CFA teams with hospital to fight bushfires

The Bacchus Marsh Country Fire Authority is using high-quality wastewater from their local hospital to fight bushfires this summer. 

Every four days around 25,000 litres of water used to produce steam for the sterilisation units at Bacchus Marsh and Melton Regional Hospital is piped down the road to the CFA’s two 50,000 litre storage tanks.

“In a bushfire situation we will use this water to fill 36 fire tankers, reducing pressure on drinking water supplies,” says Chris Kearney, Brigade Administration Support Officer.

The Bacchus Marsh CFA currently uses the water in fire training exercises that also benefit local parks and reserves.

“Focusing on trees as the training aid rather than fires, we’ve used at least 100,000 litres to water drought affected trees in Maddlingley Park as part of training our younger members to uses hoses and tankers,” Kearny says.

“The trees are looking a lot healthier, and being able to use water in our training exercises really makes a difference to our volunteers, who play a vital role in protecting our community.” 

The innovative project is supported by a Smart Water Fund $75,000 grant used to fund the 900 metres of pipeline that transport the water from the hospital to the CFA storage tanks.

With the drought impacting the availability of water for all CFA training exercises, the Bacchus Marsh CFA encourages other local brigades to access the water diverted from the hospital. The water is used to support fire-fighting in the Wombat Forest and Myrniong areas, both classed as high risk bushfire areas this season.

As the heightened summer bushfire risk coincides with increased demand for water across the community, the Bacchus Marsh CFA is significantly reducing the amount of mains water used from already stretched local supplies. 

The CFA is encouraging other stations to team with hospitals to apply the lessons learnt at Bacchus Marsh, and is also investigating water saving opportunities at other key stations across Victoria.

About the Smart Water Fund: A joint initiative of Melbourne’s water businesses and the Victorian Government, the Smart Water Fund invests in research and innovation in urban water conservation, water recycling and biosolids management. Since its inception in 2002, the Fund has invested approximately $28 million in over 170 projects.Smart Water Fund projects have created a wealth of water saving knowledge available for the community and industry to access at www.smartwater.com.au