park, where the water will irrigate the ovals and gardens.

The location of the stormwater harvesting system will mainly be underground, while the small UV pump house will be adjacent to the existing pump infrastructure in Royal Park.

There will be disruptions to activities in Royal Park and Princes Park during the construction of this project.

The City of Melbourne says it will work with sporting clubs and park users to minimise these impacts as much as possible and ensure the community continues to access the parks.

Similar irrigation systems are located in the Fitzroy Gardens in East Melbourne, Birrarung Marr and Queen Victoria and Alexandra Gardens.

The council is accepting feedback until August 30. •

To have your say: https://participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/princes-park-stormwater-harvesting-project