AU2010227080A1 - Rural Land Management and Water Purification - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL Name of Applicant(s): PETER ANDREWS Actual Inventor(s): PETER ANDREWS Address for Service: FRASER OLD & SOHN Patent Attorneys PO Box 560 MILSONS POINT NSW 1565 Invention Title: Rural Land Management & Water Purification Details of Associated Provisional Applications: 2009 904 962 Dated 13 October 2009 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 5330C-AU Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the management of rural land and also to the purification of water. Background Art In Australia much rural land has not been managed with optimal efficiency and as a consequence this land is degraded by erosion, salt inundation, loss of fertility, and the like. The applicant is the author of two books entitled "Back from the Brink" and "Beyond the Brink" published in 2006 and 2007 by ABC Books. These books disclose a method of land management in which streams are provided with 'leaky' dams which impede the stream flow and therefore hold back the waters in the stream bed to allow for growth of aquatic vegetation, saturation of soil giving rise to increased water table levels, and better pasture growth adjacent such streams during dry times. Australian Petty Patent No. 656 117 granted to the present applicant discloses a land management system and water purification system in which water is moved laterally to either side of the stream bed and small water courses, which flow substantially parallel to the stream bed, are established. Genesis of the Invention The genesis of the present is a desire to provide an improved land management method which is applicable to a wide range of landscapes and not merely the flood plain adjacent various creeks and rivers. Summary of the Invention In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a method of management of rural land having a gradient which slopes from uphill to downhill, said method comprising the steps of: (i) forming at least one water retention course extending substantially parallel to the contours of said land, (ii) down-slope from said water retention course forming a raised bank substantially parallel to the contours of said land, 5330C-AU (iii) locating a drain pipe extending from each said water retention course underneath the corresponding down-slope adjacent bank, and (iv) introducing water into the, or the uppermost one of, said water retention course(s), the volume of said water relative to the drainage capacity of said drain being sufficient to create a wetland in said water retention course into which said water is introduced. Preferably water is introduced below the or each water retention course but above any water table to provide a substantially saturated zone below the or each water retention course. In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a rural landscape having a gradient which slopes from uphill to downhill, at least one water retention course extending substantially parallel to the contours of said landscape, a raised bank located down-slope from each said water retention course and extending substantially parallel to said contours, and a reduced flow drainpipe extending from each said water retention course underneath the corresponding down-slope adjacent bank. According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of substantially removing impurities from waste water, said method comprising the steps of: (i) introducing said waste water into the, or the upper most one of the, water retention course(s) of the rural landscape as defined above, and (ii) collecting water from which impurities have been substantially removed from the, or the lower most one of the, drain(s). In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a method of preventing any salt contained in a water table from reaching the roots of salt intolerant vegetation, said method comprising the step of introducing a fresh water saturated zone in the soil intermediate said water table and surface water present in or on said soil. 5330C-AU Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. I is a plan view of a steam having a plurality of artificially created adjacent and parallel water courses, Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken along the line II - II of Fig, 1, Fig. 3 is a plan view showing contour lines of a rural landscape involving two hills and an adjacent stream, Fig. 4 is the same view as in Fig. 3 but illustrating the construction of raised banks, and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line V - V of Fig. 4. Detailed Description Figs. 1 and 2 to some extent reproduce the disclosure of the abovementioned petty patent in that a natural stream 1 flows over an alluvial flood plain 2 and crosses in a substantially perpendicular fashion a number of contour lines 3. The flow of the stream is indicated as F1. A number of substantially parallel raised banks 5A, 5B and 5C are artificially created. Both the banks 5 and the banks 6 of the stream are deliberately created with porous material thereby permitting a lateral flow in the direction of arrow L of water from the stream 1 to thereby create a plurality of artificial water courses 7A, 7B and 7C which have flows in the direction indicated as F2, F3 and F4. The above described arrangement works satisfactorily, however, it is restricted to landscapes on the alluvial flood plain immediately adjacent streams. It is noted that in the above described arrangement, the banks 5A, 5B and 5C are perpendicular to the contour lines 3 and the artificial water courses 7 also extend in a direction perpendicular to the contour lines 3. Turning now to Fig. 3, a more generalised rural landscape is illustrated having hills H1 and H2, a stream 11 which flows over an alluvial flood plain 12, and contour lines 13 which indicate the presence of two ridges 14 and 15 located one to either side of a valley 16 containing an intermittent water course 21. It is noted that the ridges 14, 15 5330C-AU and the valley 16 are not able to be utilized with the methods disclosed in the abovementioned petty patent, since the methods disclosed therein are only applicable to the alluvial flood plain 12. However, as indicated in Fig. 4, the present invention is applicable to both ridges such as 14 and valleys such as 16 and indeed any rural landscape having a gradient which slopes from uphill to downhill. As seen in Fig. 4, a number of banks 25A - 25F are formed in such a way as to be substantially parallel to the contour lines 13. The term "parallel" as used herein is used to refer to lines which include curved lines rather than being used in the strict geometric sense relating only to straight lines. Thus the term "parallel" as used herein is used in the same sense as the usage where