Orange stormwater to potable case study

The regional city of Orange is located approximately 260km west of Sydney in the Central West of NSW. Water supply in Orange was provided by two water storages which captured runoff from predominately rural catchments. By late 2007 the city’s water storages were below 40% and significant resources were directed to reduce water consumption. The Blackmans Swamp Creek and Ploughmans Creek stormwater harvesting schemes are capable of providing an average of 1,350ML/year of additional water into the Orange’s raw water supply each year. This results in up to 25% of the city’s water needs being supplied stormwater collected from the urban area.