Her Majesty The Queen will open South Bank Corporation’s innovative urban stormwater harvesting and reuse centre, Rain Bank, on Monday 24 October during her visit to Brisbane.
South Bank Corporation CEO Malcolm Snow is delighted that The Queen will inspect and officially open the new Rain Bank facility, which highlights innovation in water sustainability, while acknowledging the enormous effort to get Rain Bank underway after it was inundated by January’s devastating floods.
“It’s my pleasure to welcome The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh to South Bank especially after parts of the Parklands were inundated during the January floods,” Mr Snow said.
The location also offers a sense of historical significance for The Queen, who last visited South Bank when she launched World Expo 88.
"The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will be able to observe how South Bank has evolved into Brisbane’s most‐loved public space,” he said.
Rain Bank has been acknowledged by the industry as the most innovative urban stormwater harvesting and reuse project in Queensland and the first large‐scale stormwater harvesting project in Australia to be retrofitted in a fully developed mixed‐use catchment.
The development will divert stormwater runoff from a 30 hectare catchment across West End to a large underground storage tank and treatment centre located at South Bank.
Rain Bank was engineered to save the equivalent of 30 Olympic‐sized swimming pools each year in response to the drought conditions that Queensland has been experiencing for many years.
An estimated 77 megalitres of stormwater per annum will be harvested, treated, stored and reused within the Parklands, South Bank providing up to 85 per cent of the precinct’s irrigation water requirements.
An educational element has been incorporated into the design of Rain Bank, with the finished facility including a display area with a deck for visitors to view the water treatment process as it happens.
It will also feature an interactive panel enabling visitors to view the urban stormwater story, vital statistics and flow rates.
Mr Snow said the innovative design was the outcome of a fruitful collaboration which highlights the Corporation’s commitment to sustainability and water conservation.
"South Bank Corporation is proud to have conceived and built Rain Bank, an innovative environmental solution aimed at future‐proofing the Parklands from long‐term drought through stormwater harvesting and reuse,” he said.
“We consistently strive to be leaders in sustainability at South Bank Corporation and we thank Her Majesty The Queen for officially opening our exemplary water project, Rain Bank.
“The industry has acknowledged the innovation in the Rain Bank concept and design and we are very proud to now be able to share this on the world stage after acknowledgement from The Queen.”
The Corporation worked closely with principal consultants Bligh Tanner and Gamble McKinnon Green and contractors Stirloch Contruction to design and build Rain Bank.
Rain Bank was developed by South Bank Corporation with funding of $4.6 million from the Queensland Government and $3.3 million from the Australian Government’s Water for the Future Program. The Brisbane City Council has been instrumental in the project by enabling access to its stormwater system.
