When the mains water was turned off along Rosebank Road on Wednesday 21 October, a simple bucket of clean water from the Watersmart Innovation Hub helped neighbouring café Piccolina continue operating.
Klaudia discovered the interruption when she stopped at the café on her way to work. Instead of the usual morning greeting, she was met with an unexpected question: “Do you have water?”
Watercare crews were repairing a leak, temporarily leaving businesses along the road without their usual supply. At the Innovation Hub, however, our rainwater harvesting and treatment system kept the office supplied. Our team was carrying on as normal, unaware of the interruption affecting our neighbours.
Shortly afterwards, Klaudia returned to Piccolina with a bucket of water to lend a hand. A small gesture, but a welcome bit of support during a disrupted morning.
The Innovation Hub in everyday use
The Watersmart Innovation Hub is our workplace as well as a space to explore water solutions. The systems installed here are part of our daily operations, giving visitors an opportunity to see how they work in practice.
Our rainwater setup combines SlimCity and FenceTank storage with WaterSAFE treatment. It allows us to harvest rainwater and treat it for use on site, reducing our reliance on the mains supply.
On this occasion, the benefit was immediate: while the mains water was off, our own supply remained available.
Water resilience starts before an interruption
Water security often brings droughts and extreme weather to mind. But this was a reminder that an ordinary infrastructure repair can also interrupt the water we rely on.
For a workplace, losing water can affect everyday routines and operations. Thinking ahead about where water comes from, what it is needed for and what happens if that source becomes unavailable is a useful part of planning any building.
Rainwater harvesting can contribute to that preparation while also making use of a resource that falls directly onto the site. Stored rainwater can support uses such as irrigation and toilet flushing, with treatment and system design matched to the intended use.
How much support a system can provide during an interruption depends on its storage capacity, the water available at the time, demand and how it is connected. Planning around those factors helps create a system suited to the building and the people using it.
See water resilience in practice
For our team, the Rosebank Road interruption brought the value of our setup into focus. It kept our workplace running and gave us the opportunity to help a neighbour.
That is part of what makes the Innovation Hub useful: it provides a place to see working systems, ask practical questions and explore how water solutions could fit into your own project.
Book a visit to the Watersmart Innovation Hub to see our rainwater harvesting and treatment setup and talk through the possibilities for your site.