Water Journal December 1975

I 1ssN 0310 - 03671

Official Journal of the AUSTRALIAN WATER AND WASTEWATER ASSOCIATION !Vol. 2 No. 4 - Dec. i975 -

Price $1-00

I

What's the performance of a Humes · pressure pipe after 40years ·of service?

It's bound to be better. We sel dom have a chance to find how much , because pipes just continue to perform . Nobody digs them up, even to look at them . · In 1964, however, Violet Town Water Works Trust wanted to in crease the operating pressure in a reinforced concrete line by about 40% . Made by Humes in 1926, these pipes were originally tested at a pressure of 540kPa. Exhumed nearly 40 years later, some were tested again . Pressures at failure all exceeded 1350kPa. Proved beyond all doubt, the pipes have since then been working at the increased pressure without fault.

This is no exception . Humes pressure pipes laid before 1920 are still in operation at Traralgon, Kerang and Mitcham, to name some Vic torian examples. Pressures ranging

from 240 to 750kPa - that's from 80 to 250 feet head. Pipes over 50 years old .

Reinforced concrete pressure pipes irnprove with age. Manufactu red at extremely low water/ Cement ratios Of Well under 0.4 by Weight, their compressive strength is much higher than that Of typical structural concrete - it is in the 70,000kPa range - which gives them excellent density makes them practically imperm~able . ~ • and ensures a very long ltfe with a continuously increasing performance .

,

HUMES ' CONCRETEDPLASTICSDSTEEL VIC .: 17 Raglan Street, South Melbourne, 3205 .

Phone (03) 60 0221 .

N.S.W.: Park Road, Regen ts Park, 2143.

Phone (02J 644 2351. g,L~-~ 1g~2r~2ti~~{ Road, South Brisbane, 4101.

S.A.: 78-82 West Beach Road , Keswick, 5035.

Ph one (08) 297 1011 .

WA Sal vado Road, Wembley, 6014 3 ~1in:\(~~ks~a~ ~1~ce , Hoba rt , 7000 .

Ph one (002) 23 743 1. . .

N.T.: Reichardt Road, Winnellle, 5789 . ~ hone Darwin 84 3388.

.....a-

, .., _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

f ..

1 I 1·

For further information on ultra high strength concrete pipes, ask the a '·. man from HUMES. ..

•.._ ~ ' ·.__

Please se nd me latest catalogue of Humes Pressure Pioes .

.-,--------

--

HC5 15N

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Chairman: C. D. Parkar Committee: G.R. Goffin F.R. Bishop Joan Powling A.G. Longstaff W. Burnett A. Macoun Hon. Editor: A.H. Truman

M. Dureau L.C. Smith R.L. Clisby B.S. Sanders W. Nicholson A.F. Herath Publisher: John G. Craig

BRANCH CORRESPONDENTS CANBERRA A.C.T. : A. Macoun, P.O. Box 306, Woden, 2606.

NEW SOUTH WALES: M. Dureau, Envirotech Australia Pty. Ltd., 1 Frederick Street, Artarmon.

VICTORIA: A.G. Longstaff, Gutteridge Haskins & Davey, 380 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 3000.

QUEENSLAND: L.C. Smith, 24 Byambee Street, Kenmore, 4069.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: R. L. Clibsy, Cl- E. & W.S. G.P.O. Box 1751, Adelaide, 5001.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: B.S. Sanders, 39 Kalinda Drive, City Beach, 6015.

TASMANIA: W. Nicholson, 7 Swansea Court, Lindisfarne, 7015.

NORTHERN TERRITORY: A.F. Herath, 59 Allwright St., Casuarina, 5792.

Editorial Correspondence: Hon. Editor, A.H. Truman, C/¡ Davy-Ashmore Pty. Ltd., P.O. Box 4709, Melbourne, 3001.

Or to State Correspondents.

Advertising Enquiries: John Craig, 'Water' P.O. Box 100, Caulfield East, 3145.

Phone: 211-7978 - 874-2133

CONTENTS EDITORIAL - Two way bridges ................................................. 7 Letters to the Editor ...............................................~ .......................... 8 Association News ...................................................................................8 CSIRO - Water Resources Information ..........................10 Suppression of Domestic Water Hammer Noise - T. B. Guy ............................................................................................ 12 8th International Conference 1976 - 1975 AWWA Summer School ....................................... 15 -Sorption of 2.4.5.T. by LDPE plastic containers - P. Hopmans .................................................................................... 16 Bacterial Pollution in Lake Burley Griffin - J. S. Burgess & L. J. Olive ................................................. 17 Literary Review ...................................................................................... 21 New products - Membership .................................................. 22

COVER STORY The Computer Room at the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works near South Eastern Purification Plant at Carrum - part of the $A2 million instrumentation and direct digital control system being supplied, installed and commissioned by Kent Instruments (Australia I Pty Limited .

Stage 1. of this plant, which used the activated sludge process, is designed to treat an average of 64 million gal lons per day and a peak wet weather f low for 270 mil lion gal Ions per day .

The computer-based control system supplied by Kent is designed around an Argus 500 processor with 56K words of 2 usec core stroe plus two disc stores of 640K words each .

The computer monitors over 300 process parameters as wel l as over 100 supplmentary inputs from a remote terminal in the plant's biological and chemical laboratory to provide D. D.C. of 11 0 variables. As wel I as direct digital control of the process, the computer system also provides valve and motor control and sequencing, alarm monitoring and print-out plus comprehensive data processing and logging facilities .

1

Frontrunners in gas compression and control

Two major Australian public authorities recently chose Bryan Donkin compressors for their new sewage treatment plants. The equipment is being installed at the South Eastern Pu'rification Pia nt of the M. M. B.W. at Carrum, Victoria and the Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre of the National Capital Development Commission in the A.C.T.

acked by over a hundred ¡ years of manufacturing experience, the Bryan Donkin Company is dedicated to continued development of gas handling technology.

For more information, contact the Australian machinery agents Hawker Siddeley Brush Pty. Ltd.

~ HAWKER SIDDELEY BRUSH PTY LTD Incorporated in NSW

VIC . 262-284 H eide lb erg Road , Fairfield , 3078 . Tel. 4892511 . N.S.W. 12 Frederick Street, St . Leonards, 2065 . Tel. 4398444 .

QLD. 193 Mary Street, Brisbane , 4000 . Tel. 212926 . W.A . 113 Kew Street , Welshpool , 6106 . Tel. 617944 .

Hawker Siddeley Group supplies mechanical, electrical and aerospace equipment with world- wide sales and service.

6009 HSBD

Reliable and Rapid Detection of Bacteria Sartorius membrane filter methods have been adopted in many countries as the standard method for the detection of bacteria.

Sartorius supply nutrient pads, nutrient media and other equipment for bacteriological controls and microbiological testing in research and quality control laboratories

Please contact Se/bys for a catalogue and any further information.

Sartorius Membranfilter

SELBYS SCIENTIFIC LTD. 2

Melbourne

Sydney

Brisbane

Perth

Adelaide

Hobart

544-4844

888-7155

71-1566

21-9431

51-4651

34-4166

Rocla awarded its 20th prestressed concrete pressure pipeline in Australia Since 1952 over 2000 km of Recla prestressed concrete pressure pipes have been used in important projects throughout Australia and 15 other countries. Now Townsvi lie City Council has chosen Rocla for the Ross River Dam Water Supply Pipeline. Ta lk to Rocla's major contracts people about the ever increasing advantages of Rocla prestressed concrete pressure pipes.

Rocla Industries Limited-Major Contracts Division

clORocla RPCP/3372

Branches in all States

3

The name to remember for

LET US DISSOLVE YOUR DISSOLVED OXYGEN PROBLEMS

all

ZUELLIG

CHLORINATION EQUIPMENT

DISSOLVED OXYGEN PROBE

whether the requirement is

Featuring - OPEN Electrode with Long-Term Stability.

for chlorine residual con,1

Patented

sijlllfl!lll!lll.lllll. ~

RESULT:

"i

uij,e Ii rn

Operation in Water or Activated Sludge

'j

j•

t

Negtfgible Maintenance every 3 months)

1e ~~)

4

, ·e

"l e

/

.

or a swimming I

maintenance

Long-Term Accuracy (±0.2

No Preamplification necessary Reliable Direct Aeratio~ Control Power Saving

.

•

Remote Readout possible without amplification

•

On site Digital Readout

e

Independence of Flow Rate

pool unit with low

(approx.

requirements

ADVANCE

ACROMET Pty. Ltd. 547-3077 P.O. 801 491 Clayton Vidoria 5/161-163 South &eek Rd., Dee Why NSW 982-8055 P.O. 801 61 Nundah Queensland 267-6011 309 Hay St., Subiaco W. A. 81-4477 22-24 Bentham St., Adelaide 51-6191

5/161-163 Sth. Creek Rd., Dee Why NSW 982-8055 4

SOLE AUSTRALIAN AGENT:

HAHN & KOLB (Aust.) PTY LTD INSTRUMENTATION DIVISION

214-214 PARRAMATTA RD, (P.O. BOX 166) HOMEBUSH, NSW, Phone (02) 76·0271 Victorian Representative COMBINED INSTRUMENT SYSTEMS PTY LTD P.O. BOX 80, NUNAWADING VIC. Phone: (03) 874-7030

Mono announce the only submersible sewerage pumps to be unaffected by disposable nappies., ordinary nappies., wet-strength fibres., pantyhose., and solids up to 6'diameter.

The Manta pumps, from 2 to 75 HP, with 3" to 6" solids capacity , are completely self-clearing.

Other benefits include easy installation and maintenance.

The pump is guided into position by a slide tube and the resilient face on its discharge branch seals the connection with the discharge pedestal.

Call Mono 's Water and Waste Treatment Division for full details of how the Manta pumps can handle your sewerage problem.

~OJJIT':AJ~@ (AUSTRALIA) PTY. LTD. Head Office and Works : " Mono House", 338-348 Lower Dandenong Rd ., Mordialloc, Vic . 3195. Phone : 90 5211 .

Interstate Offices : NE W SOUTH WALES : Ki rr awee, telephone 521-5611 0 QUEENSLAND: Kedron, telephone 59-6466 ~ SOU TH AU ST RALIA : Flind ers Park, telephone 43-9754 0 WESTERN AUSTRALIA : Bel mon t, telep hone 65-5244 0 TA SMANIA : Moonah, te lephone 28-0353 0 NORTHERN TERRITORY: Winne l lie, te li;i ph one 84-3099. A li ce Spri ngs, te lephone 2-2913 O AGENTS IN : Papua and New Guinea, l ndonesi11 , Fij i, The Phil ippines.

344 ¡P¡042

5

Not only do we provide clean water, but we also help keeP- it clean I Surescreen's non-clogging wedge wire screens can help in the separation of solids in effluent ...

Surescreen is one of the world's leading manufacturers of welded wedge wire and produces a large . range of specialised 1 custombuilt products t~ .•.f ... , -Retention Elements A t, ·· , -Inlet and Outlet · .· · GE' Strainers up to 36" E f,. .

1 ~ ~tt diameter!I) , . • Underdrains,r>" l f E~fluent Strainersfp ;..-C~A~D Sieve Bends and flF~L~NT (f.!NDF!JFLOV..

Slopes-Centrifuge t; I •l I;..

Baskets and Assorted Flat and Shaped Panels.

!

i;!i ly., , I

e :,,

!•

*-

t·~ ~,•

~SUBBSCREE

THE SURESCREEN GROUP OF COMPANIES 256 Zillmere Road, Zillmere, Brisbane, Queensland, 4034.

Telephone: Brisbane 263 3555 (Area Code 07) Telegrams: SURESCREEN BRISBANE Telex: AA41215

6

We also manufacture: Irrigation and Water Well Screens, Dewatering Screens, Industrial Welded & Looped Wedge Wire, Centrifuge Baskets, Sieve Bends & Slopes, Specialized Wedge, Wire Products and Wear Resistant Screens.

