Merrifield backs innovative water plan

With the support of Merrifield Corporation, Yarra Valley Water has committed to investigate the viability of capturing, storing, treating and re-using the stormwater harvested across the Merrifield project, with the ultimate goal of substituting the treated stormwater as potable water supply across Merrifield and Melbourne’s North.

A key part of the Merrifield vision is to establish a new benchmark in environmental sustainability – by reducing the use of potable water by up to 40 per cent across the employment and residential areas. The feasibility being undertaken by Yarra Valley Water into this innovation is an important step in fulfilling or potentially bettering the Merrifield vision.

The current design at Merrifield for the treatment of stormwater run-off includes a series of architecturally-designed wetlands along the Hume Highway frontage. The wetlands incorporate best practice sustainability design principles which will manage the quality and quantity of stormwater collected from the employment area.

Yarra Valley Water together with Merrifield’s expert consultant team will now investigate whether the wetlands can be enhanced to enable the treatment and re-use of harvested stormwater as potable supply.