March 2014 Queensland Branch Newsletter

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Presidents Report By Col Lewis

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Branch News

My first opportunity to wish every member a Happy New year, a third of the year has gone already. We have had a great start to the year again with our first two events sold out and the third just short of a sell out.

This is a credit to the Technical Events sub committee who have organised a great program for the year and also to all the members support for these events.

At the Breakfast with Minister McArdle the Minister talked about the 30 Year Water Strategy and that its release had been delayed to ensure it was aligned with the soon to be released 30 year Queensland plan.

He touched on the key topics in the Water Strategy as follows:

• Growth • Regional Water Development • SEQ Water Development • Customers • Efficient Water Usage • Responsible Water Management • Skills for the Future • Smart Water Regulation • Private Sector Involvement/Participation • Innovative Technology

When the 30 Year Strategy is released we will have the opportunity to provide feedback/ recommendations for the final version. The Minister indicated that it was his intention that the strategy be a living document with 6 monthly reports on the targets in the strategy and for it to be reviewed every 5 years and updated accordingly.

The Branch Committee has elected a new President, Matt Dawson and he will take over the role on 1st July 2014, I have no doubt that he will do a great job and that he can look forward to the support of the committee and the wider membership, I wish him well for his two years.

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Industry

The reform process continues, seemingly unabated and the Strategy & Policy committee continues to be very active preparing and submitting response to discussion papers/reviews/issues as required.

It has been very pleasing to see the access we have to the State/Local Government at all levels and the ability that affords to influence outcomes.

Also the teamwork with Water service providers and the Queensland Water Directorate in preparing responses is a testament to the people involved.

Regulatory reform is high on the State Government’s agenda and it is important to get it right, as good regulation with an outcome focus, can drive innovation and reduce the overall costs, which can then be passed on to the customer. There are several examples of this with Unitywater’s Maleny Sewage Treatment Plant upgrade being one in particular where the outcome was not the traditional route but utilised wet lands and reforestation, which saved millions over the normal approach and also has the added benefit of providing a new parkland for the community.

Also an important part of good regulation is to ensure that all the regulators communicate with each other to achieve outcomes as at times their individual requirements can be at crossed purposes.

It is a great time to be involved as we have the opportunity to influence the changes that will see benefits now and long term.

Hope to see a lot of you at some upcoming events including Ozwater’14 in Brisbane late April early May.

Colin Lewis

Branch President

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Young Water Professionals

On 21st January the Queensland Young Water Professional (QLD YWP) committee elections were held. The nomination process was designed to provide more concrete information on the candidate experience and subsequently positions were assigned to committee members. Congratulations to new committee members: Sarah Schroeder (President), Charlotte Spliethoff (Vice President), Alycia Moore (Secretary), Ruipu Yang (Mentoring Coordinator), Alycia Moore (Mentoring Support Coordinator), Ehsan Eftekhari (Communications Coordinator), Abraham Negaresh (Research and Education) Justin Simonis (NRC representative), and Henry Bettle, Eunice Ng, Venus Jofreh, Anne Cleary, Jess Grinter and Niall Donohue as committee members. The QLD YWP has a solid committee coming into 2014 and the advantage of previous committees setting up a great structure inlcuding organisational tools for our bigger events. YWP organise several events including seminars and a mentoring program throughout the year. Our 2013 mentoring program was a huge success involving 40 mentees and mentors, and we will continue to improve the program in 2014.

The QLD YWP committee is also assisting with the OzWater’14 held in Brisbane in this year. Our NRC representative, Justin Simonis, is working side-by-side with conference committee and is championing the YWP program. YWP are also committed to expanding our membership base with several committee members being in regular contact with water related researchers and students in universities. We represented Qld YWP at the Griffith University Market days on February 25th and March 6th. We encourage student participation in our events to help them build a strong network in water industry with future job prospects.

Market day, Griffith University on 25th March 2014

Charlotte Spliethoff has recently been elected as the Vice President of the Queensland Branch of the Young Water Professionals. Charlotte works for Royal HaskoningDHV. She is currently working on the Brisbane River Catchment Flood Study and recently provided technical advice on the assessment of the construction and modification of levees for the new Queensland Levee Regulation Framework. Charlotte came to Australia approximately two years ago having gained her qualifications in Geology (BSc) and climate reconstruction and oceanography (MSc) in the Netherlands at the VU University. Before coming to Australia she worked four years in the water sector and worked on the International Levee Handbook; a collaborative effort between five countries (Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, United States and Germany). Charlotte led the preparation of the chapter on levee bank construction for which she received the European Young Professional Award for Engineering Excellence. In her private time she enjoys swimming and salsa dancing.