FEDERAL SECRETARY: R.F. Goldfinch, P.O. Box 359, Canberra, 2601 BRANCH SECRETARIES: Canberra, A.C.T. D. Butters, C/· Dept. of Housing & Construction Phillip, A.C.T., 2606 New South Wales: Dr. D.T. Lacey, 16 Fairy Dell Close, Westleigh, 2120.

Victoria: R. Povey, C/- S.R. & W.S. Commission, · 590 Orrong Rd., Armadale, 3143.

Queensland: A. Pettigrew, P.O. Box 129, Brisbane Markets, 4106.

South Australia: A. Glatz, C/- Engineering & Water Supply Dept.

Victoria Square, Adelaide, 5000.

Western Australia: B.S. Sanders, P.O. Box 356, West Perth, 6005.

Tasmania: P. E. Spratt, Cl- Fowler, England & Newton, 132 Davey St., Hobart, 7000.

Northern Territory: N.R. Allen, 634 Johns Place, Nightcliff, Darwin, 5792.

MEMBERSHIP CERTIFICATE "Those requiring a certificate of membership in the Association are advised that these are now available and will be provided upon receipt by the Federal Secretary of a written request from the member."

EDITORIAL Two Way Bridges ...

The Association exists· to bring together biologists, engineers, medical practitioners, microbiologists, hydrologists and other allied professionals together with all those who are actively engaged in or interested in fields relevant to the objects of the Association.

Many of us therefore see the Association as providing both a state of symbiosis and a series of valuable and highly desirable bridges between our working environment, our basic single discipline institutions such as the Institution of Engineers and our technical or business associations, and all those with a common interest in water and wastewater and its ramifications. Others may see the Association as completely meeting their socio-technical needs. Both these viewpoints are evident from the conclusion that it is no longer possible for a company or government utility to carry out its functions by simply minding its own business and hoping that everyone else will mind theirs.

A measure of the ability of the Association to meet these multi-disciplinary, multi-interest requirements is its very high growth rate which has resulted in the doubling of membership over the last four years. The drive and innovation of the Branches and members have conttibuted to this growth and diversification but there is more to be done:-

Associates - more must be done to build this sector of the Association and provide for technical needs, for example in training courses to improve operator p'roficiency and status; '

Industry - including our Sustaining Members, with whom we need to improve our communications to increase the flow of research and user experience, innovation and knowledge of the market-place; Members - who can be expected to have a major part of their technical sustenance met by their professional institutions or associations, but who need the Association to give them wider and more direct access to other disciplines and to areas of common interest. Amongst others these should include many more electrical, mechanical, electronic, civil and chemical engineers employed in design, construction, contract and management functions; foresters and agriculturalists involved in catchment management, erosion, water yields and re-use; accountants, economists, managers, administrators, and spokesmen for public interests who are very much involved in the rating, pricing, funding, cost-effectiveness and approval roles which are so essential to all our activities; lawyers (of whom the Tasmanian Branch has one) with relevant functions in legislation, water-rights, acquisition and contracts; together with many others, too numerous to mention here; from the life sciences, organic and inorganic chemistry and prophylactic and diagnostic medicine with its strong historical role in public and private health; Students - and the teaching and research professions, part of whose role is akin to that of the forward scout who both leads and protects but who should not get out of touch with the main body of opinion nor it with him and he sometimes gets slaughtered for his trouble.

The Association is engaged in the building and maintaining of these bridges.

I wish al I a Happy Christmas and a prosperous 1976.

Henry McFie Federal President

7

Letters to the Editor ..

ECOLOGICAL MANAG EMENT OF TASMANIAN WATER STORAGES Dear Sir, I recently received a copy of "Man-Made Lakes: Their Problems and Environmental Effects" edited by W.C. Ackermann, G.F. White, E. B. Worthinyton and J. L. Ivens for the American Geophysical Union. This book is based upon papers presented at an international symposium he ld in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 197 1; thouyh published in 1973, the book was not generally available until 1974. Clearly it is an important contribution to and summation of our knowledge on man-made lakes, and will undoubtedly 'prov ide a ready and frequent source of reference to the sub ject within the near future. Three papers are included which discuss A ustral ian man-made lakes. I wish to comment upon one, namely the paper by H.H. McFie of the Civil Engineer ing Branch, Hydro-E lec tri c Commission, Tasmania , and entitled: "Biological, Chemical and Related Eny ineering Problems i n Large Storage Lak es of Tasmania".

A number of detailed crit icisms can be ra ised against the conte nt of the paper, but wi ll not be dealt w ith here. The main point o f crit icism, and certa inly one fe l t important enough to merit comment in this journal , is that statements are made which could be taken seriously in any co nsideration of the ecological management of T asmanian lakes and impou ndments, but w h ic h, in my opinion and that of coll eagues with whom I have discussed the paper, are ill-founded. Two such statements will serve as examples: they are tha t (1) "Since Lake St. Clair is an o ld natural lake w i th a signi f ioantly altered reg im e, suitably designed studies w it h per iod ic updating could result in its becom ing an ecolog ica l bench mark, or r~ference lake, from whic h the behaviour of the newer man-made lakes cou ld be correlated and t heir future behav iour cou ld be predicted" (p. 60); and (2) "Mount Solitary (1 2 km 2 , or 3000 acres ) will be t he largest of the numerous islands and is ideally suited for future use as a permanent primiti ve ecological reserve rest ricted to scie nti fic stud ies" (p. 61 ). Advi ce cit thi s sort, offered together with such obscure phrases as "senesce nt neool igotrophic cond it ion" (p. 59 ) and "supermesotrophic state" (p. 62) is not likely to attract much support from qualified limnolog ists. How can , for examp le, a lake with a sign if icantly altered regime become an eco log ical bench mark, or what special fea tures ·ot a relat ive ly smal I and com pl etely isolated area m arks it as idea ll y sui ted as a per man ent primitive eco logical reserve when the surround i ng env ironmen t has been tota ll y !'lltered?

8

•

Assoc iated with the above sorts of statement is a general impl ication throughout the paper (wh ich has limited acknowledgements and is unsupported by references) that the Hydro-Electric Commission of T asmania the Government body large ly responsibl~ for the management of Tasmanian lakes and impoundments as water storages, has engaged in significant limnological investigations in Tasmania. This is not so as reference to the limn olog ical li ternture wi ll rapidly indicate (see for example Chapter 3 in Wi ll iams, 1974). One example will suffice to make the point. On page 62 it is stated that "Fauna flora, and limnological studies pr incipa lly of the Lake Pedder storage area, have been carried out, and there is now considerable scientif ic interest in what was previously an almost totally neglected region. The relevant initial stud y was made . for the Hydro-E lectric Commission in ear ly 1967" . In fact it was as a result of the inadequacy of the scientif ic investigations sponsored by the Hydro-Electric Commission, that a number of University and other scientists felt compe lled to study Lake Pedder (see Lake Pedder Committee of Enquiry, 1974).

There is genera lly little profit in commenting adversely in pub lic on scientific papers; that I have is an indication of may reservatio ns, as an eco logist, about the subject matter.

Yours faithfully, Lake Pedder Committee of Enquiry (1974) .

Final Report : The Flooding of Lake Pedder.

Australian Government Pub I ish ing Service, Canberra.

Williams, W.D. (Ed.) (1974) . Biogeography and Eco logy in Tasmania. Monograph iae Biologicae, Vol. 25 . Junk, Den Haag.

Dear Sir, The World Study Tour is now concluded and all who participated are of the opinion that it was well-worthwhile. Attendance at t he W.P.C.F. Conference was a highlight of the tour but each city visited was able to show the tourists something new and worthw hi le. I am preparing a report concerning the port ion of the to ur in which my wife and I participated and I wi l l send you a copy in due course. Colin Ralph and others who completed the full itinerary wil l also prepare a report which co u Id be cons idered for publicat ion in the journal.

Reg. Goldf inch

ANY NEWS ITEMS? Manufacturers are invited to send news of any new products, projects or services for inclusion in the new product and projects section, see page 22.

Post to John Craig, P.O. Box 100, Caulfield East, Vic., 3145.

el

ASSOCIATION NEWS VICTORIA From THE "GEELONG ADVERTISER" :-

Sewage - Can it be put to use?

Water supply eng ineers are studying the inevitability in Victoria of treated sewage being re-used. · This was o ne of the main topics of discussion at a conference of members of the Australian Water and Wastewater Association at Lorne.

It was pointed out that sewage effluent could be conside red as an important resource t emporari ly out of place. As such it was considered important that, to overcome serious shortages of potable water suppli es in the future, it was desirable to thoroughly explore possibilities for re-using this resource rather than "wasting" it.

Possibilities suggest ed included water for golf courses , industries, agricu lture, etc.

One of the main prob lems envi saged for these proposa ls, judged on experience by authorities in overseas co untries, was the degree of pub lic acceptar1ce.

Other subj ects discussed incl uded removal of toxic metals from industrial effl uents and ill egal connection of roof gutters to the sewer.

Approximately 60 eng ineers, chemists and biologists from the MMBW, State Rivers and Water Supply and Geelong Waterworks and Sewage Trust , w ith consultant engineers and scientists, spent a p leasant and mentall y stimulating weekend at the conference which had as its theme "Urban Discharge Problems". With their f ami li es they filled the Lorne Hotel and the Ka li mna Guest • House.

Wh ile the sun shone between the showers, Lorne Water works Trust Com~issioners Allen and Beaurepaire conducted a long · procession of cars around Lorne to examine the li mnology and other aspects of the picturesque A llanvale Reservo ir deep in the hills down to the Bass Strait outfa ll. But the main purpose of the weekend was the interplay of ideas between the men w ho have responsibility for the sani tat ion of cities and towns and for the hea l t h of the environment to which wastes are discharged .

LADIES' NIGHT More than 70 peop le were in attendance at the City and Overseas Club whose new premises <!re a distinct improvement. The dinner-dance was enjoyed by al l.

AUGUST MEETING At the August meeting, Dr. J.R . L. Forsyth of the Microbiological Diagnostic Un it, University of Melbourne, spoke on "Epidemiology of Water-borne D isease."

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Annual General Meeting held in September was well attended and the Past President , Mr. A lan Strom , spoke on "Trends in Water and Wastewater Treatment'', illustrating his talk w ith slides of various installations in Austral ia and overseas, obviously from a background of considerable experience.

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY The 7th AGM of the Canberra Branch was held on 16th October, 1975, and the Office Bearers for 1975/ 76 announced as fo ll ows: President Vice President IMM Past Pres.

Secretary Treasurer Committee

Federal Counci ll ors Branch Correspondent

Mrs C. L. Settle Mr F,C. Speldewinde Mr. P.H. Manger Mr. D. Butters Mr. P. Samara-Wickrama Mr. K. Barnett Mr . D. Hen ley Mr . I. Lawrence ¡Mr . A. Macoun Mr . D. Phi lp Mr. C. Price Mrs C. Settle Mr. C. Pr ice Mr. A. Macoun .

The 1974/75 year was high l ighted by the successful staging of the second AWWA Summer School in February.

The AGM was addressed by Mr. Gavin Wood, who has extensive experience in the fie ld of water poll ution pr incipall y through research at t he WPR L at Stevenage, on the topic of "Eutrophication".

The 26th General Meet ing wi ll be held on 18th December and wil l be addressed by Professor D.A. Okun of the Un iversity of North -Caro lina who w ill speak on "The State-of-the art Water and Wastewater Engineerinq' '.

The conference ended with a very enjoyable inspect ion and bar-b-que at t he Advancetown Dam which is at present under construction inland from Broadbeach.

M,my thanks to those who organised the conference With special than ks to John Ryan, Roy Starkey and Jim Callum.

MEMBERSH IP Membersh ip continues to grow at a very satisfactory rate with 12 applications bei ng considered at the last committee meeting.

