Operation & Maintenance

Operation and Maintenance is considered to be a significant barrier to the adoption of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) due to a certain level of uncertainty by council staff about precisely what is required (planning, costing and scheduling) to maintain infrastructure once construction and/or handover is completed.

The following information has been sourced to provide the information to help plan, cost and schedule for WSUD.


Life Cycle Costing Read More > A Review of Water Quality and Maintenance Costs of Constructed Water Bodies in Urban Areas of South East Queensland Completed in 2007, the Discussion Paper summarises data on water quality and maintenance costs for constructed water bodies under the ownership of local government in urban areas of South East Queensland.	Presentations Read More > 2008 Sustainable Water Challenge Key Note Presentations Including: Key Note 1 – Anthony Collins, Parramatta City Council. WSUD Maintenance Planning Responsibilities and Lessons Learnt. Click Here for a copy of the presentation. Key Note 2 – Shane Barter, Department of Environment and Climate Change. Operation and Maintenance – Practical Tools for Councils. Click Here for a copy of the presentation. Key Note 3 – David Knights, Equatica (www.equatica.com.au). Sustainable Maintenance Challenge. Click Here for a copy of the presentation.
Lifecycle Costs of Water Sensitive Urban Design Treatment Systems Read More > This Draft Report completed in 2007 was prepared for Brisbane City Council and presents lifecycle costs on a range of stormwater quality management systems.Please read ‘Chapter 4: Summary of Data and Recommendations for Use’ prior to using the information for planning purposes.	Clearwater, Victoria’s Capacity Building Program Read More > A 2007 seminar, the Maintenance of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) Assets included: Case studies demonstrating best practice design with minimum maintenance; Realistic examples highlighting short and long term maintenance needs, including handover; Maintenance costs; Approximating the costs of maintaining WSUD assets.
National Life Cycle Costing Project Read More > The project scope for this Australia wide initiative was jointly developed with potential Project Partners and Industry Stakeholders at a one day workshop hosted by the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority (SMCMA) on 23 November 2009. Culminating in a report, Life Cycle Costing Information and Tools to Help Drive Water Sensitive Urban Design: A Workshop to Design a National Project; the document governs the project’s proposed scope and deliverables. Including 5 phases. Delivered in October 2010, Phase 1 – Needs Analysis was seed funded by the SMCMA and delivered in partnership with the following organisations who funded, hosted and coordinated regionally held workshops in November 2010: Victoria – Clearwater Program; South Australia – Murray Darling Basin NRM Board; Western Australia – New WAter Ways; Queensland – Water by Design Program. The report entitled, National Needs Analysis: Life Cycle Costing Data and Tools For Water Sensitive Urban Design Assets details the outcome of the Needs Analysis incorporating the following: Mapping the process that involves the design, construction and maintenance of WSUD assets; Identifying key stakeholders involved in each stage of this process; Identifying stakeholder needs for Life Cycle Cost (LCC) information and estimation tools; Prioritising stakeholder needs and benchmarked these priorities against other WSUD-related capacity building initiatives; Using the findings of the needs analysis to recommend a set of tasks that would gather LCC information and build an estimation tool to meet high priority needs of key stakeholders. The Sydney Metropolitan CMA is currently considering the Phase 1 – Need Analysis findings and recommendations with a view to determining a way forward in 2011/12. If you are interested in becoming a partner or would like further information, please contact Kate Black, Program Manager via info@wsud.org or (02) 9895 6206.	Guidelines, Manuals and Checklists Read More > Please refer to the Operation and Maintenance Section of the Tools and Resources Database on the Tools and Resources page of this website.
Additional Life Cycle Costing Literature Read More > Find out more about Life Cycle Costing by clicking one of the following links: A. Tennakoon and J. Argue (2011) Managing Urban Regrowth with an ‘at capacity’ Stormwater Infrastructure’. Proceedings, 34th IAHR World Congress, Brisbane, Australia, June/July, 2011 A Khairul, H. Shahadat and B. Dalrymple (2008) WSUD in Gold Coast City Council Taylor and Fletcher (2007) Estimating life cycle costs of stormwater treatment measures A. Collins (2006) DESTINATION SQID WASTE? Ahmad Ali, et al. (2004) Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Natural Channel as a Component of Water Sensitive Urban Design Taylor (2005) Structural Stormwater Quality BMP Cost / Size Relationship Information From the Literature A. Taylor, T Fletcher (2004) Estimating Life-Cycle Costs of Structural Measures That Improve Urban Stormwater Quality Lloyd S (2004) Quantifying Environmental Benefits, Economic Outcomes and Community Support for Water Sensitive Urban Design Sara Lloyd et al. (2004) Cost of Incorporating WSUD into Green Field Site Development and Application of an Offset Trading Scheme Boobli D (2003) Comparison of Construction Costs for Water Sensitive Uban Design and Conventional Stormwater Design T Grant et al (2003) Urban Domestic Water Tanks: Life Cycle Assessment Taylor (2003) An Introduction to Life Cycle Costing Involving Structural Stormwater Quality Management Measures Meenakshi J (2002) Kogarh Town Square Water Management: An Evaluation of Costs & Benefits Coombes et al (2000) Costing of water cycle infrastructure savings arising from WSUD Coombes et al (2000) Economic benefits arising from use of WSUD source control measures