Water for cities and towns

A method for measuring the environmental impacts of water used in crop and food production is helping businesses develop more sustainable practices and consumers make wiser choices.

The Healthy Water Ecosystems Theme, as part of the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, is providing the knowledge to protect or rehabilitate the health of Australia’s water ecosystems.

Dr Dilip Manuel describes the 'air shower' which saves water, but still feels as good as a normal shower in this podcast. (4:41)

Is recycled water part of the solution to Australia’s water crisis? In this podcast, Dr Simon Toze discusses the benefits of recycling our water. (7:29)

Dr Tom Hatton talks about the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project and the release of the first regional report on the Warrego. (5:40)

The continuing drought is prompting a re-appraisal of northern Australia’s vast rivers and streams, fed copiously during every rainy season. But is a move to the North, or piping the water south, the answer to our irrigation problems? In this podcast, Dr Cuan Petheram dashes some hopes and dreams. (4.24)

The CSIRO report Water-energy futures for Melbourne examines the challenges a large city faces in providing water for their growing populations. In this podcast, Steven Kenway from the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship discusses these challenges. (4:58)

CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country Flagship and the Smart Water Fund (a joint initiative of Melbourne’s water businesses and the Victorian Government) have developed a practical method for testing whether greywater treatment technologies meet Australian standards. (3:52)

Resource economist Dr Sorada Tapsuwan talks about a CSIRO survey and the issue of water restrictions in Perth, Western Australia in this five-minute podcast. (4:54)

Farmers around the world are expected to benefit from the successful trial of an enzyme that breaks down the herbicide, atrazine, in run-off water. (7:01)

The last of 18 specific reports on water availability in every region of the Murray-Darling Basin has been completed by the CSIRO’s Murray Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project team. Dr Tom Hatton, the former Director of the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, says the Murray region report has sobering news for the environment and communities at the end of the system. (6:10)

Australia’s farmers are our climate change 'warriors', and many of them are already meeting the challenges of climate change, with major modifications to the way they produce our food. In this podcast, Dr Mark Howden from CSIRO’s Climate Adaptation Flagship, explains how farmers are dealing with challenges such as lower rainfall and irrigation allocations. (4:51)

The hyper-saline brine generated during the desalination process could be used to produce a range of value-added products, reducing waste and potentially generating significant income. 

Find out what’s happening in the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship by reading UPDATE – the Flagship’s electronic newsletter.

Dr Wenju Cai's research is using climate change and variability predictions to maximise agricultural, urban and ecological water use opportunities.

An outlining the work of the Advanced Membrane Technologies for Water Treatment Research Cluster. (4 pages)

The Water for a Healthy Country Flagship is transforming the way in which urban water services are provided and, through better urban design and innovative technologies, will result in everyone from householders to city planners being able to make their communities water smart.

CSIRO is undertaking research and development initiatives relating to water supply and utilities.

By assessing the environmental, social and economic consequences of alternative water systems the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship is developing tools that will help create water smart cities for the future.

CSIRO scientists have conducted a study on the 'ICON Water Sensitive Urban Developments' for the National Water Commission. Researchers identified knowledge gaps and main barriers in the implementation and uptake of these developments.

The Water for a Healthy Country Flagship is examining opportunities to harvest waste water from storm water, to supply cities and regional towns, reduce demand on catchments, and leave more water in streams and aquifers.

Our expertise in water reuse, resource recovery and environmental processing is addressing urban, environmental and industry demands.

We focus on finding new, integrated ways to manage our water supply and water resources issues. This includes land use change, salinity, climate change, groundwater extraction and drainage schemes. 

A Water for a Healthy Country Flagship project has developed an alternative approach to track water movement through distribution systems.

Australia, the driest inhabited continent on Earth, has recognised it must learn to make better use of its water resources and CSIRO is contributing to smarter technologies and more efficient systems. To meet Australia’s water challenges, smart technologies and more efficient systems are being developed.