BRISBANE FLOODS The Queensland, Branch through the energies of our Treasurer Geoff Cossins has offered the services of the Assoc iat ion to the State Disaster Relief Organisation for use in any future flood situation in Brisbane. It is felt that our members could play a useful role although the fu ll ocope of their activities wou ld have to be settled by discussion. Members will be advised of further developments.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA The climate of the proposed new city of Monarto, and its influence on planning, were discu ssed by Angus Robin, Bureau of Met eorology, Professor Peter Schwertfeger, Flinders University, and Ivan Lees, Monarto Development Commission, at Ladies Night on 31st October.

Features of the wind pattern inc lude summer sea breezes persisti ng unti l m idnight and nocturnal drainage of cold air from t he eastern slopes of the Mt . Lofty Ranges.

Ma x imum temperatures will be sl ightly h igher t han in Ade laide, and rainfall lower (350 mm per year); peak rai nfal l intensity

can occur in summer as a resu l t of th understorms. Stormwater disposal will utilize a surface system based on retention of the natural drainage pattern within open spaces.

Branch Programme 1976 27th (1) Dr . Mitchel l (University of Rhodesia) - "Water Weed s" (2) Dr. Renolds (Fisher ies Department) - "Fishes of the River Murray."

May 28th Speakers to be arranged on the subject "Marine Studies of th e Gulf of St. Vincent".

August 13th September 17th Annual Gel)eral Meeting Dr. N. Geddes and Dr. J. Noye - "Changing status of the Coorong."

October 10th I .A.W.P.R . Int ernational Speaker on a subject to be announced.

November 26th Ladi es Night Mr. John Job (Uni ve rs ity of Adelaide) "Icebergs for Water" .

February

<1Iomplimeuh, of t~e feeason tu all om ilmrmbers, J\uociate ilmembers and readers, '<Il~roug~out J\ustra lia and @uerseas. '<Ilhe lfiditor

QUEENSLAND REG IONAL CONFERENCE BROADBEACH The f irst reg iona l conference organised

by Queens land Branch was held at Broad beach over the weekend September 26-27th, 1975. In all some 40 de legates registered and together w ith fam il ies enjoyed t he tech nical discussion and soc ial act ivities.

The technica l sessions were we ll attended and li vely d iocussion on the papers presented sign ified that al.I were of interest to those attend i ng. The opening address by the Go ld Coast City Mayor was t houg ht provok ing and stressed t he need for' assoc iat ions such as A.W.W.A. to involve themselves in inf luencing, adv ising and educating the pub l ic and lay people in pub lic off ice on matters affecting treatme nt and disposal of water and wastewater.

Speakers at the South Australian Branch Ladies night - Professor Peter Schwertfeger, Mr. Ivan Lees and Mr. Angus Robin. In the background is a plan of the proposed new city of Monarto.

9

WATER RESOURCES INFORMATION CSIRO-Water Resources A·bstracts Selected Water Resources Abstracts magnetic tapes have been added to the Selective D issemination of Information Services of the CSI RO Information Service. Selective Dissemination of Information or SDI, the acronym by which the technique is universally known, provides a scientist or engineer with selected current awareness information relevant to his interests. It involves the development of a "search profile" or machine-readable list of .search terms which are logically connected and which describe the user's interests. With the aid of a computer it is possible to search a large data base very rapidly and to print out information or "hit" when the logic of the profile is satisfied. Using SDI, an individual user can have a much wider coverage of the published literature scanned than he could cope with in the normal course of his reading.

The Selected Water Resources Abstracts tapes are provided by the Water Resources Scientific Information Centre (WRSIC), U.S. Department of tnter ior, under the U.S./Australia Scient if ic and Technical Co. Operation Agreement . Unlike many other abstracting services, the input for SWRA is selected and indexed by centres of expertise with active water resources researc h oroCSIRO SOI SYSTEM

SHRCH OUTPUT

grammes. In the U.S. these are mainly universities and government agencies. In return for our use of the SWRAdata base the CSI RO Information Service is se lecting and indexing Australian literature for input to the data base.

In addition to the regular monthly current awareness service, it is possible to offer a retrospective search service through the

15/05/75

DATA BASE• WATER ABSTRACTS TEST TAPE SOURCE• WATER ABSTRACTS, VOL, 8, NOS, 1•4

......... ......

generous co-operation of WRSI C. Retrospective searches will be available to all current awareness profile subscribers.

SWRA provides an internatioa l ocverage of the water resources literature with each entry contai ning full bibliographic details, an abstract and a I ist of descriptors/ identifiers. Entries are classified into 10 fields and 60 groups (see Table 2). Th e coverage is wide and includes water-re lated aspects of the li'fe, physica l and social sciences, as wel l as related engineeri ng and legal aspects of the characterist ics, co nservation, control, use or management of water .

SWRA conta ins approximate ly 13,000 abstracts per annum. Each monthly tape which corresponds with the printed volumes of Selected Water Resources Abstracts contains approx imately 1000 records.

The annua l subscription to the SWRA tapes service is $30 p.a. A sample of the output from the service is shown in Fig. 1.

Scientists and engineers are invited to submit a test profi le to evaluate the data base for their specif ic information requirement.

Test output wi II be provided free of charge.

Fig. 1 Sample Output

························************************************** ************************************************************** CSIRO INFOR~ATION SlRVICE 114 ALBERT ST, EAST MELBOURNE, VIC,

CODE• WASAMPLE (EDITION 00)

SAMPLE OUTPUT FROM THE SELECTED WATER RlSOURClS ABSTRACTS TEST TAPE THRESHOLD WEIGHT•

•••

......... ............

...

•••

······························································ ·····················································~········ J, L, MAHLOCK, (MISSISS IPPI STATE UNIV,, STATE COLLEGE, OEPT, Of CIVIL ENGINEERING,) HULTIVARIATE TECHNIQUES POR WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS, JOUR NA L OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING DIVISION, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, VOL 100, NO EE5, PROCEEDINGS PAPER NO 10840, P 1119•t1H, OCTOBER 1974 1 q TAB, 5 EQU, 8 REF, SWRA 8 0 1 0~022 SE 07C SH +ENVIRON ME NTAL ENGINEERING, +WATER QUALITY CONTROL, +STATISTICAL METHODS, REGRESSION ANALYSIS, ESTIMATING, DATA COLLECTIONS, METHO DOLOGY, INFORMATION RETRIEVAL, SYSTEMS ANALYSIS, EQUATIONS/+MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS, DATA MATRIX

SWRA 8 01 00022

ABSTRACT•

THE APPLICATION OF MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES TO ANALYSIS OF WATER QUALITY OATA IS DEMONSTRATED, STUDY RESULTS INDICATE THAT A SIMULTANEOUS, MULTIPLE REGRlSSION TECHNIQUE HAY BE USED fOR SUPPLYING MISSING OBSlRVATIONS AND THAT AT ANY PARTICULAR LEVEL THE ENTIRE DATA MATRIX MAY BE CONSIDERED, THUS REDUCING THE COMPUTATIONAL EFfORT, MULTIVARIATE TECHNIQUE APPLICATIONS HEREIN CENTER ON EITHER EXTRACTING INFORMATION FROM THE DATA OR TESTING HYPOTHESES WHICH HAY ARISE CONCERNING THE DATA, THE TECHNIQUES CO NS IDERED INCLUDE PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS, CANONICAL CORRELATION, PARTIAL CORRELATION, MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OP VARIANCE ( MANOVA), ANO DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS, EXAMPLES ARf PRESENTED DEMONSTRATING THE APPLICATION OF THESE METHODS, (BELL•CORNELL),

CSIRO SDI SYSTEM

HARCH OUTPUT

......... ...

15/05/75

DATA BASE• WAlER ABSTRACTS TEST TAPE SOURCE• WATER ABSTRACTS, VOL, 8, NOS, l•Q

•••

**************************************•************************

......................................................................................................

••••• NUMBER OF HITS EXCEEDED LIM IT

.....

••••• NUMBER RETRIEVFO • 1092

COOEw WASAMP~E (EDITION 00)

CSIRO INFORMATION SERVICE 314 ALBERT ST, EAST MELBOURNE, VIC,

NUMBER PRINTED .• ••••• ENO OP OUTPUT ••••• NUHBER OF HITS PRINTED

•

............... ......... ***

•••

GLJ•u

.......................................................................................... ........................................................................................................

10

Table 1. Other 5D1 Current Awareness Services Data Base CA CONDEN,SA TES CA CONDENSATES CA CONDENSATES BA PREVIEWS

INSPEC INSEPC INSPEC FSTA SWRA CAI N

A B

02 WATER CYCLE A B C D

E

F G

H I J

K L

Abstract Service

Code

Frequency

Chemical Abstracts (odd issues) Chemical Abstracts (even issues) Chemical Abstracts Biological Abstracts and Bioresearch Inde x Physics Abstracts Electr ical and Electronics Abstracts Computer and Control Abstracts Food Science and Technology Abstracts Selected Water Resources Abstracts National Agricultural Library, USDA

C1

Fortnightly

Annual Charge $100

C2

Fortnightly

$ 100

C1C2

Weekly

$200

BA IA IB

Three searches per month Fortnightly Monthly

$100 $100 $ 50

IC

Monthly

$ 50

FS

Monthly

$ 30

WA

Monthly

$ 30

CN

Monthly

$ 50

Properties Aqueous solutions and suspensions

General Precipitation Snow, ice, and frost Evaporation and transpiration Streamflow and runoff Groundwater Water in soils Lak es Water in plants Erosion and sedimentation Chemical processes Estuaries

03 WATER SUPPLY AUGMENTATION AND CONSERVATION A

Saline water conversion B Water yield improvement C Use of water of impar ied quality D Conservation in domestic and municipal use E Conservation in industry F Conservation in agr iculture

04 WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL A Control of water on the surface Groundwater management B C Effects on water of man's nonwater activities D Watershed protection

05 WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION A Identification of pol lutants Sources and fate B of pollution C Effects of pollution D Waste treatment processes Ultimate disposal E of wastes F Water treatment and distribution G Water quality contro l 06 WATER RESOURCES PLANNING A Techniques of planning B Evaluation process C Cost allocation, cost sharing, pricing/repayment D Water demand E Water law and institutions F Nonstructural alternatives G Ecologic impact of water development

07 RESOURCES DATA A Network design B Data acquisition C Evaluation, processing and publication

08 ENGINEERING WORKS A B C D E F G H I

Structures Hydraulics Hydraulic machinery Soi I mechanics Rock mechanics and geology Concrete Materials Rapid excavation Fisheries engineering

09 MANPOWER , GRANTS, AND FACILITIES A Education extramural B Education - inhouse C Research facilities D Grants, contracts, and research act all otments 10 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION A Acquisition and processing B Reference and retrieva l C Secondary publication and distribution D Speciali zed information center services

For further information contact CSIRO Information Service at:

The Manager CSI RO Information Service 314 Albert Street East Melbourne, Vic. 3002 Tel: 03419-1333 or

Mrs Y . Esplin CSIRO, Alpha House 60 King Street Newtown, N.S.W. 2042 Tel : 02 660-0566

ZUELLIG DISSOLVES OXYGEN PROBE This unique Swiss made instrument features an open electrode block with two concentrical electrode rings which are continuously cleaned with a rotating grinding stone. A moving beaker surrounding the electrode ensures continuous exchange of the medium under investigation. Sludge sediments are expelled from the electrode assembly and the electrode geometry is kept constant at all times thus enabling trouble-free direct aeration control and a substantial saving in power consumption. The instrument was tested extensively and has been approved by the Sydney Metrop.

Water Sewerage & Drainage Board.

