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Online Surveys & Reporting Systems

Page Current at: October 2003

au.riversinfo.org have developed a number of online data reporting and management facilies to assist in managing environmental information in a co-ordinated manner. Initially these facilities were used in the Southern Sydney region and focussed on the Cooks River which runs into Botany Bay.

The following facilities were developed for use in the Cooks River:

• Stormwater & Gross Pollution Trap Reporting System (now finalised)
• Water & River Bank Management Survey (now finalised)
• Access Strategies Recreation and use Management Survey (now finalised)

Sample: Summary Gross Pollution Trap Device Reporting

Schematic of a Gross Pollution Trap Device http://www.cdstech.com.au/

In urban areas, rain that falls on the roof of your house, or collects on paved areas like driveways, roads and footpaths is carried away through a system of pipes that is separate from the sewerage system. Unlike sewage, stormwater is not treated. In some cases it’s filtered through "traps", usually located at the end of the pipe system, but it still flows directly from streets and gutters into our rivers, the harbour and the ocean. Straight from your street to waterways inhabited by fish, frogs and other aquatic animals and plants.

There are various types of stormwater pollution traps, but they all act like filters. They catch pollution before it has a chance to enter the waterways. They have to be cleaned or emptied regularly, and their contents are carried away to landfill. Types of pollution traps include:

• artificial wetlands
• oil and litter booms
• gross pollutant traps
• trash racks
• sediment traps.

Some of this information was extracted from the EPA Stormwater Site: www.epa.nsw.gov.au/stormwater/

Sample: Monitoring Pollution Control Devices

Monitoring pollution control devices yields information regarding land use in the subcatchments served by the stormwater drains, trends in polluting behaviour and the performance of the pollution control devices. Monitoring the performance of the pollution control devices principally consists of measuring their contents. A principle guiding the choice of indicators to measure is how they guide outcomes which can be impacted through catchment management regimes. For instance measurements of heavy metals in river sediment may yield notable results but lead to no realisable action due to the intractable nature of the problem. On the other hand, measurement of sediments or organic matter in GPTs may yield information which can steer education campaigns or management plans.

There are a number of GPTs included in the Cooks River & Botany Bay Basin Catchment. Records may be kept of the following extracted material:

• Domestic plastics (food packaging, chip packs, straws, etc)
• Industrial packaging (polystyrene, foam)
• Metals (aluminium drink cans)
• Plastic bottles Paper (cigarette butts, magazines)
• Medical supplies (syringes, condoms, etc)
• Sediments
• Other Organic Material
• Total number of bags of waste
• Wet mass
• Approximate cubic volume of waste

The total number of bags of waste, the wet mass and the approximate cubic volume of waste removed may also be recorded.

Sample Form: Submissions & Reporting

These data management facilities:

• Establish a clients (or users) identity
• Obtain and process a list of client submissions and or data input
• Confirm the clients submissions to them
• Email the clients submissions to the client, appropriate system administrators and other interested parties
• Record the clients submissions on an internet database server

The process of submitting information about quantities of material extracted from the Gross Pollutant Traps involves:

• Selecting the particular GPT and filling out the information requested in the form.
• Once you submit this form you will be presented with your entries as received by the server
• You will then be asked to confirm your submission or make corrections
• Once you confirm your submission it will be
  • Automatically emailed to you at the address you stated.
  • Automatically emailed to the database administrators.
  • Saved on the database server
  • Provided to you in the browser window for saving to your hard disk or printing out as required.

The following definitions & additional information may be of assistance in filling out the above boxes:

• Domestic plastics: (food packaging, chip packs, straws, etc)
• Industrial packaging: (polystyrene, foam)
• Metals: (aluminium drink cans)
• Plastic bottles
• Paper: (cigarette butts, magazines)
• Medical supplies: (syringes, condoms, etc)

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