one says that railway tracks are parallel, notwithstanding that they are curved or may be straight. The term "substantially parallel" has a corresponding meaning. The detail of the construction of the banks 25 is illustrated in Fig 5. The ground can be either a ridge 15 or a valley 16 which has a gradient 30 illustrated with a dashed line in Fig. 5. Each of the banks 25 is created by digging an upslope trench which forms a corresponding water retention course 27A, 27B and 27C which extend parallel to the corresponding banks 25 and thus run substantially parallel to the contours 13. Preferably when forming the banks 25 the soil dug from the water retention courses 27 is placed over putrescible waste material 32, the rotting of which over time provides a nutrient source to the landscape. In addition, when forming the banks 25, a corresponding drain 34A, 348 and 34C is located under each of the corresponding banks 25 so as to form a means of transferring water from a higher water retention course such as 27A to a lower water retention course such as 27B. The drains 34 interconnect the uppermost water retention course 27A to the lowermost water retention course 27C via the intermediate water retention course 27B. It is to be understood that the drains 34 constitute a spillway for the corresponding upslope water retention course 27 and thus essentially govern the depth of water 5330C-AU within the water retention course 27. If the drain 27 is connected to the lowermost point of the water retention course 27, then it is necessary for the drain to be throttled by a partially closed valve, or the flow impeded in some way, so as to maintain some water within the water retention course 27 above. As schematically illustrated in Fig. 5, aquatic vegetation 37 is grown in each of the water retention courses 27 and non-aquatic vegetation such as trees 38 and shrubs 39 are preferably grown on each of the banks 25. Preferably a large number of species of plant are grown in the water retention courses since the more diversified the vegetation, the more diversified is the microbial life which the vegetation supports. It is the microbial life which eventually eliminates the toxins of the waste water. Preferably the minimum number of plant species is approximately 80. Furthermore, preferably at least one perforated pipe 44, such as pipes normally used to form an agricultural drain, is positioned in the soil and extending longitudinally under each of the water retention course 27A - 27C. The corresponding pipes 44A 44C work in reverse to the operation of an agricultural drain in that they are supplied with fresh and clean water with the intention of forming a saturated zone 45 underneath the water retention courses 27A - 27C. In operation, waste water is introduced into the uppermost water retention course 27A and remains there for a period of time above the saturated soil immediately adjacent the uppermost water retention course 27A. In addition, continued introduction of the water results in the drain 34A supplying the intermediate water retention course 27B with water which again remains above the saturated zone 45 and in turn supplies water to the lowermost water retention course 27C, the overflow from which passes out through drain 34C. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the size and positioning of the drains 34 can be arranged to increase or decrease the dwell time of water in the water retention courses 27. Preferably the drains 34 utilize the pipe and culvert fabrication techniques disclosed in the Applicant's co-pending Provisional Patent Application No. 2009 904 961(now Application No. 2010 ... ... ) lodged 5330C-AU simultaneously herewith and entitled "A Pipe & Culvert Fabrication", the contents of which are hereby incorporated into the present specification for all purposes. Many beneficial effects flow from the abovedescribed arrangement. In particular, the fresh and clean water which via the pipes 44 saturates the soil below the water retention courses 27, provides an in-ground layer of non-salty water (indicated by diagonal hatching in Fig. 4) which floats above and does not mix with the water of the water table below (which will be salty to a greater or lesser extent) and which is indicated by dots in Fig .4. It is almost as if the two bodies of water were separated by a membrane. As a consequence, any salt water which may be present in the ground is prevented from rising either to the surface or sufficiently close to the surface to adversely impact upon the roots of salt intolerant vegetation. A similar effect can be observed on the sandy soils of Fraser Island in Queensland where fresh water lakes form above the water table which is impregnated with sea water. A still further consequence is that any impurities (see below) which may happen to be temporarily present in the water retention courses 27 do not penetrate, and thus contaminate, the ground water since the water in the water retention courses 27 does not mix with the water in the saturated zone 45 and instead flows across and on top of the saturated zone 45. In addition, the vegetation 37, 38 and 39 extracts nutrients from the environment in which they grow and their breakdown provides nutrients to fertilize the soil, pasture, vegetation, etc. The aquatic vegetation 37 once established in the water retention courses 27 rapidly creates a bio-diverse wetland in which microbes are effectively fed by the vegetation life cycle. Furthermore, if waste water carrying impurities such as water containing human sewage, waste water from piggeries, aquaculture enterprises, abattoirs and like establishments, etc is introduced in to the uppermost water retention course 27A, and provided a sufficient dwell time within the system is provided, (which is a function of the length of the water retention courses 27), then the aquatic vegetation 37 and its associated microbes purifies the waste water during its passage through the water 5330C-AU retention courses 27. As a result, water which drains from the lowermost drain 34C is substantially purified. The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the water retention courses 27 and drains 34 can be arranged in zig-zag fashion with the drain 34A at the southern end of water retention course 27A, the drain 34B at the northern end of water retention course 27B, and the drain 34C at the southern end of water retention course 27C (the water retention courses 27 and banks 25 being presumed to extend in a north-south direction). In this way water flows the length of each water retention course and the water's dwell time is increased. The term "comprising" (and its grammatical variations) as used herein is used in the inclusive sense of "including" or "having" and not in the exclusive sense of "consisting only of'. 5330C-AU

