Project to benefit community health and wellbeing
19 December 2016
Wannon Water and Portland District Health (PDH) are partnering in a pilot project that will have broad benefits for community health and wellbeing.
The Great Tasting Water project, launched today, aims to improve the taste of tap water at the Portland hospital and encourage people to use it as a healthy alternative to sugary drinks.
PDH Chief Executive Officer Chris Giles said the project was part of a campaign to work with the community to tackle health issues such as obesity.
Department of Health statistics show the rate of overweight and obese people living in the Glenelg Shire is 59 per cent – 10 per cent above the state average. In Portland, the rate of obesity has risen by 300 per cent in the past 30 years.
“As the largest local healthcare provider, Portland District Health is leading by example and plans to phase out sugary drinks in our facilities,” Ms Giles said.
Wannon Water’s General Manager Service Delivery, Ian Bail said the pilot project tied in with Wannon Water’s corporate vision of going “beyond water for strong communities”.
“Portland’s water is supplied from deep groundwater bores and although it is of high quality, we acknowledge there are lower rates of customer satisfaction with the taste compared to our other towns,” Mr Bail said.
“We want to support the hospital in taking a leadership role on reducing community obesity by improving the taste of its drinking water supply at current pricing levels and eliminating the need to purchase bottled water.”
The project will involve an upgrade of the hospital’s existing water filtration plant which has until now been used to supply sterilisation and disinfection processes. The normal town supply will be blended with this filtered water to produce great tasting water, encouraging more staff and patients to drink it. It is anticipated the improved water will also extend the life of the hospital infrastructure, resulting in financial savings to the hospital.
Two drinking water fountains will also be installed outside the hospital allowing members of the public to “choose tap” by refilling their own water bottles when they are out exercising or walking.
The project launch included a taste test where hospital employees and patients were able to sample a variety of filtered water blends to determine what “great tasting water” meant to them.
Detailed design work for the project will begin early next year with the water expected to start flowing in the hospital by June.
