Australia´s Green Games: Conserving water

Conserving water
The conservation of one of life´s most precious resources, water, has been a key factor in the design of all Sydney Olympic venues. All the design teams working on Olympic venues and facilities have been required to demonstrate that their designs incorporate multiple water conservation solutions.
One of the ways water wastage will be minimised within Olympic venues is the installation of more efficient appliances and fittings, including water-flow reduction valves and shower roses, dual-flush toilets, roof-fed rainwater tanks and drip irrigation systems.
Also, around the venues Australian native trees and shrubs, chosen not only for their aesthetic appeal but also for their drought resistant qualities, have been planted and mulched to further reduce water needs.
Most important has been the development of a dual water system at Sydney Olympic Park which supplies potable (i.e. drinkable) water for human consumption from the mains water supply through one set of pipes, and also supplies recycled storm water and sewage effluent for toilet flushing and irrigation through a parallel system of pipes. Sewage is first treated in an on-site wastewater reclamation plant, then a water treatment plant before being reused. Storm water is caught in runoffs designed to imitate the natural water cycles of creeks and wetlands, stored on-site, then treated in the water treatment plant before use