Claims (20)

1. A method of management of rural land having a gradient which slopes from uphill to downhill, said method comprising the steps of: (i) forming at least one water retention course extending substantially parallel to the contours of said land, (ii) down-slope from said water retention course forming a raised bank substantially parallel to the contours of said land, (iii) locating a drain pipe extending from each said water retention course underneath the corresponding down-slope adjacent bank, and (iv) introducing water into the, or the uppermost one of, said water retention course(s), the volume of said water relative to the drainage capacity of said drain being sufficient to create a wetland in said water retention course into which said water is introduced.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 comprising the further step of: (v) having a plurality of said water retention courses each with a corresponding down-slope raised bank and moving said water progressively from the uppermost to the lowermost of said water retention courses via the corresponding drains thereof to thereby create a wetland in each said water retention course.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 including the step of: (v) introducing water below the or each said water retention course but above any water table to provide a substantially saturated zone below the or each said water retention course.

4. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 including the further step of: (vii) growing aquatic vegetation in each said water retention course.

5. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 including the further step of: (viii) growing non-aquatic vegetation on each said raised bank. 5330C-AU IV

6. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein said non-aquatic vegetation includes trees.

7. The method as claimed in any one of claims I to 6 including the step of burying putrescible waste in said raised bank(s).

8. A method of land management substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 3 to 5 of the drawings.

9. A rural landscape having a gradient which slopes from uphill to downhill, at least one water retention course extending substantially parallel to the contours of said landscape, a raised bank located down-slope from each said water retention course and extending substantially parallel to said contours, and a reduced flow drainpipe extending from each said water retention course underneath the corresponding down-slope adjacent bank.

10. The landscape as claimed in claim 8 and having a plurality of said water retention courses each with a corresponding down-slope raised bank, said water retention courses being interconnected by said drains to form a sequential flow path from the uppermost to the lowermost of said water retention courses.

II. The landscape as claimed in claim 9 or 10 wherein at least one water permeable pipe is located in the soil below the or each said water retention course.

12 The landscape as claimed any one of in claims 9 to 11 wherein aquatic vegetation is grown in each said water retention course.

13. The landscape as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 12 wherein non-aquatic vegetation is grown on each said raised bank. 5330C-AU

14. The landscape as claimed in claim 13 wherein said non-aquatic vegetation includes trees,

15. The landscape as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 14 wherein putrescible waste is buried under soil in said raised banks.

16. A rural landscape substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 3 to 5 of the drawings.

17. A method of substantially removing impurities from waste water, said method comprising the steps of: (i) introducing said waste water into the, or the uppermost one of the, water retention course(s) of the rural landscape as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 15, and (ii) collecting water from which impurities have been substantially removed from the, or the lowermost one of the, drain(s).

18. A method of substantially removing impurities from waste water, said method being substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 3 to 5 of the drawings.

19. A method of preventing any salt contained in a water table from reaching the roots of salt intolerant vegetation, said method comprising the step of introducing a fresh water saturated zone in the soil intermediate said water table and surface water present in or on said soil.

20. A method of preventing salt contained in a water table from reaching the roots of salt intolerant vegetation, said method being substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 3 to 5 of the drawings. Dated this 7th day of October 2010 PETER ANDREWS By FRASER OLD & SOHN Patent Attorneys for the Applicants 5330C-AU