Water is EVERYTHING
“This is an exciting project for the business, we can’t wait to share the results with other industry growers”
– Ben Habershon, Operations Manager Alpine Alstonville.
In an era of escalating climate concerns, the need for sustainable nursery practices has never been more evident and the nursery industry is re-evaluating their practices to align with eco-friendly principles. Alpine Nurseries recent decision to construct a water recycling system at our Alstonville site and build the project to the highest environmental standards is a step forward for the nursery Industry.
Nestled amidst rolling hills and lush vegetation of the Northern Rivers, Alpine Alstonville has always been an idyllic sanctuary for growing plants, as such preservation of local ecosystems has always been a major factor in nursey development plans.
Alpine’s vision for this ambitious project was to build a water recycling system that will catch and re-use up to 250,000lt of irrigation water per day in peak season creating a closed loop irrigation and nutrient management system.
After a long period of planning and consultation with local government, water authorities and environmental consultants a plan was developed to not only build the water recycling system but also install a 5,000m2 wetlands to catch and process any nutrient during average rain events, setting an exemplary benchmark for environmental sustainability.
Using 100% local contractors the project has run like clockwork with zero disruption to Alpine’s busy spring operations. Alstonville Operations Manager Ben Habershon comments: “This is an exciting project for the business, we can’t wait to share the results with other industry growers”.
Nursery staff are committed to ongoing monitoring, maintenance and environmental reporting to ensure the system remains an environmentally friendly and sustainable feature of their operations.
By setting such a precedent, Alpine hope to inspire other nurseries and agricultural operations, to prioritise environmental sustainability in their projects.
Take a look at some of the footage take that gives scale to such an important undertaking: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL63GODzsRGtHJKlqBDT48loOPVMbildlg