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SEQ Design and Construction Code and ADAC Scheme

The new year started with a bang with first technical meeting attracting a sell-out crowd. A panel of six presenters from the five SEQ service providers gave presentations and answered questions on the SEQ Design and Construction Code and the ADAC Schema. David Fillmore (Unitywater) spoke first about the scope of the SEQ Code, how it was developed and what’s on the horizon. The SEQ Code has been in effect since 1 July 2013 and interest is now being shown by other service providers across the State to utilise what has been created for SEQ. Darren Moore (Logan City Council) spoke next about the ADAC Schema and how it can be utilised from the design phase to as-constructed sign-off. Darren explained the benefits of Version 4 of ADAC with its use of XML technology. After the two presentations the panel answered questions that had been submitted prior to the evening and also took questions from the floor. If you would like a copy of the presentations then please use these links. The Queensland Branch Committee would like to thank all of the speakers for their time and presentations and Arup for sponsoring the event. A copy of the presentation is available on the AWA website. Our thanks go to the six presenters but also to Arup who sponsored the evening.

What is the SEQ Code?

In legal terms

• “ technical standards relating to the design and construction of water infrastructure in the SEQ region ”

– Chapter 4A SEQ Water (Distribution & Retail Restructuring) Act

In practical terms

� Over 1600 pages of text (most of it copyright protected by WSAA)

� Over 440 drawings

� Website www.seqcode.com.au

– Some of the requirements are beyond the direct control of SEQ-SPs (e.g. road owner requirements; development densities; ADAC)

Acknowledgements

� Chris Adam, Strategic AM – Project Facilitator

� Logan Water Alliance – Drafting of advertised drawings

� Arup – Drafting of final drawings

� SEQ Service Providers – Design, DA, O&M and Construction staff

AWA Tech Mtg 12 March

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David Nixon from Better Managed has summarized some of the information and trends he gained from the Honorable Mark McArdle, the Minister for Energy and Water Supply on 19 February 2014. They are his interpretations only and not necessarily those of the Minister. He would be happy to discuss them with anyone interested. • 30 Year Water Strategy – being aligned with draft State plan and will be released shortly with a consultation

period, before coming into effect in July this year; • Growth – The Queensland State Plan has estimated an increase in population of three million people over the

next 30 years. To provide for this level of growth uniformly across the state would be unsustainable. Growth will need to occur in SEQ and major regional centres;

• SEQ Water Planning – Seqwater has commenced a two year planning study to develop a water strategy for the next 30 years;

• Northern regions – the Federal Government has expressed interest in regard to the north Queensland region becoming the food bowl of Australia. This will only happen with Federal money;

• Irrigation water – eight irrigation schemes are currently being returned to local control to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Increased water will be required for agriculture with farm production estimated to double by 2040;

• Meeting customer needs – Different methods of charging for water need to be developed to meet the customer needs. Flexible communication styles will need to be introduced;

• Recycled water – there will be a reduction in “red tape” for recycled water schemes; • Skills for the future – need for expanded skills for water sector to meet future need. This will include skills in

information and data management, economics and business management; • SMART Regulation – includes continuation of catchment based approaches to water management, changes to

the current water services and recycled water legislation to improve efficiency of delivery of services;; • Private Sector Involvement – Partnerships between government, water service providers and the private sector

will be encouraged

The Queensland Branch Committee would like to thank Aurecon for sponsoring the event.

Breakfast Meeting

The Hon Mark McArdle

Department of Energy and Water Supply

Great state. Great opportunity.

Queensland’s water sector: a 30-year strategyDiscussion paper: Shaping our water future

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Dr Helen Stratton AWA Board Member and Acting Manager Smart Water Research Centre

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Dr Helen Stratton gained her Doctor of Philosophy in microbiology at the Latrobe University, Bendigo under the tutorlidge of Professors Bob Seviour and Peter Brooks. Her thesis was entitled “Foaming in Activated Sludge Plants”. She married Peter Griffiths in April 1996 and moved to Brisbane shortly thereafter as Peter was transferred to Brisbane with SKM before they wed. Initially when in Queensland she did consulting work utilising the Griffith University laboratories. She eventually joined Griffith University in 1997 and has been there ever since. Whilst at Griffith University she helped set up the Smart Water Research Centre in 2006, opening the doors to the new centre in 2009. Whilst she is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences at Griffith University she is also the Acting Manager of the Smart Water Research Centre.

One of the more interesting projects that Helen has been involved with in recent years is the “Poo Tracking Project”. This unique project is being carried out for Water Research Australia and involves sampling of “poo” from humans and animals. Helen notes that volunteers are welcome and that anonymity is assured. The samples are tested to isolate bacteria and DNA, the purpose being to build up a library of the characteristics of humans and animals that will enable improved contaminant source tracking in the future. Apart from this interesting project Helen enjoys troubleshooting microbiological problems in wastewater treatment plants.

