eFlash #604

Date: 06-Aug-2024

NEW / HOT TOPICS

Annual Forum

The Annual Forum program is progressing well and the registrations are rolling in with limited seats remaining for the technical tours.

We are pleased to announce the Hon. Dr Anthony Lynham, Chairperson at Seqwater, and Adrian Hart, Head of Construction and Infrastructure at Oxford Economics as our two keynote presenters.

Other presentation topics include insurance trends for PFAS and emerging contaminants, detailed asset assessments in remote South-West Local Governments, contaminant liabilities associated with infrastructure development, the real cost of third-party damages to Australia’s utilities, the potential of wastewater, cyber security, Harmful Algal Blooms and more!

The program updates are available here.

TracWater Best of the Best Queensland Water Taste Test

We’ve received three entries into the 2024 taste test to date with lots of members indicating that they will be submitting samples, so make sure you have your top drop ready!

The taste test will form part of the Gala Awards Dinner on Thursday, 22 August at Waters Edge, Portside.

For those who will be mailing their samples, we understand that it’s difficult to balance the need to get the samples to our office on time vs having an old sample to taste on the day. For safety reasons we will only accept samples that are up to 5 days old at the time of the competition.

More information is available on our website at https://qldwater.com.au/Water_Taste_Test

End of Waste Framework

The Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) completed their review of the End of Waste Framework which you can download here. https://environment.desi.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/352663/eow-framework-review-project-report.pdf

The review aimed to determine the efficacy of the framework in contributing to the circular economy outcomes referenced in Queensland’s Waste Management and Resource Recovery Strategy. https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/circular-economy-waste-reduction/strategy-plans/strategy

The report contains 37 recommendations, grouped under the broad themes of:

providing certainty and clarity on where the EOW Framework applies
the definition of waste
how EOW fits within the circular economy
a number of operational and stakeholder engagement opportunities.

The department supports 35 of the 37 recommendations, with the remaining two not proposed to progress as they are either not under the control of the department or where the department has not found practical examples of these issues occurring.

Of the recommendations supported, the department has identified eleven for progression as a priority including clarifying the definitions of ‘waste’ and a ‘resource’ and how to better facilitate reuse pathways.

Further development of detailed proposals, stakeholder consultation and regulatory impact assessment to address these priority recommendations will be required.

AWA QLD Tech Event

Purified Recycled Water (PRW) has travelled a long journey in Queensland from drought driven investment through mothballing to go live readiness and back again. Throughout this cycle, it has yet to capture the support required to be implemented as an active part of the Southeast Queensland water supply and remains a stand-by option while the construction of new manufactured water sources is planned.

This event will provide insights from utilities that are currently starting on their PRW journey to share lessons learned from their journey and invite an external marketing consultant to provide an overview on the importance of demographics and language.

Date: Wednesday 28 August 2024

Time: 5.30 – 7.00pm

Venue: AECOM, 540 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley or via Zoom

Nature Positive Water Paper Released by WSAA

The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) this week released a Nature Positive Water paper with a comprehensive framework and key focus areas to achieve a Nature Positive future.

This paper includes over 20 insightful case studies from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, showcasing Nature Positive opportunities for water utilities, and providing guidance on reporting and measuring Nature Positive initiatives.

Download the report here.

CURRENT CONSULTATIONS

Australian Drinking Water Guidelines –lead replacements in plumbing products

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is seeking feedback on draft guidance material intended to form part of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (the Guidelines). The draft guidance material consists of:

an information sheet on chemicals leaching from plumbing products
new chemical fact sheets on bismuth and silicon
revised chemical fact sheets on selenium, lead and manganese
proposed edits to the Guidelines to align advice and ensure consistency.

The Guidelines are intended to provide a framework for the good management of drinking water supplies and are designed to provide an authoritative reference on what defines safe, good quality water, how it can be achieved and how it can be assured. The Guidelines are updated through a rolling review process to ensure they provide an evidence-based framework for the management of drinking water supplies.

The draft guidance material, supporting evidence reviews, an overview of the guideline development process, and information on how to make a submission, are available from the public consultation webpage.

Public consultation will close on Friday 6 September 2024.

Water Plan Review (GEORGINA AND DIAMANTINA)

The Minister for Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water has formally commenced the Georgina and Diamantina water plan review with the release of a preliminary public consultation notice available at:

•Georgina and Diamantina water plan| Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water (rdmw.qld.gov.au)

The Department is seeking initial input from interested parties on the key issues to consider in the water plan review processes and will be accepting submissions until 16 August 2024.

•Visit their website for more details of the plan review or how to provide submissions and key issues to be considered.

Once finalised the new water plan will replace the existing water plan. Should you wish to discuss the Georgina and Diamantina water plan review further, the key contacts can be reached by email as listed below.

Alison O’Brien – Manager Alison.obrien@rdmw.qld.gov.au

Sarah Morgan – Team Leader Sarah.morgan@rdmw.qld.gov.au