Application in Wastewater, Activated Sludge, Drinking Water, or Public Waters. The probe features automatic temperature compensation, has a guaranteed accuracy of + o.2 mg/L, and operates off a 240V/50Hz supply continuously. Further information available from: Hahn & Kolb (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. P.O. Box 166 Homebush N.S.W, 2140 Tel. (02) 76-0271

11

.J •

n-v::,'

SUPPRESSION OF DOMESTIC WATER HAMMER NOISE

BY A SIMPLE WAVE DISPERSION TECHNIQUE

to an already flowing liquid that a valve has been closed and therefore the liquid must be brought to rest. The converse being ~rue when a valve is opened. The magnitude of the pressure wave is independent of the pressure of the flowing liquid and is determined by the speed of valve operation, the velocity of the flowing liquid and the length of pipe. In a pipe of continuous cross-section therefore the wave will ultimately propagate as a step change in pressure if the valve operation is sufficiently rapid. · In the wave dispersion type attenuator this steep fronted shock wav~ is dispersed into a slow rising wave which brings the flowing liquid to rest gradually no matter how steep the incident water hammer wave is. This is achieved in a dev ice as shown in Figure 1a.

by T.B. Guy PhD., C.Eng., M.I. MechE., M.A.I.A.A. * ABSTRACT An example of the efficiency of a wave dispersion type attenuator in reducing impulsive hydraulic noise is described by its application to a domestic water supply system. The attenuation technique is shown to substantially reduce the impulsive noise from a domestic water meter a_nd rapid turn-off of a tap, using a relatively small and simply constructed attenuator.

Shock wave arid sound wave attenuation by the wave dispersion technique is already established for the case of waves in air 1 but has never previously been applied to the case of hydraulic waves in I iquids. The effectiveness of such a technique depends upon the difference in wave speed in the fluid and duct lining material and on the similarity of the characteristic impedence in the fluid and duct lining. A few calculations of these properties for water and a lining material of rubber foam revealed that the wave dispersion technique would be much more effective in attenuating hydraulic waves than when applied to the case of air waves. This was the basis for the invention of a hydraulic wave attenuator and the investigation described here.

WAVE

a6"dk.l.

0,9"-fh. po/Jure.thane

foam

3•8"dia. copper

expQnsion duct

(b).

Introduction Domestic water supply systems exhibit two main types of hydraulic noise, namely the impulsive noise from water meters and that from rapid turn-off of water taps. While this type of noise is generally to lerated w ithin the source dwelli ng, hydraulic transmission of pressure waves to adjacent dwellings via connecting supply pipes or the water main, is particularly troublesome. Furthermore, it is well known that severe impulsive hydraulic noise may also damage water meters. valves or other componenjs in the water supply line.

Suppression of this water hammer- noise is possible to some extent by conventional air chamber type hydraulic pressure wave attenuators. but these are both cost ly and re latively ineffective with low pressure pulses, and not entirely maintenance free. A recently introduced method of attenuating internal hydraulic pressure waves by a wave dispersion technique *. does however, offer the possibility of highly efficient attenuation of this type of pressure wave in a cheap, simple way.

An i n~estigation of the effectiveness of this type of hydrauli c pressure wave attenuator in reducing water hammer type noise produced by a domestic water meter and by rapid turn-off of a water tap, is described in this paper.

The Wave Dispersion Attenuator A water hammer type wave, produced by dynamic acceleration or retardation of a l iquid f low, will propagate through the liquid at a velocity equal to the composite speed of sound of the liquid and the liquid carrying pipe. This internal pressure wave carries the message

*Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Facu lty of M ili tary Studies, R.M.C., Duntroon, ACT 2600

* Patent appl ied for.

12

DESCRIPTION OF PRESSURE WAVE ATTENUATOR - Fig. 1 (a) (b)

Cross section of pressure wave attenuator .

Diagramatic explanation (i) initial wave diffraction, (ii) only slight reflection at lining surface, transmission at low velocity through lining. (iii) foam rubber or polyurethane - containing water and encapsulated air bubbles.

The attenuator consists of a vesse l causing an enlargement of the normal pipe flow area, the inside wall of which is lined with a ~aterial having a slower speed of sound than that in the liquid, but ideally of greater density. The thickness of the lining is such that there is a slight en largement in the initial pipe area, so as to al low initial wave diffraction (as shown in Figure 1b), hence the wave wi ll impinge obliquely onto the inner l ining wall. The product of so und speed and density (known as the characteri stic impedence) sho uld be similar for the lining material and the liquid so as to ensure high transmissiblity of the pressure wave into the lining. Since the speed of the wave in the lining is slower than that through the liquid, waves travelling through liquid will become dispersed from those reflecting from the solid wal l of the attenuator. Hence the incident steep fronted water hammer wave is reduced to either a single slow rising pressure wave or a series of small waves .

j

If ) be characteristic impedence for the lining material is not identical with that for the liquid , then some portion of the wave impinging on the inner li'ling surface will be reflected back into the liquid and will be strengthened, thus reducing the effectiveness of the attenuator. Generally desired properties for the attenuator lining material have however, been found in foamed rubber and polyurethane, (both have been used in the attenuator used in these tests) which have a speed of sound, when immersed in water. of approximately one-tenth that in the water alone. This is because m inute air bubbles are permanently trapped in the cellular structure of the foam.

It is not within the scope of the present paper to enter into theoretical analysis on any of the qualitative points raised, however, it can be shown theoretically that a wide range of suitable attenuator linings can be produced from various combinations of materials. Also, while the theoretical analysis of wave reflection in a dispersion type attenuator is extremely difficult, it can also be shown theoretically that the length of the attenuator is the most important parameter for its efficient operation.

L---.J E

t>

(SSps'1)

F

Toope drain

(b).

t

,Ip

,..

t>

J

+flow +o

house ti)

-;

IL I .J

Prc~sure

',,/Qves from houses

Fig. 2. (a) Test Rig

(b) Domestic Supply

Legend: A main tap B pressure transduaer C PVC pipe section

E 'F

D

pressure wave attenuator water meter quick action ball valve

The Experiments A bench mounted domestic 5/8" bore pipe line carrying water from a domestic supply at 55 psi static pressure was constructed as shown in Figure 2a). This consisted of a main tap, a fast response pressure transducer for measuring pressure waves, an Emmco type ž" domestic water meter (which had registered a total of 84 364 gals) followed by a quick acting ball type turn-off valve, after which the flow was directed to an open drain. A recording oscilloscope and camera were used to measure the pressure signa l from the pressure transducer.

Provision was made for a wave dispersion type pressure wave attenuator to be inserted between the water meter and pressu re transducer thus simulating its proposed posi ti on in a domestic branch line. A typical domestic supply line is shown in Figure 2b, where it can be seen that pressure waves maybe transmitted to several adjacent branches. The water wave attenuator used in this test has already been described and is shown in Figure 1a, However, it should be noted that a wide range of si ilarly constructed attenuators would achieve either greater or lesser attenuation than this one depending on overall diameter and length.

Tests with and without the attenuator were carried out at the maxi mum obtainable flow of 4.5 gals/min and at partia l flow condition (the partial flow which gave the highest noise level) of 3.2 gals/min. Also, a test with rapid ball valve t urn-off by hand at the initially highest .flow condition was carried out at a closing rate of approximately 0.5 seconds. In each case flow rates lower than the max imum were achieved by part ial ly closing the ball valve, the main tap being fully open throughout. Thi s simulates the situation in a domestic supply in which the flow rate through the meter is regulated by taps or valves downstream of the meter.

A test of shock wave and noise transmission through the piping was carried out to examine the efficiency of the PVC section of pipe in preventing waves travelling along the pipe wal l from the ball valve or meter back to the pressure transducer. This was to ensure that the pressure transducer (which was also sensitive to vibration) gave an accurate pressure signa l from the waves travelling in the liquid.

The test consisted simply of tapping the water meter body with a rod and examining the pressure transducer output on an oscilloscope, when the pipe was filled with water and when it was empty.

The response of the transducer to tapping with the pipe empty, was found to be negligible but when the pipe was fil led with water the pressure transducer response was considerab le, thus indicating that the subsequent measurements were genuine water pressure wave measurements. This test also verified that the results obtained during these tests would be directly applicable to any domestic water supply installation.

Results Valve Closure Pressure Wave Figure 3 overleaf shows the effects of rapid ball valve closure. In 3(a) without the pressure wave attenuator fitted, a typica l water h_ammer type wave is seen to propagate upstream followed by reflections from an upstream pipe junction . This wave had a peak to peak pressure level of about 10 psi but could be made larger or smaller depe_ n ding upori the speed of the ball valve closure. A 10 psi pressure pulse, however, will create a considerable impact noise well upstream of the source even though the wave which was produced by ball valve closure has first passed through the water meter.

In Figure 3(b) we see the oscilloscope trace resulting from the same ball valve closure conditions but with the pressure wave attenuator fitted . The wave hammer type wave has now been eliminated and the resulting pressure pulse (shown by the arrow ) is reduced to approximately 0.33 psi (or 1.30th) and is barely discernible from t he background noise.

NOTE: Theoretical P(Max) is about 300 psi when valve closes in about 0.002 sec.

Meter Noise at Full Flow The noise produced by the water meter at full flow of 4.5 gals/min is shoVl(n in the oscilloscope trace Figure 4(a). This is seen to be considerab ly less than that for valve closure and of fair ly typical random noise character, having a peak to peak max iumum amplitude of about 0.67 psi. With the pressure wave attenuator

13

â&#x20AC;˘

FIG. 3 RAPID BALL VALVE CLOSURE EFFECTS C'

0

C

.2

Ill

Ill 1/l

~

',ii

l

a..

E

'wi

0

t-,.

A.

V

r--

IJ)

..:.

A

E 0

tJ

\.II

0

c

IJ

II

f \)

C 0

C

-~ 0

'ii r

g_

~

~

Cl.

~

.Soms/crri

d

(al Without Attenuator (max . P.P. pressure= 10 psi I

Soms/cn,

(bl With Attenuator ___ (max. p.p. Pressure '.' 0.33 psi I

FIG. 4 FULL FLOW NOISE FROM METER C'

C: 0

0

V)

1/1

-~ "'

.Q..

I"-

\J

VI

~

Sl~

0 \J

0

·i

~

"1.06

f

II

II

E v

c \)

C

-~ C 0

~

()

\I

C

0

•i C

IT

CJ

.a..

ll.

~

)(

10 ms /crn

"

(al Without Attenuator

IOms

/c.n,

(b) With Attenuator

FIG. 5 PARTIAL FLOW NOISE FROM METER

C

C 0

0

·;;

.,"'

-~

t'

.a..

.Q..

1

,-

ti 3 6

\JI

6

ti

f

V

~

Q.

E' C) \)

ti

5

C 0

-~ -

C

-~

"'I:

~

g_

1

)(

>(

QI

(a) Without Attenuator

SOwts/c.n,

• 14

'in..,

" Soms /crvi

(bl With Attenuator

fitted the peak to peak noise leve l is approx im ate ly halved as shown in Figl.l{e 4(b). However, the true effect of the attenuator is not entirely \hown since some of the noise shown in Figure 4 is known to be caused by turbulence in the main tap and the pressure . tranducer mounting block hence the attenuator has no affect in reducing this noise. Figure 4(a) does however, illu strate that at ful l flow the water meter noise is relatively low.

Meter Noise at Partial Flow Results of the water meter noise at a f low of 3.2 gals/min (approximate\y ¾ full flow) are more interesting than those at full flow, since we see now, a particular ly characteristic pulsing wave in this type of flow meter. Figure 5(a) shows a regular pulse (approximately 3-4 pulses per second) superimposed upon the normal meter noise at full flow. The peak to peak amplitude of the pulses is about 2. 7 psi (or 4 times the full flow noise). Presumably these pulses are caused by a more jerky operation of the water meter at less than fu ll flow which produces a similar effect to successively opening and closing a va lve. The pulsing characteristic was found to exist over a wide range of f low less than the full flow rate. I t is worth noting that since in a domestic water supply system full flow rate through the meter is far less frequent than partial flow (only some of the household taps turned on), then the flow meter noise experienced in domestic systems wil l be main ly of this pulsed type. This is particularly true at night when even a low noise level is 'likely to cause inconvenience.

