The project “Rainwater harvesting @ Waite” was successfully submitted by Sanjiv Satija from Plant Genomics Centre to secure funding from the University of Adelaide’s Ecoversity program under the “Green Project Fund – 2019”. This is a collaborative project with support from Ecoversity, School of Agriculture Food and Wine and the Wheat Hub.
The money will be used to install rain water tanks to provide irrigation to the undercover plant growth facility behind Plant Genomics Centre. The work will start in the coming weeks and is set to be finished before end of the year.
The birdcage area behind PGC is a much in-demand experimental area on Waite campus and is booked to capacity every year. The poly tunnels provide a semi-controlled environment for plant growth and crop research. However, due to its extensive use and the use of tap water for irrigation, the soil is showing salt deposition. It is desirable to use rain water for irrigation to get rid of the extra salt in the soil.
Use of rain water for these plant growth facilities will result in savings of potable tap water, enhancing soil desalination using rain water, stopping further salt deposition through tap water and saving on cost of tap water usage.
The success of this project will provide an example of how rain water harvesting projects can be initiated and implemented on campus for other plant growth facilities.
For more information about the Green Project Fund, please visit: