Sustainable water management at major Australian regional airports: the case of Mildura Airport

Abstract

Sustainable water management is an essential aspect of all industries. This is particularly true in regional Australia, which in known for its harsh climate, with arid conditions. In this work we investigate the sustainable water management of major Australian regional airports. A specific case study of Mildura Airport, as the largest regional airport in the State of Victoria, is presented. Potable water is of particular importance, as it has the largest cost associated with its use. Sustainable means of supplying potable water can be significant to the operating costs of a regional airport. In an attempt to determine the potential for water harvesting at regional airports a novel image processing approach was taken to analyse the water capture area. This involved utilising satellite imagery and the image processing functionalities of Matlab, with some simple mathematics to estimate roofed areas. From here meteorological data gives rainfall data, in terms of depth, facilitating volume capture potentials. It was found that the average potable water harvesting potential for Mildura Airport is 3.964 megalitres per year.

Keyword : airports, regional aviation, sustainability, water management