When the pressure wave attenuator is fitted, however, the pulsing and most of the background noise is eliminated. Figure 5(b) is, therefore, identical to Figure 4(b) but on a slower time base, and again it can be assumed that most of the remaining no ise comes from sources emanating on the opposite side of the pressure transducer to the pressure wave attenuator.

Conc lusions The pressure wave created by valve closure downstream of a domestic water meter is considerable and may trave l upstream past the water meter and into other branches from a water main, at peak · to peak pressure levels of about 10 psi when valve closure time is around 0. 5 seconds.

The noise from the water meter itself is highest when the flow through the meter is less than maximum and displays characteristic pulsing (or mini water hammer) waves of about 2. 7 psi peak to peak amplitude.

All the noise and pressure waves created in this type of system are substantially eliminated by a simple wave dispersion type attenuator (shown in Figure 2) . This type of attenuator has the added advantage of being relatively simple (no moving parts) and cheap in construction, the attenuator lining material consist ing of tubular foamed rubber. It should be noted, however, that a ra nge of wave dispersion lining materials can be produced to deal with a range of different liquid environmental conditions.

Ref. 1 : T. B. Guy, Attenuation of reflecting shock waves in a duct with absorbent lining; Journal of Sound and Vibration (19 73 ) 29 (4), 501 -503 . •

1975 AWWA SUMMER SCHOOL "WATER IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT" A limited number of lecture notes are sti ll ava il ab le and may · be obta in ed from : Hon. Treasurer AWWA P.O. Box 306, Woden, ACT, 2606.

Cost of the two volume set is $20 which includes postage, pack ing and insurance or $12 for bona-fide students. Payment must accompany order.

A full report of the Summer School was given in the March, 1975, issue of "Water" . Twenty-one lect ures and three workshops were held cover ing aspects. of water supply, sewerage, stormwater and environmental stud ies.

8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION ON WATER POLLUTION RESEARCH SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 17-22 OCTOBER, 1976 SPONSORS Elec. Commission of NSW A.W.W.A. Hematite Petroleum, Vic. Government of Aust.

Humes Ltd .. Vic. Government of N.S.W. Electrolux, Vic. Government of Sth. Aust.

Shell Oil (Aust.)

Sydney Water of Board Aust . Paper Mills Melb. Board of Works Brambles Industries E. & W.S. Adelaide Wallace & Tiernan Brisbane City Council I.C.I. (Aust.)

Newcastle Water Board Petroleum Information Bureau Broken Hill Water Board Qantas Perth Water Board T.A.A. S.E.C., Vic. SOCIAL PROGRAMME The social programme will in clude events catering both for delegates as well as for those who accompany them - the ladies will be especia lly provid ed for to make Conference week a memorable experience.

STUDY TOURS A special selection of study tours or technical inspections wi ll be made avai lable to all delegates. Post Conference Continuing Education Seminars are to be held in Melbourne.

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME 1. Chemical Quality Standards and the ir Determination.

2. Bio logica l Monitoring Parameters and their Characterization.

3. Public Health Aspects, Virology, Disinfection.

4. Biocides, Pollutant Accumu lation in Macro-organisms.

5. Fish Studies.

6. Stream Ana lysis - Model ling - River Management.

7. Eutrophication - Chemical and Biological Aspects.

8. Marine Ecology.

9. Estuarine Pollution - Surveys. · 10. Pipeline Disposal to Sea. 11. Pollution from Oil and Offshore Materials Resources Development.

12. Groundwater Quality Studies.

13. Sewerage overlows, Storm Water Storage and Treatment.

14. Sedimentation, Slu dge Characteristics and Thickening.

15. Sludge: Devvatering, Incineration, Land Disposal.

16. Anaerobic Processes, Digestion, Septic Tanks.

17. Pract ical Aspects of activated sludge process, Nitrification, Oenitrification, simu ltaneous phosphorus removal.

18. Aeration Systems, Oxygen plants.

19. Trickling Filter, High rate plastic media, rotary discs.

20. Advanced Wastewater treatment, Physicochemical Processes, case stud ies of operat ion.

21. Large Treatment Plants.

22 . Small Treatment Plants, Rural problems, Land Treatment, Lagoons, Transient population communities.

23. Industrial Wastes - Farm, Agricultural, Food Process.

24. Industrial Wastes - Petrochemical, Synthetic Organics, Paper pulp.

25. Industrial Wastes Inorganic Toxicants - Non Biodegradab le.

26. Water Quality Network Control.

27 . Miscell aneous - Papers of Wide General interest not cove red with in above Specific Categories.

The Co nference wi ll arrange two st reams of concurrent tech nica l sessions on each of eight half days as wel l as a Reception at the Sydney Opera House, and Opening and Closing. Ceremonies at the Wentworth Hotel. Simultaneous interpretation In English, German and French will be provided. Included are Technical Tours, Work shop Sessions and Panel Discussions with World Specialists.

Authors must submit papers by September 15, 1975 in accordance with the Rules for Submission of Papers.

CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT Enquiries concern ing the 8th Conference may be addressed to: I. A.W .P.R. 8th International Conference G.P.O. Box 2609, Sydney. 2001 . Austra lia Cables to "Conventions", Sydney, telephone: (code 27-6940.

02)

15

THE SORPTION OF 2, 4, 5, T BY LDPE PLASTIC CONTAINERS by *P. HOPMANS Introduction Var ious types of containers have been used in the past to col lect stream samp les containing chemical contaminants. Two of the most common materials used for such containers are glass and low density polyethylene (LOPE) plastic.

For the samp l ing of pesticide residues, glass. and to a greater extent polyethylene, are known to be responsibl e for sorption of pesticides (1, 3). However the extent of these reactions has not been reported, though glass containers are often recommended (2).

The aim of the work reported here was to i nvestigate the sorption of a common herbicide, the butyl ester of 2, 4, 5-trichloro-phenox yacetic acid (2, 4, 5-T), by low density polyethylene and glass. The experimental results indicate the errors involved in using containers of th ese materials for stream water samp l ing.

Methods and Materials The experiment was a factorial, the independent variables being weight of plastic, concentration of 2, 4, 5-T (butyl ester) and time.

Various weights (0.300, 3.00 and 30.0 grams) of 1 mm thick LOPE plastic, cut in strips of approximately 140 x 15 mm from commercially available bottles, were placed into 500 ml erlenmeyer flasks together with 500 m l of d-ionized water containing 10, 100, 1000 and 10,000 micrograms of technical grade 2, 4, 5-T (butyl ester). The flasks were shaken for 6, 60 and 600 minutes then al iquots were taken and transferred to 500 ml erlenmeyers containing 5 ml of 10% sod ium hydroxide. Water was then added to give a total 'vol u me of 100 ml.

After alka li ne hydrolysis the samp les were acidified and extracted with diethylether. The combined ether extract was washed with acidified distilled water and evaporated to near dryness. The residues were methylated using borontrifluoridemethanol reagent. taken up in n-hexane and analysed u si ng a Varian Aerograph 2740 series instrument eq u ipped with a scandium electron capture detector (4, 5, 6). Good separation was obtained with a 6 ft glass column packed with 3% SE-30 plus 3% OF- 1 on 80-100 mesh Chromosorb W using 30 m l per minute nitrogen flow, co lumn temperature of 110°c and detector tem perature of 225°C. A direct calibration procedure was used with standards ranging from 22 to 220 picograms of 2, 4, 5-T (methyl ester). The, detector gave good, reproducib le linearity • Forests Commissi on, Victoria, Treasure Place, Melbourne 3002.

16

over this range and no significant changes in sens itiv ity occurred.

Confirmation tests were carried out using a 6 ft glass column packed with 5% OV- 101 on 80-100 mesh Chromosorb W under the same instrument conditions but using a flame ionisation detector.

A recovery experiment was conducted by taking 2 ml al iquots from the prepared solutions of 5 and 500 ppm 2. 4, 5-T (butyl ester) and carrying o~t the alkaline hydrolysis, extraction, methylation and chromatographic determination as described above.

Two blank determinations were also carried out in between the high concentration samp les in order to detect any possib le cross con tam in at ion.

The recovery experiment indicated that the analytical procedure will recover on the average approximately 81% of the 2, 4, 5-T (butyl ester) initially present (Table 1). A portion of the 2, 4, 5-T not recovered cou ld be due to sorption on glassware used in the experiment and other factors such as incomplete methy lation. The resu lts· of the sorption experiment (Table 2) showed that the sorption of 2 . 4, 5-T (bu ty l ester ) b y low density polyethy lene occurred at a relat ively fast rate and in quite sign ificant quantities.

The treatment using 30 grams of polyethylene strips, which represents approx imately the same su rface area as the inside of a one li tre samp ling bottle, clearly showed that after 60 minutes about 90% of the initial amount of 2, 4, 5-T (bu tyl ester) present has been sorbed. Longer contact periods increases the amount sorbed by the plastic especially for high initial concentrations of the herbicide. Because· the sorpt ion of 2, 4, 5-T on the p lastic is so hi gh and so variable, containers from this mater ial are unsuitab le for 2, 4 , 5-T residue samp l ing.

Results and Discussion The results for the recovery experiment are set out in Table 1 and those for the sorption experiment in Tab le 2.

Sorption in the control treatments (no LOPE plastic) are indicative of t he amount of 2, 4, 5-T sorbed by the 500 m l pyrex

Table 1. Recovering of 2, 4, 5-T (butyl ester) from aqueous suspensions

µg 2, 4 , 5- T (acid) added as bu ty I ester 10 10 10 10 1000 1000 1000 1000 0 0

Recovery % 79 80 79 , 78 84 86 80

~9 2, 4, 5-T (acid) recovered 7.9 8.0 7.9 7.8 840 860 800 800 0.04 0.03

Tab le 2. Recovery of 2, 4 , 5-T (as acid) in ug fo llowing sorption of buty l ester for various per iods by gl ass and LOPE

Weight of LOPE (g ) Time: 6 min.

0 0.300 3.00 30,0

10

2, 4, 5-T added (pg) 100 1000 10,000

8.2 8.1 7.4 6.3

70 73 70 68

670 640 500 460

7870 768 0 7680 6870

Time: 60 min.

0 0.300 3.00 30.0

7.5 6.8 3.9 1.9

77 61 37 54

692 593 284 106

7390 7490 6680 1280

Time : 600 min.

0 0.300 3.00 30.0

8.2 6.0 3.9 2.6

59 48 30 24

670 370 171 226

9100 7440 5000 246

erlenmeyers used and indicate that so rption by this materi al compared with LOPE plastic is quite sma l l and m ost lik ely due to the grou nd glass connectiuns (1). Therefore glass containers appear to be more suitable· for st ream w ater samp ling in 2, 4, 5-T monitoring experiments.

Summary ( 1) T he sorption of 2, 4, 5-T (butyl ester) by low density polyethylene plastic may reach as much as 90% of the ini tial amount of herbicide after one hour contact time.

(2) The sorption of 2, 4, 5-T (bu t yl ester) by pyrex glass appea red to be relatively sma ll and independent of t he contact time.

(3 ) Polyethylene bottles are unsuitable containers fo r monitoring of 2, 4, 5-T residue levels in st ream w ater. Glass containers seem to be quite suitab le although some 2, 4, 5-T may be lost th rough sorption.

References -1. Benevue, A .. Kelly, T .W.. and Hylin, J.W. 1971 . Problems in water ana lysi s for pesticide residues. J. Chromatog. 54: 71 -7 6.

2. Moore, D.G. 1971 . Princip les of Monitoring, 1971 Proceedings short course for pesticide applications U.S.D.A., Corvallis, Oregon.

3. Teasley, J. I. and Cox, W.S. 1963. Determination of pesticides in water by microc ou I ometric gasch romatograph y after liquid-l iqu id extraction. J.A. W.W.A. 55: 1093-1096.

4. Dev ine, J.M. and Zweig, G. 1969. Note on the determination of some chlorophenoxy herbicides and their esters in water . J. A .0 .A.C. 52: 187- 189.

