City of Armadale · Gwynne Park
A 4.7-hectare council sporting precinct on 1974 infrastructure, running at 130% of its water licence. Metered bore usage fell 8,261 kL in the first full year after install, and the turf came through summer for the first time in years.
Conducted by City of Armadale, with metered volumes confirmed by Alex Pass, Supervisor Irrigation, in a letter to SmartDrop certification. The cost, fertiliser and energy analysis is President Water's own.
- LOCATION
- Gwynne Park Recreation Precinct, Armadale, Western Australia
- PERIOD
- Installed 6 March 2024 · council figures to 30 June 2025
- EQUIPMENT
- PW400 President Water Vortex Generator (100mm / 4")
What the trial measured
Metered water use, confirmed by the council
THE STANDOUT RESULT- Metered bore usage across four bores: 81,702 kL in 2022/23, 80,244 kL in 2023/24, and 71,983 kL in 2024/25.
- That is a metered reduction of 8,261 kL comparing the first full trial year against the prior year's actual usage.
- The precinct holds a 62,000 kL annual licence and was over it throughout, moving from 131.72% to 116.10% of allocation.
- The council records an immediate 20% reduction in watering from March to June 2024, in the four months following install.
- On that basis the council calculates that 2023/24 would have reached 89,842 kL without the device, against an actual 80,244 kL.
- Rainfall at the Jandakot station stayed stable across the comparison, averaging 621mm with individual years of 654mm, 594mm and 615mm.
President Water's cost and resource analysis
- President Water reports a 13,839 kL annual reduction, expressed as 16.13% against an 85,822 kL baseline.
- Total annual savings of $16,933.33 across labour, fertiliser, energy and maintenance.
- Against a $12,000 installed capital cost that is an 8.5-month payback and a 41.1% first-year return.
- A 60% reduction in fertiliser usage, 8,564 kWh of annual energy savings, and 6.4 tonnes of CO2-e avoided per year.
- 100% uptime and zero maintenance on the unit across the 12-month trial.
- The council letter confirms savings in fertiliser, energy, labour and hardware were notable but does not quantify any of them, so every figure in this group is President Water's own.
Turf and surface condition
- No mainline breaks for the first time in many years, and very little maintenance on sprinklers, per the irrigation supervisor.
- Increases in water pressure and sprinkler coverage were reported alongside the volume reduction.
- The site had historically gone barren after Christmas, described by visiting clubs as playing on a desert and by staff as crop circles.
- Through the trial summer, feedback from visiting clubs, patrons and internal staff was positive on turf condition from January onward.
- The council has since approved the purchase of additional units and written President Water technologies into its Council Master Specifications for irrigation.
“What we've seen is a big increase in turf health, turf vigour and moisture, minimal maintenance requirements from the site itself. No mainline breaks for the first time in many many years and very little maintenance on sprinklers.”
Gwynne Park is the hardest kind of site to show a result on. Irrigation infrastructure from 1974, four sporting clubs using it hard, and a precinct already pulling 130% of its water licence every year. Nothing about it is a favourable test.
The council's own meters are the part to trust. Four bores, three years of readings, rainfall held steady within 60mm across the comparison, and 8,261 kL less water pulled in the first full year after the unit went in. That is a council officer putting his name and his reference number on a document going to a certification body.
The turf story is what a groundskeeper will recognise. A site that went to desert every January came through summer intact, with no mainline breaks for the first time in years. The council then bought more units and wrote the technology into its master specification, which is a harder endorsement to give than a testimonial.
Where you should slow down is the second set of numbers. President Water's own analysis puts the saving at 13,839 kL against an 85,822 kL baseline, and that baseline does not appear anywhere in the council's letter, whose own table tops out at 81,702 kL. The dollar savings, the fertiliser percentage and the energy figures are likewise President Water's, not the council's. They may well be right. They are not what the council verified, and this page will not pretend otherwise until the underlying calculation is published.
Trial at a glance
- SITE
- Gwynne Park Recreation Precinct, 4.7 hectares, City of Armadale, Western Australia
- INFRASTRUCTURE
- Legacy irrigation system originally installed in 1974
- EQUIPMENT
- One PW400 President Water Vortex Generator, 100mm / 4 inch
- INSTALLED
- 6 March 2024
- MEASUREMENT
- Metered, four production bores, irrigation years 1 July to 30 June
- LICENCE
- 62,000 kL per year, exceeded in all three years measured
- BASELINE
- Council table of 2022/23 and 2023/24 actual metered usage
- RAINFALL CONTROL
- Jandakot weather station, 621mm three-year average, 6 March to 5 March seasons
- CONFIRMED BY
- Alex Pass, Supervisor Irrigation, letter ref PR/R/15-15, 24 June 2025
- LETTER ADDRESSED TO
- SmartDrop Advisory Chair, The Water Conservancy, for certification
- COUNCIL OUTCOME
- Additional units approved, technology added to Council Master Specifications
Verified by Alex Pass, Supervisor Irrigation, City of Armadale (metered water volumes only).
Findings that cut against the headline. We publish them because a grower deciding on a retrofit deserves the whole picture.
- Two different water-saving figures exist for this trial and they do not reconcile. The council's letter supports a metered reduction of 8,261 kL year on year. President Water reports 13,839 kL, or 16.13%, against an 85,822 kL baseline that appears in no council document. Until that baseline calculation is published, only the council figure should be treated as verified.
- The dollar savings, the 60% fertiliser reduction, the 8,564 kWh and the 6.4 tonnes of CO2-e are President Water's own analysis. The council states these savings were notable but explicitly does not quantify them.
- An earlier version of this record carried a 9.9-month payback and a 121% first-year ROI. Neither follows from the stated figures: $12,000 against $16,933 a year is 8.5 months and 41.1%.
- The precinct remained above its licensed allocation throughout, at 116.10% in the trial year. This was a substantial improvement on 131.72%, not a return to compliance.
- There was no untreated control area within the precinct. The comparison is against the site's own prior years, with rainfall stability offered as the control.
- A promotional video recorded at the one-year mark quotes a 7-month payback and describes preliminary water figures as around 20%. Both differ from the figures in the written summary.
Read the underlying report
Every figure on this page is traceable to the documents below. Nothing is modelled, estimated, or extrapolated.
CITATIONPass, A. (2025). Confirmation of water savings at Gwynne Park, WA with PW400 President Water Vortex Generator. City of Armadale, ref PR/R/15-15, 24 June 2025. Supplemented by President Water Company, City of Armadale Gwynne Park Vortex Generator Case Study: Executive Summary.
President Water Company · presidentwater.com · City of Armadale · Gwynne Park, Installed 6 March 2024 · council figures to 30 June 2025