eFlash #608

Date: 12-Sep-2024

NEW / HOT TOPICS

qldwater Submissions

Two new submissions have been added to our website:

qldwater submission to the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water regarding the competency benchmark for local water utility operators in NSW stating our support for a competency benchmark in the absence of national coordination and regulation and suggesting a range of opportunities for consideration.
qldwater submission to the National Health and Medical Research Council in response to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines public consultation on draft guidance for lead replacements in plumbing products, lead and manganese seeking clarification on the form of Manganese that the health guidelines relate to and raising concern that the new guidelines will make some source waters across Queensland unusable at a time where there are increasing challenges to water security. While qldwater does not dispute the need for improving the ADWG Guidelines for the benefit of our communities, the new limits will require significant changes to water treatment processes and infrastructure upgrades long-term. Short-term some providers may be required to disconnect certain water sources, potentially resulting in intermittent water supply incidents

Xylem Accelerating Digital Transformation Event

qldwater’s Jess Dean, Project Manager Data and Environment, will be participating in a panel discussion on Accelerating Digital Transformation at a Xylem event on Thursday, 3 October at Pullman Brisbane, King George Square. The event will run from 2.30 to 6.00pm.

The other panelists include Andy Roberts from Stantec, Ivan Beirne from Unitywater and Andrew Shek from John Holland.

REMINDERS / OTHER NEWS

Webinar: Managing airborne contaminants in the workplace

This free webinar at 10am on Friday, 18 October presented by Peter Aspinall, Technical Executive, Occupational Hygiene – WSP Australia Pty Limited, will focus on reviewing various types of airborne contaminants across multiple industries and will highlight the negative health impacts of exposure. It will also examine the available control measures and how to effectively combine them when complete elimination of exposure isn’t possible.

Amendments to the Electrical Safety Act

On 22 August 2024, Queensland Parliament passed the Electrical Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 with the amendments commencing 30 August.

A summary of these changes includes:

Government can now prescribe extra low voltage equipment in regulation as prescribed electrical equipment where it is placing or may place persons or property at electrical risk.
Particular connection and disconnection tasks involving prescribed electrical equipment where they can safely be undertaken by someone without electrical expertise are excluded from the definition of electrical work.
The definition of electrical installation now clearly encompasses the use of modern energy generation and storage systems.
Replacement of similar appliances (‘like for like’) in particular circumstances is excluded from the definition of electrical installation work, meaning licensed electrical fitters and particular restricted licence holders can complete this work.
Inspector powers for producing documents are now more closely aligned with powers under the WHS Act.

For more information go to Electrical Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 | WorkSafe.qld.gov.au.

WaterRA Extreme Events Survey

Water Research Australia is asking for feedback from qldwater members to better understand your experience dealing with water quality after bushfires and floods.

ChemCentre and WaterRA are currently undertaking Project 1152 to support and improve water utility responses during extreme events through the development of baseline datasets, validated methodologies, and protocols for laboratory analysis.

As part of this research, they have prepared a survey to understand current water utility responses during an extreme event. Please forward the survey to a suitable representative from your organisation to complete at this link.

The preference is for one representative response per organisation. Please respond by Monday 18 October.

International WaterCentre Scholarships

Don't miss out! Scholarships for the next round of the award winning Water Leadership Program (WLP) close on 16 September.

If you are interested in leading teams and people more effectively or playing a more influential and effective role in driving forward the implementation of more sustainable forms of water management, then the WLP will provide you with evidence-based tools, knowledge and skills to be able to do so.

There are 5 available scholarships for the WLP this year. You can apply for one of the 5 available Scholarships, or apply directly for a fee paying place on the WLP here. They operate on a first come first served basis with a total of 32 places available for the next round – 16 for male and 16 for female applicants.

Apply here.

IPWEA-QNT Excellence Awards

Have you recently completed an innovative water project that deserves recognition?

Our parent body, the IPWEA Queensland & Northern Territory (IPWEA-QNT), is calling for nominations for the Innovation & Sustainability in Water category for the 2024 Excellence Awards.

To be eligible, the project must be completed in Queensland or the Northern Territory within 18 months of the Excellence Awards Ceremony & Gala Dinner which will be held on Thursday 7th November 2024 at the Royal International Convention Centre (Royal ICC) in Brisbane.

The closing date for entries is Monday 23 September 2024.

Nominations are open to anyone involved in the project including contractors, consulting firms, Local and State government agencies. Nominate now by entering via the online awards system.

If you have any questions regarding the awards, please contact Rebecca Cobon via email at awards@ipweaq.com or phone 0439 877 605.

CURRENT CONSULTATIONS

PFAS in Regulated Waste

Time is running out to provide feedback on the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) Office of the Circular Economy consultation on PFAS in Regulated Waste.

The consultation relates to the proposal to amend the threshold values (or levels) for per and polyflouroalkyl substances (PFAS) in regulated waste.

Given the importance of this proposed changes qldwater will be preparing a submission on the proposed limits. If you have any case studies that you are willing to share to support our submission, please email Louise Reeves and/or Georgina Davis with your feedback.

Consultation closes at 5pm on Friday 27 September 2024.

View the consultation page here.