5. Meagher, W.R. 1966. Determination of 2, 4 - dichlorophenoxy - acet ic ac id and 2 (2, 4, 5 - trichlorophenoxy ) propion ic acid in citrus by electron captu re gasch romatography . J. Agr. Food Ch em. 14: 374- 377.

6. M etca lfe, L.D. and Schmitz, A .A. 1961.

The preparation of fatty acid esters for gas chromatographic analysis. Anal.

Chem . 33: 363-364. •

NEW PUBLICATION FEATURES ELECTROLYTIC CONDUCTIVITY INSTRUMENTATION A new publi cation is now avai lable describing t he complete range of Electrolytic Conductivity Instruments and Measuring Cell s which are avai lable fr om Kent Instruments (Aust rali a) Pty Ltd .

Fifteen product ranges are briefly described coveri ng such diverse applicatio ns as water purity, desalination, so ft drink production , industrial washing, oceanography, artifical kidney mach ines and electtroplating.

Seven different types of conductivity cell from the E. 1. L. range are also described.

These cel ls do not req uire rep latinisation or other spec ial periodoic attention and the design ensures that ce ll constant will remain precise and stable even after many years of operation.

BACTERIAL POLLUTION IN LAKE BURLEY GRIFFIN J.S. Burgess and L.J. Olive * ABSTRACT Recreational use of Lake Burley Griffin is sometimes interrupted by violation of bacterial standards. It has bee:, thought that high levels of faecal col iforms in the lake are simply the result of discharge of sewage into the headwaters of the lake by the nearby New South Wales town of Oueanbeyan . Examination of bacterial counts in the lake and in the catchment areas reveal that, while discharges of Oueanbeyan sewage are a major source of faecal col iforms, significant inputs also occur from rural and Canberra urban run-off.

INTRODUCTION

WATER QUALITY STANDARDS

Lake B urley Griffin is an artificial lake designed as the aesthetic and recreational centre of Canberra. During 1974 it was shown, by public health authorities, that the standards set down for the recreationa l use of the lake were being vio lated. This violat ion was attributed to discharges of un treated sewage from the town of Oueanbeyan located across the bordyr in New South Wales.

Al though high bacterial counts in the lake an d catchment areas might appear to be simply the result of discharge of sewage, detailed examination of bacteria l concentrations re veal that this is not the case.

This paper presents information on bacterial cou nts and attempts to assess the ro le of Oueanbeyan sewage discharges in the violation of recreati onal sta nd ards.

Variations occur in the water quality standards laid down for the recreational use of inland waters throughout Australia . In the Australian Capital Terr itory there is no legislation o n water quality standards and the determination of these is handled purely on an administrative basis. The Australian Capital Territory Health Services, Department of Health, has adopted the standards laid down b y the Federal Water Po llut io n Control Administration of the United States Departmen t of the Interior which stipulates that, "faecal coliforms should be used as the indicator organism for evaluating the microbiological suitabi li ty of rec reational waters.

As determined by M u ltiple-tube fermentatio n or membrane filter procedures and based on a minimum uf not less than five samples taken over not more than a 30-day period, the faeca l coliform co ntent of primary contact recreation waters shall not exceed a log mean of 2q0/ 100 ml, nor shall more than 10 per cent of total samples during 30-day period exceed 400/ 100 ml" (pers. com. B.H .S, Dixon, 22 August , 1974) .

LAKE HYDROLOGY Lake Burley Griffin was formed in 1962 when the construct ion of Scrivener Dam resulted in the flooding of the Molongolo River valley upstream to Duntroon . The lake stores 28.3 million cubic metres of w ater and is regulated by water release at Scrivener Dam. The principal catchment of the lake is the Molongolo-Oueanbeyan River system (Figure 1) and the flow regime of this system is indicated by the mean monthly discharge data shown in Table 1. The Molongolo is the largest of the two rivers and drains essentially rural land, whi le the smal ler Oueanbeyan River is of major sign ificance to water qua I ity as it flow s throug h the Oueanbeyan urban area after flowing through rural and unoccupied land . Jerrabomberra Creek is a smaller stream flowing through rural land and some urban land adjacent to the lake. In add i tion to these major inflows there are a number of sma ll streams flowing into the lake whose catchments li e in the Canber ra urban area. These have litt le flow during dry weather but contribute a su bstant ial volume of w ater to the lake during rainfall episodes, particularly during sum mer thunderstorms . All the streams have typical variable flow regimes with long periods of low flow interspe rsed with short periods of high f low. *(Geography Department, troon)

R.M.C.,

Dun-

In New South Wales the Clean Waters Act 1970, la ys down a different standard.

The Act stipulates that, "in the cases of waters likely to be used for bathing or recreational purposes - the faecal coliform density in representative portions of the waters does not exceed 400 per 100 millilitres."

This non-concordance of standards leads to obvious problems especially where the • nat ural w aters cross political bo und ar ies as is the case with t he catchment area of Lake Burley Griffin.

SOURCES OF BACTERIA As water receives its bacterial content from soil, air, dead plants, sewage and anima ls it is likely that large numbers of organisms may be found in water, most of which are harmless. The stand ard s outlined above refer or, ly to faecal coliform bacteria and consequent ly the origin of these bacte ria are of primary importance. By definition, faecal co li forms are restricted t o those coli form s which enter water via faecal discharges of warm-blooded anima ls and man.

However, because of the test used it is recog ni sed that the measurement of 'faecal

17

coliform' does include some organisms (e.g.

Aerobacter cloacae) that may not be of faecal origin and which may increase in numbers in natural waters.

It can therefore be expected that whenever runoff occurs the water will co nta in faecal coliforms. Examination of the content from the various runoff sources have been attempted by Geldreich et. al. ( 1968), Van Donsel et. al. ( 1967), Weibe l et. al.

(1964) , Wadleigh (1968) and others. This work suggests that possible sources of faecal coliform bacteria in Lake Burley Griffin wil l inc lude runoff from rural and urban areas, discharges from sewage works and accidental leakage from mains and utilities.

DATA COLLECTION Data was collected on eight occas ion s during the period July to December 1974.

On four of these occasions rainfa ll fell and three of these occasio ns resulted in sp ill ages of sewage into the Oueanbeyan River.

Sampling was carried out at 10 stations on Lake Burley Griffin and 18 stations in the river systems flowing into the Lake (F igure 1): The catchment stations were located in order to isolate potential sources of bac teria. . ..

Faecal col iforms were determined using the membrane filter techn ique with the use of M-FC Bro th (Geldreich et. al. 1965) . Any problems of sediment interference during high flows were overcome by using dilution

techniques. Arithmetic and log 10 means, standard deviations and ranges were ca lcu lated from the data obtained and these data are shown in Tables 2, 3 and 4.

DISCUSSION Data co llected from the Lake (Tabl e 2) indicates that log means for the eig ht samples were less than 200/100 ml for all stat ions. However the log means for the four rainfall episodes sampled showed faecal coliform counts above the level (for all stations) set down ¡by the A.C.T . Health

Services, Department of Health. Genera ll y faecal coliform counts were low (less than 20/100 ml) when flows were low in the catchments and rose dramatically during high flows. This is evident in the lake means for each sampling occasion (Table 3). High flows occured on 9-7-74, 18-7-74, 1-10-74 and 5-10.74. Discharges of Oueanbeyan sewage occured on 18-7-74, 1-10-74 and 5-10-74 and these dates correspond to the periods of highest faecal coliform counts in the lake. On the one occasion when sampling was carried out during a high flow

TABLE 1 Mean Monthly Discharge Molonglo River (1967-73) (Millions Cub Metres) Molonglo Oaks Estate Molonglo (6.elow lake ) (Above Lake ) January 4.887 6.028 February 16.345 19.624 March 4.028 3.665 April 4.303 4.441 May 5.919 3.352 June 4.628 4.906 July 4.148 5.713 August 10.065 8.085 September 14.007 12.5 14 October 11.074 11.387 November 23.579 25.778 December 7.097 7.578 Source: Australian Capital Territory, Department of Works.

Figure 1

Lak e Burley Griffin and Catchment Sample Stations

urban areas

ÂŽ-Q) 1-18

18

lake sample stations catchment sample stations

TABLE 2 LAKE BURLEY GRIFFIN STATIONS FAECAL COLIFORM -CONCENTRATION (/100 ml) N=8 STATION

ARITHMETIC MEAN

STANDARD DEVIATION

LOG1o'MEAN (GEOMETRIC MEAN)

A B C D E F G H I J

911 855 1,966 582 1,815 523 215 1,123 436 805

1,223 1,248 2,164 934 3,108 853 310 1,836 673 1,164

135 83 178 50 44 33 43 59 55 118

TABLE 3 LAKE BURLEY GRIFFIN FAECAL COLIFORM CONCENTRATION (/100 ml) N=10 LOG10MEAN RANGE STANDARD ARITHMETIC (GEOMETRIC MEAN) DEVIATION MEAN

DATE

9- 7-74 18- 7-74 13- 8-74 1- 10-74 5-10-74 15- 10-74 29- 10- 74 12- 11 -74

643 1,596 56 1,760 2,491 17 7 17

910 1,243 49 1,960 3,537 15 3 13

without sewage discharge, levels were lower but stil l significant ly above acceptable levels.

The catchment data (Table 4) revea ls that for all but one station the arithmetic means exceed th e New South Wales standard of 400/100 ml and for most the log means exceed 200/100 ml, the A .C.T . stan-

10-1,800 96-5,760 0- 180 560-6,200 750-7,200 50 0020 050

758 427 22 1,364 2,884 8 2 4

dard . As with the lake data, faecal co liform counts are low during low f lows and rise dramatica lly with increases in discharges.

Generally, the rural catchments (Molongo lo River, Jerrabomberra Creek, and the Oueanbeyan River above Oueanbeyan) have significantly lower co unts than the section of the Oue<!nbeyan River from Oueanbeyan

Figure 2

urbon area

Faecal Coliform Concentration -:-:,:

Molongolo - Oueanbeyan River 1-9

E g

catchment somple stat ions

12 •:,

§

,:,:,:

-:, ~

10

:-:-:-

~ I=z w

U

~

]ls! ~:t! if£{

:,:

8

.

:>eYOn sewage discharge

u

::; a:

f2

:,: 6

::

8

:,:

.J

Quean beyo t l

<(

sewage works

lrl • .t

Harmon

3

'-...

,:

z

~

::;

2

0

0

10

KILOMETRES ABOVE LAKE

12

16

18

LOG10MEAN (HIGH FLOWS) (GEOMETRIC MEAN) 1,260 1,023 3,548 457 468 316 224 389 426 977

RANGE

0-3,000 0-3,000 0-5,760 0-2,200 0-7,200 0-2 ,000 0- 750 0-4,300 0-1,600 5-2,800

to the lake and the smal l catchments draining the Canberra urban area.

In the Oueanbeyan River, faecal co liform counts rise rapidly as the stream flows through the Oueanbeyan urban area reaching a peak in the vicinity of the sewage discharge, then fall as the river flows towards the lake. This point is illustrated in Figure 2 which shows faecal coliform counts (Arithmet ic Mean - Table 4) along the Molongolo - Oueanbeyan River. This indicates that the d ischarge of raw sewage at Oueanbeyan is a major source of faecal co liform bacter ia in Lake Burley Griffin .

This is to be expected as faecal coliform concentrations for the three sewage discharges sampled ranged from one to two mil lion/100 ml although the vo lume of sewage involved was small; being less than one cumec on each occasion. Because of the smal l volume of sewage effluent involved i~ relation to the dischar!le of the Oueanbeyan River, re lativel y rapid dilution of faecal co liforms occurs downstream as indi cated in Figure 2.

Whi le the discharge of sewage effl uent is a major source of the faecal col iforms in Lake Burley Griffin it is apparent that other sources exist. Mean concentrations in the Oueanbeyan River above Oueanbeyan already exceed the New South Wales and A .C.T. standards as do those for Jerrabomberra Creek, and although the Molongo lo means are be low the standards, the levels during high f lows are wel l above. Thesefigures indicate that there is a significant rura l imput to the system of faeca l co lif or ms which are most probably derived from animal wastes.

