Environmental Policy
From its inception in the 70’s, the core value of Edge of the Bay has been to provide understated, low impact accommodation that is sympathetic to the natural surroundings; a location for guests to immerse themselves in nature-based holidays while minimising environmental impact, preserving the pristine landscape and wildlife, and safeguarding community and cultural lifestyles and values.
With that philosophy in mind, it was imperative to clear only the vegetation that was necessary during construction. The original site, roads and accommodation were cleared by hand. Two men, an old Ferguson 28 tractor, a chainsaw, axe, slash hook (and a fair bit of blood, sweat and colourful language.)
Our water is sourced from a catchment of an existing water course. The water runs and drains through the soil and vegetation before reaching the catchment area. The natural vegetation, particularly button grass and Kunzea (native tea tree), adds a natural tannin (tea like colour), which is common in most rivers and lakes around Australia.
The depth of the colour is dependent on the amount of recent rainfall. The more rain, the darker the tannin. This region is usually particularly dry, and the water is naturally “bleached” by the sun. Once the water reaches our catchment, it then goes through a three-stage filter process:
- A course particle filter
- A fine particle filter
- and finally, an activated carbon filter
This process creates ‘pure’ water; we do not chlorinate it. The impact of trying to bleach the water clear is toxic and would create ecological issues that are contrary to our core values.
It is important to note: owing to the fact that this pure water is not regularly tested at government laboratories, we are regulated to instruct you that water for drinking purposes in our cabins and suites should be bought to the boil before drinking. This is a mandatory piece of advice. Please be reassured that you will leave here healthier and feeling better than when you arrived, in part due to the water you use.
Dedicated to extending the core values and philosophy at Edge of the Bay, we also decided that a treatment plant would be required to treat the wastewater from the property to a much higher standard. This change was made nearly 2 decades ago, and we are proud to be the first business in the area to undertake such an expensive and environmentally responsible step.
An aerobic, microbial treatment plant was instituted and there have been many small upgrades along the way; including refining the process and improving output quality so that it can be used to sustain the natural vegetation during our normally long drought spells.
While the maintenance and preservation of these two major infrastructures are costly and ongoing, they are an important part of our daily schedule. We have been able to further refine our practices to include less harmful cleaning products, natural more organic guest amenities, and daily practices to further help the consumption of water and improve the treatment of it.
We empathise with the fact our guests may not anticipate some consequences that our eco-friendly practices have. Most commonly the tannin stain in our water during and soon after high rainfall periods, but we sincerely hope that you will join us on our mission, continually striving to minimise Edge of the Bay’s impact on our pristine, tiny part of the world.
Nick Johnston
Owner