She also enjoys the training aspects of her work, both in tutoring students at the University and in organising and running training courses for industry

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operators and professionals. Peter and Helen set up the “Activated Sludge and Biological Reduction” Short Course in 1998 and this continues to be one of the most popular courses of its kind.

Helen has been very active in the AWA and is a Past Queensland Branch President. During her years on the Branch Committee she championed the “Women in Water” movement within the Branch. Helen also had an active role in AWA nationally, being a Director on the AWA Board since 2001 and being the Chair of Ozwater 2014. Ozwater 2014 is being held in Brisbane.

On the home front Helen and Peter have two young children that keep them very busy with attendance at training and practice sessions for ballet, soccer and swimming and of course the compulsory attendance at swimming carnivals, ballet and school concerts. With all this activity there is little time left for other pursuits, other than cooking, wining and dining and walking it off with the odd bush walk and personal training session. Helen nevertheless has ambitions to one day to get back to some of the activities she enjoyed when time was more readily available. These activities included the gym, bushwalking, cycling and water skiing.

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Gold Coast Desalination Plant has marked its fifth birthday, having been online in varying capacities since February 2009.

Since mid-2011 the plant has largely been in a state referred to as Hot Standby. Given the connectivity of the plant into the South East Queensland water supply system and its ability to assist with water quality and supply challenges in the network, Hot Standby was developed to allow the plant to continue to be available to supply into the system at up to 100 per cent capacity. The objective then was to develop an operating regime which would minimise operating costs while sustaining this capability. The key constraints were identified as the following needs.

1. Prevent membrane fouling and other undesirable effects including voiding the membrane warranty by regularly flushing reverse osmosis (RO) membranes with permeate water.

2. Maintain water quality in the pipeline connecting the plant to the wider water network and distribution network by regular turnover of the contents of the pipeline.

The regime designed to address the constraints was to operate the reverse osmosis plant • twice weekly • supplying 25ML on each occasion to turn over the network pipeline • producing enough permeate to flush all RO membranes in the plant.

Hot Standby mode has achieved savings in energy and chemical costs relative to continuous operation, all while keeping the desalination plant available to supplement water supplies due to preventative or breakdown maintenance or raw or potable water quality problems in other parts of the system.

Since commencement of Hot Standby trials, the desalination plant has been used to mitigate supply risk either by the scheduling of maintenance at other plants to coincide with desalinated water production or in a limited number of cases by continuous operation of the plant. The original Hot Standby trials were delayed for several months due to the use of desalinated water to sustain water supply and improve network water quality in the wake of the 2011 Brisbane flood event. Since that period, the plant has been required to operate for treatment plant and network maintenance on four occasions for a total of 31 days at an average of 66ML/d.

Most notably, during the 2013 Australia Day flood event, the water provided by the plant was one of the factors (along with the resilience of the system-wide operational assets and the staff that run them) that ensured a continuous water supply to parts of Brisbane after unprecedented turbidity forced the shutdown of the Mt Crosby water treatment plants.

In order to meet the demand for potable water in emergencies, the GCDP is required to be operating at 100 per cent production rate within 72 hours. In the case of the 2013 Australia Day flood event the plant was operational at 66 per cent within two hours of being called to operate and at 100 per cent within a further hour. The ability to get the plant up and running so quickly is significant for managing water supply security. The average daily production has decreased to around 3ML/d (12ML twice per week) and has delivered further efficiency improvements.

The Hot Standby option could be considered by other water supply authorities to balance cost minimisation with the risk mitigation opportunities provided by a ready to operate plant.

Gold Coast Desalination Plant

Wed, 9 April 2014 Monthly Technical Meeting, Brisbane, Qld Sharks, poor visibility and a broken underwater main

29 April – 1 May 2014 Ozwater 14, Brisbane Qld

Thurs 29 May 2014 Qld Young Water Professional Mentoring Program Launch, Brisbane Qld

4 - 5 June 2014 Water Industry Operations Conference and Exhibition, Logan Qld

Mon 23 June 2014 AWA Awards open for nominations

30 -31 July 2014 North Queensland Regional Conference, Mackay Qld

Friday 12 Sept 2014 Gala Dinner and Awards Night, Bris Qld

Upcoming Events

Australian Water Association PO Box 1148, Wynnum QLD 4178 Contact Sharon Ible Telephone 07 3396 4880 Mobile 0407 585 052 Email sible@awa.asn.au

We are looking for articles on your projects. Please contact Sharon Ible

This newsletter has been compiled from information supplied; hence AWA cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy of any information so supplied or for any loss or damage which may arise from errors or omissions.