Faecal co liform counts in the Oueanbeyan River rise rapidly in the urban section upstream from the point of sewage discharge particularly during high flow s when surface run-off is occurring. Concentrations immediately upstream from the sewage outfall are higher than those which occur further downstream . A similar situation exists in the sma ll urban catchments in Canberra where faecal coliform counts are well abo ve acceptable levels during high flows. Obviously urban storm water run -off is a further source of faecal co l iforms to the Lake Burley Griffin system . This is probably derived from animal wastes and human

19

sewage which finds its way into the storm -water system through surfaces drainage and leakage, and possibly ill ega l connections.

Three sewage treatment plants are located within the catchment of Lake Burley Griffin. These are Oueanbeyan, Harman and Fyshwick t reatment plants whose locations are indicated in Figure 1. The sampling programme revealed no significant inputs of faecal coli forms from any of these plants. On two occasions faeca l coliform counts from the Harman plant were high (up to 38,000/100 ml) but. as the volume was small, the impact on the Molongolo River was insignificant.

Examination of individual episodes further reveals the sources of faecal coliforms. As stated, counts in the Oueanbeyan River and in the lake were at their highest levels on the three occasions when discharge of sewage resulted from periods of rainfall . However, the rainfall episode on 9- 7-74 which was not accompanied by a sewage discharge also resulted in high faecal col iform levels (Tabl e 3) with, Lake means well above both A .C.T. standards and New South Wal es standards. In this instance faecal coliforms must have entered the system from rural and urban run-off . It does appear that faecal co li form concentrations will exceed the standards during all per iods of high flow regardless of whether sewage is discharged. If an associated sewage discharge occurs then this results in further increases and an intensification of the problem.

CONCLUSIONS It is evide nt that the standards laid down by the A .C.T. Hea lth Services. Department of Heal th for the recreational use of the Lake are being violated. This verifies an earlier more comprehensive examination of faecal coli forms in the lake (Burgess et. al.

1974). High concentrations of faecal co liforms result when high f low co nditions occur in the catchme nt streams. It appears that these faecal co li forms are derived from three main sources.

1. Run-off from rural areas.

2. Urban stormwater run-off from both Oueanbeyan and Canberra.

3. Discharge of untreated Oueanbeyan sewage.

These results are supported by examinations from urban areas elsewhere (Weibel et. al. 1964; Bryan 1972).

While discharges of Oueanbeyan sewage are a major source of faecal coliform bacteria the other two cources are themselves sufficient to give counts well above the New South Wales and A.C.T. standards. The solution of Oueanbeyan's sewage problem will mitigate the situation in Lake Burley Griffin, but it will not remove the problem entire! y and consideration needs to be given to additional strateg ies. On the basis of accepted standards therefore it would appear that at times of hiyh flow bacterial levels wil I be in violation of established standards for recreational waters as a result of natural run-off from surrounding urban and r ural areas.

6. Van Donsel, D.J., Geldreich, E.E., and Clarke, N .A. 1967: Seasonal Variation in Survival of Indicator Bacteria in Soil and their Contribution to storm-water Pol1ut ion. Appl.

Microbial.

15(6):

1362-1370 7. Wadleigh, C.H. 1968: Wastes in relation to Agriculture and Forestry. United States Department of Agriculture, Miscellaneous Publication 1065.

8. Weibel, S.R., Anderson, R.J., and Woodward, R . L . 1964 : Urban Land Run -off as a factor in Stream Pollution J. Wat. Pol/ut. Control Fed. 36: 914-924

REFERENCES 1. Bryan: E.H . 1972: Quality of Storwater Drainage from Urban Land. Wat. Resour.

Bull. 8: 578-588.

2. Burgess, J.S. , Olive, L.J., and Woolmington, E.R. 1974: Reality and Reality Perceived - The Pollution Problem in Lake Burley Griffin. International Geographical Union, New Zealand Regional Conference, Palmerston North .

3. Dixon, B.H.S. 1974: Medical Officer of Health, A .C.T. Health Services, Dept. of Health, Letter dated 22 August 1974.

4. Geldreich, E.E., Clark, H.F., Huff, C.B. and Best, L.C. 1965; Faecal-coliformorganism medium for the membrane filter technique. J. Am. Wat. Wks. Ass. 57: 208-14 5. Geldreich, E.E., Best, L.C., Kenner, B.A., and Van Donsel, D.J. 1968 : The Bacteriologica l aspects of stormwater pol lution J. Wat. Pol/ut. Control Fed. 40 (11 ): 1861-1872

a

U.K. VISITOR TO

STUDY AUSTRALIAN WASTEWATER TREATMENT Mr. C. B. Cape, managing director of Templewood Hawksley Activated Sludge Ltd., of the U .K., will visit Australia at the end of November to review progress on major wastewater treatment contracts obtained recently by the British company's Australian associate, Hawker Sidd eley Brush Pty . Limited.

The contracts include the provision of a $1.3 million sludge lifter for the Brisbane City Council and a $1.3 million contract for the treatment and incineration of sludg e at Westfield, near Perth, for the Metropolitan Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Board . The equipment is being supplied by the company's Environmental Division.

Mr. Cape will visit Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and country areas of N ew South Wales to study Australian conditions in relation to wastewater treatment.

TABLE 4 LAKE BURLEY GRIFFIN CATCHMENT STATIONS FAECAL COLIFORM CONCENTRATION (/100 ml) N=18

20

STATION

ARITHMETIC MEAN

STANDARD DEVIATION

LOG10STANDARD LOG10 MEAN (GEOMETRIC MEAN) DEVIATION

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

2,192 3,142 3,333 3,790 6,426 13,736 8,151 1,975 816 826 244 8,332 1,672 3,787 996 4,684 1,669 6,192

2,930 6,400 4,006 6,132 10,423 22,506 18,740 3,074 1,872 1,262 434 12,875 2,142 7,817 1,923 4,745 2,622 8,524

162 741 372 398 457 646 468 282 55 54 35 229 93 214 132 1.410 98 60

1.47 0.70 1.31 1.12 1.20 1.32 1.12 1.06 1.14 1.32 0.99 1.89 1.37 1.19 0.96 0.81 1.42 1.13

RANGE

0- 7,100 65-20,000 0- 8,800 15-18,800 15-28,400 15-60,000 30-57,600 10- 9,600 10-57,600 0- 3,800 0- 1,360 0-38,400 0- 4,500 5-24,000 10- 6,000 155-12,000 30-24,000 0- 6,400

Literary Review~ ..

"A REVIEW OF THE POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES TO HYDROGEOLOGICAL STUDIES IN AUSTRALIA",

BY C.D . ELL YETT AND D.A. PRATT, AUSTRALIAN WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL TECHNICAL PAPER NO. 13.

CANBERRA 1975

Th is report reviews 'the state of art' of the applications of remote sensi ng techniques to hydrogeological studies in Australia. It clearly indicates that the application of remote sensing techniques, apart from traditional photo interpretation methods, is relatively new to Austra lia and virtually no remote sensing methods have been applied to detection of groundwater. The report is thus aimed at reviewing the theory behind potential applications and successful experimental surveys, Such a situation is understandable since investigations on groundwater potential have not been extensively carried out as compared to surface water potential.

Various remote sensing methods operating within the visible and low frequency range of the electromagnetic spectrum have been examined. Only those methods which detec t the direct indicators of groundwater such as electrica l conductivity changes, soil moisture, etc. have been discussed. The methods have been broadly classified into those using visible and near infra-red scanners and thermal infra-red scanners of which only the former has been used in Australia on a trial basis by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria during the 1973 winter floods and also by the South Australian Engineering and Water Supply Department. It is interesting to note that a fund of information regardi ng areas of saturated ground was collected , but one wou ld imagine that surface moisture could also be included in this category, which incidenta lly is only an indirect indicator of groundwater. One other important aspect is the transformation of qualitative data obtained from photography into quantitative digitize form, from which the reliability of the data could be effectively assessed . Unfortunately such facilities are not commercially available in Australia, but are stil I in the experimenta l stages, which implies that it wiM be some time before these techniques are adopted for field investigation.

Thermal infra-red remote se nsing techniques are further advancements towards sensing d irect indicators of groundwater.

The fundamental principles behind these techniques have been discussed in the report. The instrumentation , basic instrumentation principles, data recording, processing and evaluation, requirements for carrying out a survey using these techniques and various factors that could affect the resu lts,

have- been out lined. These methods how -

ever, are in the very basic stages of research in Australia. Side looking airborne radar (SLAR) system which is an alternative to normal photographic methods in cloud covered areas has also been discussed but no mention has been made if any work has been carried out in . Australia using this technique, which is rather surprising, since this cou ld be a useful technique for Australian conditions in winter . Other such methods such as the low frequency electromagnetic methods and aeromagnetic methods have also been dealt with briefly, without any specific mention of its use having been made in Australia.

The general conclusions are that virtual ly none of the techniques have been commer cia lly used in Australia, since research in this fie ld is in its infancy, At this stage it is felt that the visible and near infra-red techniques , in conjunction with therma l infra red techniques, would be feasible and would find widespread use in the detection of soi l moisture and evapotranspirat ion in Australia. The overall recommendations are that further research is to be undertaken to make these techniques commercially adaptable within Australia.

N. KESARI

"WASTEWATER SYSTEMS ENGINEERING"

By HOMER W. PAR KER PRENTICE-HALL, INC., NEW JERSEY Dr. Parker's very first words in his preface are - "This book is a presentation of information useful in the calculation and design of wastewater treatment systems¡ . . . ", followed close ly with " ... in a form that is very easy to use by any designer having a B.S.... " and "while the book was written for the practising engineer, it can readily be used as a graduate level textbook" , The book is written in a very readable manner, at a basic but practical level. It is probably too "basic" for most designers and too "pract ica l" for most academics, which means that it is recommendable to the large body of in-betweens. Particularly will it be of significant purpose to practicing engineers who find themselves at the wrong end of a sewer and in need of a crash course on sewage treatment.

Starting at page 1 the book provides a full and interesting one year course on wastewater systems engineer ing. The book starts with just enough overview of processes, standards, population and planning to bring the subject into focus. It then runs through the topics - pollution parameters, microbio logy and sources and transmission of pollution before starting on the eng ineering aspects. The chapter on microbiology is not an interesting introduction for the engineer nor does it give sufficient enl ightment for the understanding of treatment

processes and design calculations subseq uently presented .

Chapters on sewers, sewage treatment (2), package treatment plants, oxidation ditch process, mechanical aeration, advance waste treatment, sewage lift stations and sewage pump stations will save any "new" engineer about five years learning by experience and provide him with the sort of remembered parameters essentia l for rough checking and initial estimating.

It must be remembered that this book purports to be a systems design not equipment design handbook, it is not by any means a complete des ign manual but having been once read it cou ld be a good companion, and extension to the mental memory bank. References are mainly to journals and texts avai lab le in university libraries or to proprietary equipment data sheets which are not readily ava ilable, especiall y in Australia.

Nevertheless having once read the book and practised on tile "problem" at the end of each chapter the reader would be reasonably well equipped to design a system and specify and purchase the equipment required. Unfortunately one man's book must be limited to one man's experience so that some forms of sewage treatment receive on l y passing mention whil e others are the subj ect of entire chapters , The final chapter. on disinfection and pathogen removal, is very much obta ined from one company's proprietary equipment I iterature and does not give the subject an adequate treatment.

A.H. TRUMAN

CONSULTANTS ASSOCIATE FOR WATER TREATMENT James M. Montgomery, Consulting Engineers, Inc. of California and Australian consu ltants Hosking, Fargher and Oborn Pty. Ltd. are associating to provide services in Water and Wastewater Engineering in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, the A. C. T. and the Northern Territory .

Design for the Anstey Hill Water Treatment Works for the E. and W.S. Department in Adelaide, recently announced bo/ the Minister of Works, the Hon. Des Corcoran, as being worth $16 million, is now nearing completion by these firms.

The Anstey Hill Plant will treat River Murray water delivered by the MannumAdelaide pipeline. It will be one of -eight plants which will ultimately serve metropolitan Adelaide. The Anstey Hill Plant will clarify and filter a maximum 313 megalitres per day. Consu Iting Architects for the pro ject are Hassell and Partners Pty . Ltd . of North Adelaide.

For Montgomery, Brian Stone is VicePresident in charge of the project (and a West Australian) and Susumu Kawamura has been the Project Engineer resident in Adelaide. For HFO , Ralph Wood is Director in charge.

21

NEW HACH BACTERIAL INCUBATOR The new Hach Bacterial I ncubator prov ides highl y accurate temperature control for co liform testing by the multi-tube f ermentat ion technique . The tube-we! I arra ngement permits up to five sets of five culture sa mpl es t o be easily grouped and ident i lied.

Th e incubator ca n be ad justed for total coliform bacterial inc ubation (35 + 0.5°C) or fecal co li form incubation (44.5 0.2°C) or regulated to any temperature -from ambient to 50°C and will maintain that tem peratu re t oo + 0.1 °c if the ambient temperatu re doesnot vary wide ly.

The Hach Coliform T est Kit simplif ies the America n Public Hea l th Assoc iation (APHA ) multiple tube fermentation tec hniqu e for determinations of total and f eca l coli form bacteria. The test uses three t y pes o f fresh ly prepared, ste rili zed culture media test assemblies. A ll are prepared acco rding to APHA's Sta nd ard Methods in rega rd to t-ype and amount of media used as well as siLe of water sample to be taken for each test. Each co liform test assemb ly is fitted with an inner fermentation tube, and as th e bacteria fer ment the c ul t ure media during a test, the resu lting gas is trapped in t he tu be and can observed. T his gas fo rmatio n co nstitutes a "posi ti ve" sampl e reading .

Enqui r ies in Australia by Selbys Scientific Ltd, o ffi ces in all States.

+

SUBSCRIPTIONS AUSTRALIAN WATER & WASTEWATER ASSOCIATI ON JOURNAL

enclose herewith the sume of $ . . . . . . (Australian) as repayment for supply of the following issues of 'WATER' March

June

Sept.

Dec.

197-

Note: All subscriptions conclude with the December issue, renewals are due by the end of February for a full year's subscription. Price, including surface mail to all countries, is $1.00 (Aust.) each issue, made payable to the A.W.W.A. - 'WATER ' .

Name ............................ . ................ . .

Address ............................................ .

........................................... ..... ....

Mail this form to: John Craig, 'Water', Box 100, Caulfield East, 3145, Victoria, Australia.

WITHDRAWABLE pH ELECTRODE SYSTEM E.I.L. Model 2877 Withdrawable Electrode System Enables pH Electrode Replacement at Pressures up to 100 1bf /i n 2 and Temperatures up to 140°c T he E. 1. L . Mode l 2877 Withdrawable Electrode System is designed for use in sealed vesse ls at pressu res of up to 100 1bf/in 2 and temperatures up 140°C. Its unique design all ows the electrod e to be changed and sterili sed w it hou t interrupting the process.

The system, w hic h is complet ely stea m ster il isab le, is screwed direct ly into a suitable boss on t he process vessel or p ipe line.

The electrode can be inserted into the process or w ithdrawn simply by rotating the barrel of the elec trode system. In t he withdrawn posit ion the elect rode is complete ly sea led from the. process and ca n be steam ster il ised using the two stea m ports provided in the body of t he system. Longlife Viton O-r ing sea ls are used t o prevent leakage.

The E.I.L. Model 2877 withdrawabl e elec trod e syste m is co nst ru cted of A ISI 3 16 stainl ess stee l throughou t.

The w ide range of E.1. L. glass and reference elec t r od es wh ic h are ava il abl e fo r the Mod el 2877 sy ste m m ake it suitab le for al l pH applications.

The Mod el 28 77 w ithdrawable electrode system is manufact ured by Electron ic Instruments Limited , U. K., the spec iali st analyt ical instrument co mpany of the George Kent Group.

22

A.W.W.A. MEMBERSHIP Request for App/ica tion Form for Membership of the Association To the Hon. Secretary, Australian Water & Wastewater Assoc., Mr. R.F. Goldfinch, P.O. Box 359, Canberra City, A.C.T., 2601

I, . ... . . .......................... ........ .. . . . .... .

(Name)

Of, .... .... ......................... . .... .. .. .. .... .

(Address) do hereby request an application form for membership in your Association.

...... ... .... .... . . .. ...... . .. ........... .. ... .... .... ... .. ..

Membership is in four categories.

1. Member - qualifications suitable for membership in the Inst . of Engineers, or other suitable professional bodies . ($10 per annum fee) 2. Associate - experience in the W. & W.W. Industry, without formal qualifications. ($10 per annum fee) 3. Student. ($10 per annum fee) 4. Sustaining Member - an organisation involved in the W. & W.W. Industry wishing to sustain the Association. ($10 per annum fee)

([O) INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING LIMITED restore the ENVIRONMENT .. !

CLEAN AND·CLEAR:WATERWAYS

withfflud CCII UNDERWATER WASTE REMOVER

MUD CAT dredges have been specifically designed for the economical removal of pollutant substances from waste settling ponds, weed-infested lakes and streams and for channel clean-out. Their unique features permit the removal of deleterious matter, weeds, silt, sand, sludge and industrial wastes with the minimum of water turbidity, thus allowing the pond, lake, stream or channel

to operate or flow normally during the clean-up operation. Two machines are available, the MC10 which will operate to a depth of 10'6" and the larger MC15 which operates to a depth of 15'0". Both machines are propalled in both the forward and reverse directions by winching along a wtre rope which is furnished in the form of a harnessing kit.

Developed by the National Car Rental System Inc., of U.S.A.

AUSTRALIA WIDE DISTRIBUTORS:

flffl\

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING LIMITED lJ.1111

:1~~E;1:~~~i.TP:0E:;,

~~~;;,~~:~ex

AA30756

Sales and Service through the I.E.L. CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT DIVISION Q'LQ MERCHANDISING

CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT (N.S.W.) DIV. CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT (VIC.) DIV. SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DIV. (TA.ANIA) 585 GRAND JUNCTION RD.

INDUSTRIAL AVENUE WACOL 288 PARAMOUN T RD. AUBURN 'HONE 372 2122 PHONE 648 0301

FAIGH STREET SPRINGVALE PHONE 560 3633

WEST AUSTRALIAN DIV.

CNR. RUSSELL & SPARKS RD. GE PPS CROSS PHONE 262 6612 1STH. COOGEE PHONE 90 1422

... ~,

23

EFFUJEITT problems? liEITT-gets it under ,antral

Kent Instruments (Australia) Pty. Limited

4r

Sydney (02) 525 2811 Melbourne (03) 874 1233 Adelaide (08) 352 1455 Brisbane (072) 78 5761 Perth (092) 65 5377 Kent Instruments ( NZ) Ltd. Auckland ( NZ) 59 7071 Well i ngton (N Z ) 4 3173 Christchurch (NZ) 6 4743

The George Kent Group

Save time, trouble and money with go-anywhere E.I.L. * pH /redox control systems. If effluent is your problem you cou ld need ...

Model 6320 pH /red ox indicator controllerweatherproof, corrosion resistant Model 2867 electrode system-simple, ruggedconnects directly to controller Model 1630 slurry valve-unblockable, reliablefor low cost acid neutralisation The cost of the system? ... Less than $600- and of course, ex-stock ... why consider others!

And we haven't mentioned KENT pollution control know-how and nationwide after-sales service *

a G EORGE KENT Gr~u p Compa ny

PJ6360

PUBLIC SERVICE OF VICTORIA MINISTRY FOR CONSERVATION ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY SECOND DIVISION WATER QUALITY OFFICER, CLASS "SO-1" OR CLASS "E-1", POSITION NO L15/15/0090 SALARY RANGE "SO-1", $8,089-$11,569, "E-1", $8,320-$11,569 (Commencing salary according to qualifications and experience) DUTIES:

To assist in the formulation of environment protection policy for freshwaters, lakes, estuarine and marine waters throughout the State. To carry out appropriate research and surveys to determine the beneficial uses to be protected and to recommend appropriate water quality objectives; other duties as directed.

QUALIFICATIONS: An approved degree or diploma in Science or Engineering or other appropriate equivalent qualification, preferably with Chemistry or Biology as a major. Training or experience in water quality management or research an advantage.

APPLICATIONS in writing, quoting position number L15/15/0090, stating age, qualifications and experience to reach the Secretary, Public Service Board, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne, 3002, by not later than 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 7, 1976.

Printed bY Stockland Press Pty. Ltd. 329- 7300

24

What's the performance ofaHumes pressure pipe after 40years ·01 service?

It's bound to be better. We sel dom have a chance to find how much , because pipes just continue to perform . Nobody digs them up, even to look at them.

In 1964, however, Violet Town Water Works Trust wanted to in crease the operating pressure in a reinforced concrete line by about 40%. Made by Humes in 1926, these pipes were originally tested at a pressure of 540kPa. Exhumed nearly 40 years later, some were tested again. Pressures at failure all exceeded 1350kPa. Proved beyond all doubt, the pipes have since then been working at the increased pressure without fault.

This is no exception. Humes pressure pipes laid before 1920 are still in operation at Traralgon , Kerang and Mitcham , to name some Vic torian examp les. Pr'essures ranging

from 240 to 750kPa - that's from 80 to 250 feet head . Pipes over 50 years old · Reinforced concrete pressure pipes improve with age. Manufactu red at extremely low water/ cement ratios of well under 0.4 by Weight, their Compressive Strength is much higher than that Of typical · · th Structural Co nCr ete - ·tI IS In e 70,000kPa range - which gives them excellent density makes , ...,. them practically imperm~able •,.,• and ensures a very long life with a continuous ly increasi ng performanc e.

If · For further information I I'

on ultra high strength concrete pipes, ask the ..man from HUMES...

•.._ ~ ,,__

HUMES CONCRETE O PLASTICS D STEEL VIC.: 17 Raglan Street, South Melbourne, 3205 .

Phone (03) 60 o221 .

N.S.W.: Park Road, Regent s Park, 2143.

Phone (02) 644 2351. ~L~.~ 1gj2~4~tig~1e. Road, south Brisbane , 4101.

S.A. : 78-82 West Beach Road, Keswick, 5035.

Ph one (08) 297 1011 .

WA . Sa lvado Road, Wembley, 6014 Phone (092) 87 23 11 TAS.: 2 Kirksway Place, Hobart, 7000.

Phon e (002) 23 7431, ' ' .N.T.: Reichardt Road, Winnellte, 5789 . ~hone Darwin 84 3388.

. ,., _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Please send me latest catalogue of Humes Pressure Pipes.

.-,--------

--

HC5 15N

pettigrevv water .A COMPLETE SERWCE

IN

e e e

POLLUTIONCONrROL

SURVEYS AND CONSULTING

e OVER 40 YEARS' EXPERIENCE AND

PILOT STUDIES OF WASTEWATER

e

DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE

e

--·

RELIABILITY INSTALLATION, TESTING AND COMMISSIONING CONTINUOUS AFTER-SALES SERVICE

... .._,·1 .., , . , ••

• ..

't

•

"PECO" INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH DIVISION provides the facility to custom design plant for specific requirements. Packaged Wastewater Treatment Plants enable the purification of either industrial or domestic waste.

PETTIGREW ENGINEERING CO PTY LTD 34 REGINALD STREET, ROCKLEA, OLD., 4106, ~'\USTRALIA TELEPHONE (07) 275-3322 - CABLES "PECOTRADE"

-