Willoughby Leisure Centre’s waterfall of savings

Last modified on 17 July 2018

A new water filtration system – the first of its kind in Australia - saved Willoughby Leisure Centre more than $14,000 and 1 million litres of water in a year.

The European plastic filtration system called “OC1” can even remove particles as small as one micron - one 50th the size of a human hair - without chemicals.

“It’s made savings in water, chemicals, heat loss and electricity, not to mention less down time so it’s now a better experience for Leisure Centre patrons,” Mayor Gail Giles-Gidney said.

“The new system uses settlement, rather than the traditional entrapment method to more efficiently remove micro particles from water, keeping the heated spa and pool clean and fresh for users,” Mayor Giles-Gidney said.

The old system meant large quantities of heated and treated water were lost through ‘backwash’ – the water washing in and out of the filter.

However, water quality has improved through a 25% increase in turnover of the pool water or about 18 extra turnovers each day.

“With the reduced downtime we were able to provide a better experience for patrons at a lower running cost which equated to an excellent result from the project,” Mayor Giles-Gidney said.

Pump speeds were able to be reduced from 50Hz to 42Hz, saving of 70,000 kw hour/per annum or about $14,000 a year.

Willoughby Leisure Centre is the first to install OC1 in Australia, after its success in Europe. It was installed by engineering contractors Roejen NSW in August 2017. The new system was funded by Council’s environment levy and cost $104,000.