Charles Sturt University's Thurgoona campus received a top award for its innovative water management system from the Australian Water and Wastewater Association (AWWA) last Friday 6 August.

The statewide Best Practice Water Cycle Management Award has been awarded to CSU for the low use and significant re-use of water on the Thurgoona campus and its low impact on the local environment.

The water management system, which has already won a RiverCare 2000 award from the NSW Government, also treats contaminated water on-site, recycles water for watering grounds and assists with cooling buildings during summer (see the Thurgoona website).

The judging panel for the Award were also impressed with the construction of watercourses to collect and treat storm water and artificial wetlands to treat and re-use water from kitchen and showers in irrigate the grounds around the campus.

Campus buildings incorporate dry composting toilets, which use no water. The former farmland surrounding the buildings have been extensively sown with plants native to the Murray Basin, which also require little water.

The water management system is an integral part of the environmentally sensitive plan for the Thurgoona campus, which was first put in place in 1995.

To date, five rammed earth buildings, including a two storey office building for the School of Environmental and Information Sciences, have been completed. A major teaching complex, which includes a 200-seat lecture theatre complete with cooling provided by internal waterfalls, and student accommodation is due for completion by February 2000.

The AWWA, with members from government and private organisations across Australia, promotes improved management of water use by organisations and the general community.

The Award was presented to the University on Friday 6 August in Sydney during the Annual Dinner for the AWWA's NSW branch.