Blending stormwater infrastructure into a scenic landscape can be a tall order, but this installation was tucked neatly out of sight in Tasmania’s picturesque Meander Valley – while meeting tough specification demands.

By Brian McCormack

The Great Western Tiers mountain range forms a dramatic backdrop to the rural landscape in Meander Valley, a picturesque region in northern Tasmania encompassing extensive forests, tumbling waterfalls and productive farmland. 

Consequently, Meander Valley Council conducts a vigilant and ongoing stormwater quality improvement initiative for the protection of its local environment. In addition, it makes an effort to blend its stormwater infrastructure as unobtrusively as possible into the scenic landscape dotted with historic villages and towns. 

So, when the council recently identified a stormwater outfall near the colonial town of Hadspen as a potential polluter of receiving creeks and estuaries, it engaged specialist filtration company, Ecosol to provide a solution.

The council wanted Ecosol to provide an easy-to-maintain, primary-screening gross pollutant trap, but was insistent that it should be visually unobtrusive, easily maintainable and effective in capturing and retaining gross litter. The council also didn’t want it to adversely affect the capacity of the stormwater drain. 

Ecosol’s proprietary Net Guard system not only met these criteria, it could also be easily and cost-effectively retrofitted to the council’s existing stormwater outfall.

Essentially, the Ecosol Net Guard comprises a pre-cast concrete pit that houses a strong stainless steel frame and removable heavy-duty polyethylene filtration net that can be easily fitted out using a small crane truck. The unit will continue to capture gross pollutants until the net reaches its designed holding capacity, or, in the event of a major rain event, when excess flows are designed to simply overtop the system.

The unit was commissioned in April 2011 and the performance of the stormwater filtration device was monitored for a six-month period, after which the council concluded that the device had been highly effective in capturing gross pollutants conveyed in stormwater flows. 

In particular, the device efficiently captured and retained a significant volume of vegetation, soils and sedimentation that would otherwise have entered the receiving contributory.   

In January last year the council completed the first clean out of the unit, removing a total of 62.7kg of gross pollutants.

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