eFlash #521
Date: 03-Feb-2022
In this edition: Important - Potential Chemical Shortages including Alum| Regional Editions of WSAA Supply and Gravity Sewerage Codes Released| Water Skills Forum - Registrations Now Open
1. Important - Potential Chemical Shortages including Alum
Please note the following information provided by the NSW Water Directorate.
“Ixom have advised of a potential shortfall in ingredients to manufacture Aluminium Sulphate. We use Alum widely in regional NSW as a coagulant for drinking water treatment, so we have some concern some of our regional NSW local water utilities would not be able to guarantee safe drinking water. It appears that Alum supply will be impacted as soon as next week. The cause of the supply issue is the major disruption to rail services between Perth and the east coast due to severe flooding.”
We have posted enquiries as to how this may impact members to our forums, some have indicated concern and risks with other chemicals including Aluminum Chlorohydrate. There is some indication that Ixom is contacting water providers directly, and the Water Services Association of Australia is promoting broadly amongst its members with some of the larger southern utilities at significant risk.
We will provide updates as available, at this stage if you aren’t already it’s probably worth considering key chemical stocks and advising qldwater (dcameron@qldwater.com.au) if you anticipate problems. The NSW utilities are looking to share resources if the supply issues extend beyond a couple of weeks which we understand provides some challenges for these particular chemicals.
Hopefully the short-term issues can be addressed promptly. Alum has been identified as a key supply risk through various recent federal reviews and is front of mind for WSAA advocacy.
2. Regional Editions of WSAA Water Supply and Gravity Sewerage Codes Released
WSAA has announced the release of two new codes specifically tailored for regional NSW.
- WSA 02: 2014-3.1 Gravity Sewerage Code of Australia
- WSA 03: 2011-3.1 Water Supply Code of Australia
The codes are available for purchase from the WSAA shop in the new e-book format.
WSAA has agreed to offer qldwater members with less than 20,000 connections a discount of 50% on the list price. To access the new codes, please follow this link.
3. Water Skills Forum 2022 - Registrations Now Open
Registrations are now open for the Skills Forum to be held as a hybrid event on Thursday, 3 March 2022. We have made some changes to the program with the expectation that we will have significantly fewer people attending in person due to the Covid situation.
Graham Fraine, the Director General of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water, has agreed to attend the last session to discuss industry skilling challenges and potential solutions.
The Forum will explore the Lifecycle of a Water Industry Worker, with three half-hour panel sessions exploring possible career paths, from ways to gain interest through pre-vocational opportunities to traineeships, graduate employment and industry co-investment models to entice postgraduate industry research. It also includes a session on a successful transition to retirement model.
The event will also include an “Attraction Hack” for a bit of fun but with a serious intent – to give us useful ideas to build awareness of the great opportunities in our industry. It’s your big chance to get creative and think outside the box.
Whether you are able to attend in person at our office in Eagle Farm or online, we look forward to welcoming you to the Water Skills Partnership signature annual event.