eFlash #461

Date: 25-Nov-2020

1. Effortspay off at AWA Awards

Shortly after Queensland won the 2020 State of Origin series, our CEO David Cameron was announced as the winner of the AWA Distinguished Service Award for his service to the water industry.

David's passion for the urban water and sewerage industry has well and truly rubbed off on our small team and it's great to see his hard work being recognised by the broader industry.

A big congratulations also to Mackay Regional Council, Whitsunday Regional Council, Townsville City Council, Cairns Regional Council and Burdekin Shire Council for taking out the Organisational Excellence Award for the Regional Water Industry Worker Pilot Program.

This award recognises the collaborative efforts of the participating councils in delivering a pilot of the program to 30 staff from across the region.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the pilot and the many industry experts who have contributed to the success of the program from its inception in SEQ more than ten years ago. This award is well deserved recognition of all your efforts and further demonstrates the benefits of this competency-based training program for field maintenance and construction staff in the Queensland water industry.

The Logan Water Infrastructure Alliance Partners took out the Project Innovation Award for the Cedar Grove Environmental Centre after picking up another award at the IPWEAQ state conference in the previous week!

Other award winners included Zhiguo Yuan as Water Professional of the Year, Lachlan Guthrie as Young Water Professional of the Year, Zhiyao Wang for the Student Water Prize and a number of university and industry partners including Urban Utilities and City of Gold Coast for R&D Excellence (Zero-Energy Sewage Treatment: Harnessing the Power of Biogas) and Port Stewart Water Supply for Infrastructure Project Innovation Award Regional (Arup and Centre for Appropriate Technology).

2.  Goondiwindi Conference – Presentation Topics

As announced in last week'seFlash, the Queensland Water Directorate and New South Wales Water Directorate are pleased to announce that our deferred joint event – ‘Sustainable water and sewerage services for regional and remote communities’ will now be held in Goondiwindi on 17-18 February 2021.

It will be another ‘hybrid’ event – while we hope to see as many members and stakeholders as possible in person there will be a large online component which we hope to make as interactive as possible.

A sample of presentation topics include:

Resilience in Small Towns.
Panel session on shared strategic challenges including panelists from NSW, NT, Qld and WSAA
Exploring governance and regulation for small communities
Session on navigating technology traps
Workshop on key messages for decision-makers and funders in other levels of government

Don’t miss out - save the date now!

3. Reef Councils MIP

Reef Councils MIP: OGBR Funding helps Reef councils lead wastewater projects to reduce nutrients

Following on from the Wastewater Stewardship Strategic Assessment Project (Reef Councils MIP / Cleaner Wastewater Project), Mackay Regional Council, Townsville City Council and Fraser Coast Regional Council have secured Queensland Government funding to further develop low-cost wastewater treatment alternatives to reduce nutrient emissions from treatment plants.

The projects will showcase different approaches to wastewater treatment with two projects taking a point source offset wastewater management approach for the first time in a Reef region. This is important as point source offsets are an element of the Reef protection regulation requirements that come into effect on 1 June 2021 for this type of industry activity.

The three funded projects are:

1) Mackay Regional Council – Mackay North Water Recycling Facility Offset Project – will develop a point source offset approach based on a mix of catchment restoration and improved fertiliser management on sugarcane farms.

2) Townsville City Council – Bohle River Project – will develop a point source offset approach based on improving stormwater treatment to address nutrients released from their wastewater treatment plants.

3) Fraser Coast Regional Council – Christensen’s Plantation Project – will apply treated wastewater to a new timber plantation via a connected reticulation irrigation system.

Keep an eye out for the up-and-comingqldwater Reef MIP webpages with the project documentation and history!

4. Metolachlor in Freshwater Default Guideline Value

Water Quality Australia has advised that the Water Quality Guidelines website now includes new default guideline values (DGVs) and an associated technical brief and supporting information for Metolachlor in freshwater.

In June 2020, Metolachlor in freshwater was published as draft for a period of four months. After successfully passing through the public comment phase, this DGV is now considered final for inclusion in the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality. For more information on the DGV approval process, please visit www.waterquality.gov.au/anz-guidelines/guideline-values/default/draft-dgvs.

The Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment would like to thank the significant contribution and effort made by the Australian state and territory governments, New Zealand government, scientists, environmental consultants, and other government agencies in the preparation and review of this guideline.

5. Job Opportunity – Water Industry Trainer

Due to significant business growth, Simmonds and Bristow are looking for a Water Industry Trainer with specialist knowledge in Water and Sewerage Networks to deliver and assess qualifications and units of competency under the National Water Training Package. If you are ready to pass on your hard won skills and knowledge in the Water Industry to the next generation of operators in regional and remote communities, then this is the opportunity for you!

For more information visit: https://www.seek.com.au/job/51015644 or contact Xin Zhang on 07 3434 3800 or xinz@simmondsbristow.com.au.

6. Job Opportunity – Water/Wastewater Manager, Gympie

Gympie Regional Council has an exciting opportunity to put your mark on a vital community service by assessing the function, building the delivery team and implementing key systems, processes and continuous improvement strategies. On a day-to-day operational level, you will provide front line management and direction across a broad range of activities including Strategic Planning, Water Supply and Sewerage Systems, Asset Management and Capital and Replacement Programs.

For more information visit:https://www.seek.com.au/job/51014622?type=standout#searchRequestToken=4a90b196-8b5f-48c5-96ab-65a58c296adf

7. TomorrowsEssentials Webinar - last one for 2020!

 Tomorrows Essentials Webinar (#16) will be held at 10am and is the last one for 2020.

Our esteemed presenters are:

Luke Sawtell (Urban Utilities, Water Services Sector Group) – the Trusted Information Sharing Network (TISN) Mutual Aid Guidelines

Luke chairs the Water Services Sector Group which provides an important forum for water utilities to come together to share knowledge and develop capability in the areas of security, business continuity, incident and emergency management and critical infrastructure resilience for the Australian water industry. The revised Mutual Aid Guidelines provide a framework for water service providers to work together to provide mutual support in recovering from significant emergencies/ events.

Sen Vigneswaran (Townsville City Council) – TigerNix Asset Failure Predictive Analytics

TigerNix Asset Predictive Analytics is a modelling solution using machine learning, BI and Big Data technologies to improve asset failure predictions and Sen is ready to talk about some of the very positive results.

Jeanette Harold (Fraser Coast Regional Council) – Lagoon pH licence amendments

Fraser Coast has recently been through a process of renegotiating licences to address unachievable pH limits. Join Jeanette to hear why and how!

Please register here.

8. Did you know! 

Water is an essential part of life, so managing our resources and infrastructure and looking after our customers form an essential part of the day to day operations of our water service providers. As with most things in life, it takes careful planning to be efficient and sustainable.

To read more about business management functions, planning, operations and customer service, pleasego to our qldwater website to find out more about the below: