Water Journal March 1983 by australianwater

ISSN 0310- 0367

Official Journal of the

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Regfatered by Australia Post - publication no. VBP 1394

Vol. 10, No. 1, March 1983-$2.00

FEDERAL PRESIDENT

F. Bishop , Scott & Furphy, 390 St. Kilda Rd., Albert Park, 3004

FEDERAL SECRETARY F. J. Carter, Box A232 P.O. Sydney South, 2001 .

FEDERAL TREASURER J. H. Greer, C/- M.M.B.W. 625 Lt . Col lins St. , Melbourne, 3000.

BRANCH SECRETARIES Canberra, A.C.T. J.E. Dymke, 4 Story St., Curtin, 2605. Office 062 (81 9385)

New South Wales D. Russe ll, Camp Scott & Furphy, 781 Pacific Highway, Chatswood 2067. (02-412-2688)

Victoria J. Park, S.R.W.S.C. Operator Training Centre, P.O . Box 409, Werribee, 3030. (741-5844)

Queensland D. Pettigrew, C.I.G. Ltd., P.O. Box 40, Rock lea 4106.( 07 275 0111)

Official Journal of th e AUSTRALIAN WATER AND WASTE WATER ASSOCIATION

Vol. 10, No. 1 March 1983

CONTENTS Viewpoint . .. . .. .. . ....... .. . . . . .. . ............ . .... .

Association News, Views and Comment ... . . ....... ... . .

Sewering of Brisbane Some Reminiscences -F. Greenhalgh .. ....... ... . . ... . .. ... . .... . . . . .

Plant and Equipment ... ............... . .. . .... ... . . . .

New Methods for the Determination of Sulphur Anions in Natural and Wastewaters -S. Rama Bhat, J. M. Eckhert and N. A. Gibson ..... . .

lndex-Water-1981 and 1982 ... . ....... . ... . ..... ... .

The Wastewater Industry in Queensland -J. O'Connor ........ ..... .. . . . .. ............. . .

Technical Interests .... . .. ....... .. ....... . ...... . . .. .

Plant and Equipment ... . .. .. .. .. .... .. . ..... .. .... . . .

Calendar . . . .. ... ...... . .... . ..... . ... .. .. . .. . . ... . : .

South Australia A. Glatz, State Water Laboratories, E. & W.S. Private Mail Bag, Sal isbury, 5108. (259-0211)

Western Australia R. Loo, 455 Beach Rd ., Carine, 6020. (09-447-6550)

Tasmania G. Nolan , 21 Browne St., W. Hobart, 7000. (002-28-0234)

Northern Territory M. Wyatt, P.O. Box 37283 Winnellie, N.T. 5789.

COVER

The Luggage Point Wastewater Treatment Plant is the latest and largest activated sludge treatment installation undertaken by the Brisbane City Council. The plant, commissioned late last year is one of Australia 's most recent and incorporates many innovations developed during the Council's extensive treatment programme. With a capacity of 500 000 equivalent population and provision for duplication, treatment consists of screening, primary settling, diffused air sludge aeration, sludge settling and thickening, heated and stirred digestion tanks and 45 000 square metres of sludge drying beds with mechanical distribution, sludge lifting and handling. Duel fuel engines use sludge gas in the generation of plant power. The whole of the plant is computer controlled and automatic in operation. Design and construction were by the Council's Department of Water Supply and Sewerage. Buildings were by contract and the extensive piling of the mud-flat site was by Frankipile. Primary contractors for mechanical and electrical plant and installation included Hawker Siddeley Engineering, Evan Deakin Industries, Maxwell Contracting, Epco and Honeywell PIL. (Cover donated by Brisbane City Council) The statements made or opinions expressed in 'Water' do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Water and Wastewater Association, its Council or committees. WATER March, 1983

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WATER March, 1983

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WATER March, 1983

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POLLUTANTS IN NATURAL WATERS Atmospheric Pollutants In Natural Waters Ed. SJ Eisenreich Univ. of Minneapolis. Topical work looks at occurence, Abn~phNM Pollut,mh transport and anthropogenic organics to natural (primarily fresh) wa ters. Exami nes wet, dry and gaseous deposition, prior to covering 1"'1"..,._ _ _ _.., accumulatory mechanisms at air/water interfaces. ___________. Subsequently discusses

nutrients, toxic metals and anthropogenic organics to freshwater lakes. No. 70639 ... $52.00 Adsorbtlon of lnorganlcs at Solid-Liquid Interfaces. MA Ad derson and AJ Rubin 198 1. Compares the be havior ol inorganic io n adsorbtion at the solid liquid interface. Read ily applicable to lake systems. Soils chemists will benefit from up to date presentation ol nutrient adsorbtion. No. 65878. . $56.00 - -- - - - - - - , Chemistry of Natural Waters Faust & OM Aly. ..,..__ _ _ _ ___, SD New(1981)work examines the natural chemical factors affecting CHEMISTRY or water quality. Provides NATURAL WATCRS essential chemical bases Provides essential chemical bases that control dissolved cons tituents in natural waters, An invaluable text in assessing water problems I No. 63264 ....... $52.00 Water Chlorination: Environmental Impact and Health Effects RL Jolley, WA Brungs , RB Cumming. Vol 3 (Just publis hed). This important new book presents the cu rrent slate of knowledge, with emphasis on chlorina ted organic compounds and associated biomedical and environmental effects. Problem areas , research needs and alternatives to chlorination are discussed. No. 37613 ... $4 7.50

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INDUSTRIAL WASTE Purdue 35th Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings JM Bell(Ed.) Purdue Univ. (1981) The most complete coverage of solutions to industrial waste problems in any single volume. The Proceed ings give you case histories with operating data on every facet of lhe subject. Invaluable for anyone involved in waste treatment. The most comprehensive and advanced

WATER March, 1983

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source of practical research in this rapidly changing field . Includes a 1O year comprehensive index (both subject and autho~ of current and previous volumes. No. 70611 ... $95.00

New Concepts and Practices In Activated Sludge Process Control. RA Arthur 1982 . New control strategies including a new concept of food to microorganism ratio and a new method to control return sludge. Includes anticipatory control of aeration . No.103514. . . . $40.00

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Decomposition of Toxic and Non-Toxic Organic Compounds In Solis MR Overcash and D Pal North Carolina State Univ. 1981 . Innovative new book offers latest informat ion on toxic, hazardous and non-toxic organic compounds. Information vital for land treatment of industrial wasles. No. 73315 .............................. $94 .00 Water Reuse . E Joe Middlebrooks (Ed) . Full analysis of engineering , legal , social , adminislrative, monitoring and marketing consideralions. Has design data, case histories, health and monitoring information, social implicalions and legalities . No.73510 ....... $54.00

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Dictionary ol Waste and Water Treatment JS Scolt & PG Smith 1981. The most comprehensive dictionary on lhe subject yel available. Over 6000 terms defi ned , with both US and UK terms and process design data where relevant. An essential reference for engineers and students working in all aspects of environment control. No. 24958 ......... $56.00

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EDITORIAL

Chairman, E. A. Swinton B. P. Maguire F. R. Bishop W. Rees Dr. Wayne Drew B. Robbins J. H. Greer R. McGrath J.E. Dymke D. Hammerton G. Nolan R. Vass G. Jackson D. Simpson Dr Barb. Bowles Editor: Publisher: G. R. Goffin A.W.W.A. BRANCH CORRESPONDENTS CANBERRA A.C.T.

J.E. Dymke 4 Story St., Curtin 2605 Office 062-54-1222 NEW SOUTH WALES W. H. Rees Inv. Eng., Advance Planning M.W.S.&D.Bd. P.O. Box A53 Sydney South 4001 02'-269-6595 VICTORIA

R. Vass, M.M.B.W.,

P.O. Box 4342, Melbourne 3001. 03-615-4362 QUEENSLAND D. A. Simpson Munro, Johnson & Ass. PIL P.O. Box 57 Spring Hill 4000 07-221-6616 SOUTH AUSTRALIA B. P. Maguire I. & T. P. Branch E. & W. S. Dept. Victoria Sq. Adelaide 5000. 08-227-3966 WESTERN AUSTRALIA B. Robbins, Camp Scott & Furphy 47 Ord St., W. Perth 6005 09-321-4582 TASMANIA

G. Nolan, 21 Browne St., W. Hobart. 002-28-0234 NORTHERN TERRITORY G. Jackson, P.O. Box 37283 Winnellie 5789, 089-84-3666. EDITORIAL & SUBSCRIPTION CORRESPONDENCE G. R. Goffin, 7 Mossman Dr., Eaglemont 3084, 03-459-4346 ADVERTISING Miss Ann Sykes, Appita, 191 Royal Pde., Parkville 3052. 03-347-2377

VIEWPOINT THEJOURNAL INTEREST-IDEAS-INFORMATION -INSPIRATION? 'To provide a forum in Australia for interchange of multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills in the fie ld of water and wastewater ... 'Thi s is the Association's first objective. This Journal is one of the means by which it is achieved. After nearly 10 years of publication, with a change in Chairmanship, this seems an appropriate time to review the policies of the Editorial Committee, and we invite comments from you ... our readers. But fir st, let me summarise very briefly how the Journal is produced at present. The Editorial Committee is appointed by the Federal Executive, but is nominated by the Branches. Each Branch has its Correspondent, and the Branch in the city of publication nominates up to eight members, who meet monthly. Up to now, this city has been Melbourne, but this could change, particularly if our Editor, Mr . George Goffin, resident in Melbourne, decides to retire some time in the future. Water is financed by a combination of advertising revenue, Association funds and donation. • Advertising pays for the printing; in round terms, four pages of advertising in the body of the Journal pays for six pages of editorial matter. • The more advertising sold, the more pages available for technical papers and Association interests - so - support advertising in Water. • Administration, distribution and half the Editor's remuneration come from your annual subscription - about $7 .00 per member . • The Australian National Committee of IA WPRC donates the other hal f of the Editor's remuneration . The present approach to the content of water is to achieve in the vicinity of 50 per cent technical papers, 25 per cent Association news and 25 per cent industry and trade information, book reviews, technical interest items, calendar and such. In the matter of technical papers, we do not consider ourselves a primary scientific journal. We publish short papers on Australian research, development and applications, some papers which record present or past practice, some state-of-art reviews. We stres~ the multidisciplinary approach. In our field of applied science and technology , eiich discipline has much to learn from the others, even if it is only to appreciate the problems they have to tackle. With the quality of papers we try to maintain a reputation as a learned society journal. Each paper su bmitted is refered by two persons in the appropriate disciplines, l:\Oth for relevance and quality. Sometimes a paper is accepted after rewriting by the author to meet the criteria of the Journal. The balance of material between the Branches is a problem: we try, but this depends upon you more than on us. Association news a nd views ·provides contact with Federal matters but predominantly comprises newsletters from each branch , the objective - to help members feel Australian rather than parochial. We publish a 'Viewpoint', usually commissioned from a prominent person in the Association's field and letters to the Editor. This forum is availab le to any member with a significant message. All this is a very brief summary ... the proof comes to you four times a year. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know, either by a Letter to the Editor, or as a private communication direct or through your own Branch Committee Member . . . your Correspondent. Remember we want to interpret your wishes - unless you inform us we can remain in the dark . E. A. SWINTON Chairman of the Editorial Committee

WATER March, 1983

ASSOC/A TION NEWS VIEWS AND COMMENTS PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE Works Programmes

Before the Federal election and in a press release on January 24th, the then Prime Minister, Mr Fraser made the welcome announcement that a $640 million National Water Conservation Programme was to be launched in conjunction with the States. The initiative was commended by the Association as offering a contribution to unemployment relief as well as providing much needed public facilities. With the advent of the new Government under Mr Robert Hawk, changes to the programme have already been fo recast, not it is understood, with curtailment in view but with possibly more emphasis on urban requirements. Hopefu lly the Government's drive to increase employment may lead to amplification. I belive that consideration must be given to replacement of the ageing infrastructure of the Water and Sewerage Authorities in Australia. Some $200 million is the estimated 1982 replacement cost of services which are over 50 years of age, consequently the problem of ageing asset replacement has to be faced and progressively acted upon . The Biennial Convention

Preparations are proceeding apace for the 10th Federal Convention in Sydney (l lth15th April, 1983) under the Chairmanship of Tim Smyth and his Committee. The Convention will be opened by His Excellency the Governor of New South Wales. Overseas Keynote Speakers Maarten Schalekamp , President IWSA, Dr. Ron Packham, Director of the WRC, and John Stacha, President of the Am. WWA, will set the scene for the wide array of technical papers to be presented along with support from WPCF and other overseas delegates . I ask all members to support this Convention by attending and contributing to the proceedings. Only so much can be done by the Organizing Committee, the rest is up to the rank and file members . Annual Report

The 21st Annual Report is currently at the printer and should be completed by the time this issue goes to press. The document will facilitate promotion of the Association with Industry and Government bodies. Council Meeting

The Federal Council Executive met in Sydney on 28th February, 1983 to act on Association business that has developed since the November Federal Council Meeting. FRANK BISHOP Federal President 8 WATER March, 1983

OUR 10TH FEDERAL CONVENTION

CONVENTIONS-THE PERSONAL TOUCH

FROM THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

N .S. W. Branch of the Association is saddling

Tim Smyth, Chairman of the Organizing Co mmittee forwards these few last minute comments on the eve of the Co nvention. By th is time, some 8000 members and others wi ll have received their programmes and registration forms and, hopefully, registrations will have been mailed long since. If not , last minut e ap plicati ons will be helpfu lly received. Mai ling was delayed by some six weeks to ensure that the listing of papers, speakers and the seq uence of events wou ld be as accurate as possible . We believe the wait was wort hwhile. Two co rrection s are advised : • President Charles Jones of the W.P.C.F. cannot be with us because of other commitments. However, Bob Can ham, Executive Director of the W.P.C.F. will present his paper and will officially open the extensive Manufacturers' Exhibition. • Technical Inspection No 4 (not No 6 as indi cated on some insertions) will also include a vis it to the Metropoli tan Waste Disposal Authority's Pilot Plant at Castlereagh . We are currently anticipating registrations of some 400 and are confident that technically and sociall y our Sydney Convention will be memorable. Press coverage will be considerable and we are planning a newspaper supplement in The Australian on Apri l I Ith. Looking forward to seeing you there.

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DARWIN CONFERENCE FREE TRAVEL! BONUS FOR DELEGATE TO 10TH CONVENTION Contribution s from State Branches enable the 10th Convention Committee to offer a bonus to some lucky interstate delegate to the Sydney Conven tion on Apri l 11th . During the Co nve ntion Dinner a 'draw' will be held from the registration numbers of interstate delegates . For the lucky winner, air fare and registration cost will be met for the Darwin Internat ional Specialists Confere nce, September 4-9th this year . Note the emphasis on 'interstate' delegates . With regret but fo r obvious reasons, our overseas visitors are not eligible and N .S. W. members are also excluded - perhaps their opportunity will arise with our I Ith Convention.

As this issue of Wa ter goes to press, the up for the final run down the straight to the Convention, opening on April I I th. All augurs well for a most successful meeting. Technically some 66 papers of high quality will be offered in two 'streams', one on clean water and the other on wastewater. The programme offers an array of distinguished overseas and local speakers and delegates from far places - evidence of the increasing impact of the A WW A in the water and wastewater field and of the widespread appreciation of its activities. Sydney, the venue, is a most attractive city, the harbour setting is a delight to the visitor and a source of pride to the residents. The environs, north and south are truly lovely and an ever present temptation to let some of these technical sessions go by - unattended . As with any conference of this nature, the value of the technical ·presentations, outstanding as it is, is equalled and can be surpassed by the value of the direct personal contacts made or renewed at such gatherings. This is not just a cliche, it is real and relevant. Research has shown that with the sciences and technologies, th~ truly important transfers of knowledge, of experience and of ideas occur through personal contacts . This is where the value lies - so - take advantage of it. A convention' of this nature, with its international components and the gathering of visitors from all over Australia requires a tremendous work input from a large number of people . The loading is heavy on Members and the wives of Members sharing the considerable effort and the multitudinous details directed to a successful meeting - always with the goal of achieving even more success than preceding conventions. The demands are great and while they are usually sensed by the participants, they are only really appreciated by those who have been through the same travail on previous occasions. To the many concerned, grateful appreciation - we dips our lid! The final records of this convention will be, as with earlier conventions, in the reports, in the balance sheet, and in those massive collections of papers on bookshevles and in cupboards . Just as valuable, just as enduring and perhaps more often called to mind will be the memories of old friends seen again, new friend ships formed and of the little things, the oddities, which so often, in recollection outlast the major events. AWWA Sydney ' 83, will join a distinguished assembly.

Editor

ASSOC/A TION

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NEWS

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VIEWS

SCOTT AND FURPHY JUBILEE

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COMMENt

NORTHERN TERRITORY BRANCH ACTIVITIES At a well attended meeting on 29th January Graeme Porte from the Department of Transport and Work s gave a talk entitled 'Pollution of the N.T. U nderground Water Supplies'. This was of particular interest to Members as the water supply for such of the Darwin Rura l A rea is from ground water. This area. is rapidly being settled by Cuban refu gees who prefer 2 ha of land and 30 km of travel to work to I ha and 12 km of travel. A number of these individua l bore supplies were recently investigated a nd pollution was found to be present in a significant number. As a result of the study tighter controls over the relative location of septi c tank s a nd bores are being implemented . STATE NEWS

Left to right: F. R. Bishop, Managing Director, Scott & Furphy Group; J. F. S. Rogerson, Deputy Chairman , S.R.W. S.C.; H. G. Furphy, Joint Fou nder, Scott Furph y. In 1933 in the depth s of the Great Depression , H. G. Furphy, former ly Director of Pub li c H ea lth Engin eerin g, Commonwea lth Depa rtment of H ea lth a nd Rona ld M . Scott , form erly Cit y Engineer of Melbourne a nd of Adelaide embarked upon a con sulting partnership . From thi s small beginning , the con sulting practi ce o f Ron a ld Scott a nd H arry Furph y has expa nded until today , the fir m with a staff exceed ing 250 profess ionals and subpro fess iona ls, opera tes in a ll Australian sta tes a nd in four overseas offi ces in SouthEast Asia and the Pa cifi c . Scott and Furph y celebrated its 50th Anni versa ry with a d inn er at the Melbourne Hil to n o n 23rd February , a ce leb rat io n sha red with clients, representat ives from learn ed institution s a nd profess ional ass ocia tes, Ian Lowth e r , Bran c h Pr es id e nt

NATIONAL WATER RESEARCH COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP Mr K. D. Green • , Chairman. Form erly C om mi ss ioner of the S. R. W .S. Comm iss io n, Vic. a nd Secretary, Dept. of th e Premi er , Vi c . Mr K. W. Lewis, Director General and En gin eer-in-C hief, E .&W .S. Dept. of S . Aust. Dr N. K. Boardman, full-time member CS IRO Executi ve a nd Chairman CS IRO' s Water Researc h Co mmi ttee . The H on . J. G. Bea le, C ha irm a n of the Water Research Fo und ation of Au stral ia.

represent ed the Associa ti o n and was acco mpanied by Mrs Lowther . Fra nk Bishop, Ma nagin g Director o f S&F we lcomed th e guests and Si r Berna rd Ca llin a n , C on sultant , proposed the toast to the firm and prese nted a n engraved silver sal ver to Ha rry Furph y, the joint found er. H a rry Furph y retired in 197 1 and is still on e of the best remembered consultant s of the Austra li a n scene - a tr ibute to the impact of hi s presona li ty and the esteem and affection he gathered during hi s long career. Since its inception, wa ter resources and sanit a ry engineerin g has compri sed the major interest of the firm , expanded and au gmented durin g the last two decad es by the deve lopment of services in co mplementa ry field s by associat ion and incorporat ion wit h overseas and loca l orga ni sations .

Mr J. S. H a ncock*, Principa l of Australian Groundwater Co nsultants & Pres . Nat ional Well Water Association. Mr A. Manderson , First Ass t. Secretary, Dept. Na tional Development and Energy, Ca nberra. Mr .J . McG. Mc Intyre •, Prin cipa l of Mc In tyre a nd Assoc ia tes P / L, Townsvill e. P res. I. E. Au st. Prof. J. lmberger, Professor of C ivil En gineering , Universit y of W . Au st. Prof. W. D. William s, Prof. of Zoo logy, Uni versit y of Adela ide . Mr R. P. Ster lin g , Pre sid e n t Ro ya l Agr icultura l So ciet y of Q uee nsla nd .

• Member of A . W. W.A .

Preparation for the September International Specialists Conference is well underway with Registrations a lready exceeding 120 people. Over half the technical papers have been received a nd the key speakers have. been arranged . The 'wet' or rather the absence of the 'wet' is becoming a topic of increased speculatio n . The Top End has received its lowest rainfall to date for severa l decades. The next two mont hs will be of particular interest and the possibility of shortages in some supplies will need examinatio n .

WESTERN AUSTRALIA BRANCH ACTIVITIES Just prior to Christmas, member Tony Midd leton returned fro m a visit to Libya where - together witrt Ashley Prout of the WA Department of Agricultu re, he studied the Water Harvesting and Storage practises adopted by far mers for livestock use. Tony a nd Ashley were seconded to the study through the WA Overseas Projects Authority, which ha d contracted the work through the United Nations Food a nd Agriculture Organisation - wh ich has a team in Libya providing advice to t he Libyan Government on arid rain lands management. The difficulties experienced by Libyan farmers are in ma ny respects similar to those which must be faced in Western Australia n pastoral areas . Tony has had broad experience in these areas during his period as Pub lic Works Department District Engineer for Northam, where he was involved in the design and constructi on of bitumen catchments, artificially lined dam s and various roofi ng methods for evaporation . Tony adv ised t hat Libya is dry in more t han one respect and that the only way to obtain liquid refreshment not norm a ll y available to livestock was to befriend other expatriates' who possessed home brew equipment. On a very hot 24th November 1982, 64 WATER March, 1983

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ASSOCIATION members and wives joined in a very pleasant WA Branch dinner/ dance at the Waterfront. The social committee located a middle aged disc jockey who played music most of us could dance to - without the need for a close-by cardiac unit. We will probably engage him next year if he is still playing his own records rather than those of his teenagers. At the Branch Committee meeting on the 21st January the resignation of Ron Edwards from the WA Branch and the Committee was accepted with regret. Ron was Chairman of the Planning Committee and with his fellow members of that Committee, was responsible for some very successful technical papers and social events. Ron's position on the Planning Committee will be ably fi lled by Committee member John Holbrook who - as the on ly volunteer, was gratefully seconded to the Planning Committee by the rest of the Committee. Coming Events

Our planning committee is busy setting up a full list of activities for the year. Apart from papers and site visits already advised in December Water, July will probab ly yield a mini seminar starting at around 4 p.m. and finishing about 8 p.m. with dinner and refreshments. It is hoped that a wide range of topics will be discussed, each over a duration of 20 minutes or so. Members will be advised of final details in our next issue. STATE NEWS

The Public Works Department of Western Australia recently commissioned Consulting Engineers Camp Scott Furphy Pty. Ltd. to investigate ampli fication of the sewerage for the Mandurah region (some 70 km south of Perth) and to prepare a concept plan for the staging and development of treatment and disposal facilities up to the turn of the century. The study area of some 120 km2 currently has a peak holiday season population around 25,000-30,000 which is expected to increase to some 100,000 by the turn of the century. The town of Mandurah and other holiday settlements in the area have experienced rapid development and growth in recent years (18.5 per cent per annum in one case). A major attraction of the area - in addition to its close proximity to Perth and access to the Indian Ocean, is the inland waters of the Peel Inlet and the Harvey Estuary which provide extensive calm waters for boating, fishing, crabbing etc. and which are the focal point of the area's visual serenity and recreation. During the last 10 years, a build up of phosphates and nitrates mainly of agricultural origin, has resulted in eutrophication of the Inlet and Estuary which (in addition to the unpleasant odour of rotting algae collected in various sections of these waterways) has severely reduced the water based recreation activities for which the Mandurah area is well known. 10 WATER March, 1983

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NEWS

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VIEWS

A reduction in the input of nutrients to the inlet and estuary will certainly improve the situation. Consequently, the servicing of existing developments which drain towards the estuary must be phased out by septic tanks. The Public Works Department - faced with the rapid increase of development in the widely separated settlements within the area, has directed the consu ltants to produce a sewerage concept plan which will all ow: • logical future development of the system incorporating several treatment sites; • interim provision of services with flexibility to cope with property development in widely separated areas; and • the staged development of treatment and disposal processes which will avoid increasing po llution of Peel Inlet and Harvey Estuary as the area's development and population progresses toward the turn of the century. The Study, which was commenced in August 1982, is due to be completed during March, 1983 .

QUEENSLAND BRANCH ACTIVITIES

The first Committee meeting for 1983 was held just prior to the first General meeting on 2nd February. The President hopes that the near perfect attendance at the Committee meeting is a sign of things to come for the remainder of the year. The Committee meeting achieved some worthwhile decisions including the go-ahead for at least 12 months of the new style of Queensland Newsletter now called Water Talk which will be edited by Ken Hartley . The new style of Newsletter will cost approximately the same to produce as the previous one and it should be noted that this takes the major part of the Queensland share of the membership subscriptions. The first issue was produced at the end of February 1983. As a service to members, binders to hold several years' issues of the Journal and Newsletter will be produced and will be issued to Queensland members. The purchase of an audio system including recording facilities for the use of speakers at meetings was also authorised . The survey of Members preferences on the format of General meetings, which closed on 30th November 1982, resulted in an even vote for and against a change. Consequently it was decided to try alternative styles of meeting and two consecutive meetings fo llowing the IE Aust. style of meeing will be held as a trial. The remainder of the meetings will be along existing lines with the venue remaining as the Majestic Hotel. A sub-committee on Education and Training was formed with the President John Ryan as convenor and including Don Mackay, Jack O'Connor, Brian Rigden and Norm Whyte. The first task of the sub-committee will be to prepare its Terms of Reference but the general purpose of the sub-committee will be

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COMMENT

to review and offer advice on various courses proposed by ed ucational institutions as they affect members. At the General meeting, Mr. John Sinclair spoke on 'Water from the Conservationist's Viewpoint'. Mr. Sinclair, a well known Fraser Island protagonist is also Vice President of the Australian Conservation Foundation , President of the Wildlife Society of Queensland, President of the Australian Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and a member of the Consultative Committee for National Conservation Strategy. After defining the term 'Conservationist', Mr . Sinclair proceeded to show how a ll issues including their inter-relationships must be considered in each particular case. Several examples were quoted to illustrate the point. The draft National Conservation Strategy was mentioned. and it was pointed out that the 200 000 membership of conservation organisations is greater than the membership of all political parties in Australia. Members present obtained a good insight into conservation effects on water and sewerage projects including the opinion that river diversion schemes will exacerbate salinity problems. By the time this issue of the Journal goes to press, Dr. Walter Kn iesel of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) wi ll have given his talk on 'Mathematical Modelling of NonPoint Source Pollution' at the meeting on 23rd February, 1983 . The next issue of Water will carry a report. Dr . Kniesel ts a research hydraulic engineer with the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA and since 1977 has served as Coordinator of a national project to develop mathematical models for evaluation of nonpoint source poijution from field size areas.

TASMANIA BRANCH ACTIVITIES

The Branch is now producing a Newsletter which had its first issue in December. The Secretary hopes the letter will circu late on a semi-regular basis and seeks contributions from Members. Initial activity for the year was a visit to the Turriff Lodge Treatment Plant on February 15th as we are preparing for the press - a report will appear in our next issue. Coming Events

March 15th - Talk by Reg. Goldfinch on 'Indonesian Water and Sewerage Schemes'. The venue is Hobart. May 14-15 - Weekend Seminar, Hadspen . 'Alternative Small-scale Wastewater Treatment Methods'. Late August (Hobart). Ann ual General Meeting, address by Federal President Frank Bishop. Date to be advised (Hobart). Address by J. Bowen. Topic to be advised. Mid-Nov. (Hobart). Christmas function.

ASSOC/A TION

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COMMENT

NEW SOUTH WALES BRANCH ACTIVITIES

T:1e year's activities started on Sunday, 6th February when about 25 intrepid souls accepted the kind invi tation of the Sydney Water Board to exp lore the Tank Stream, Sydney's first water supply. This small rivulet originally flowed from somewhere near Park Street to the wes tern side of Sydney Cove (Circular Quay) running genera lly about halfway between George and Pitt Streets . It was fed by seepage springs at the head of the valley a nd was Sydney's main source of water until a bout I 826. Since that time the Tank Stream has been used as a separate stormwater channel, as a combined system sewer a nd today is being gradua lly transformed into a completely separate stormwater channel. It is completely overlaid by the central business district of the city and is only occasionally exposed to daylight when a new building project involves reconstruction of the stream 's conduit. The accompany in g photographs show this fascinating reminder of Sydney's colonial days. After negotiating the narrow entrance manhole in Angel Place, the party made its way slowly downstream examining the various types of channel that had been constructed over the years including brick oviform sections a nd stone arch sections. An hour later, with some rather sore muscles in unexpected places, the party regained sunlight at Crane Place where it was possible to carry out a partial cleanup with facilities thoughtfully provided by the Board's staff, to the amusement of Sunday morning passersby .

Coloni al Syd ney revisited -

Another aspect of Sydney's one time water supply.

the Tank stream.

Our thanks are extended to ,the Board and to Bill Goodman, Peter Hope and Bob Kingsmill for making our visit to Syd ney's past so rewarding. Paul Dougas of Sipclair Knight and Partners and Errol Samuel of the Metropolitan Waste Disposal Authority gave a joint presentation to the Branch on February 16th on 'Hazardous Waste Disposal'. Both have recently been overseas to study the subj ect and attended an international co nferen ce in Denmark on this topic. With a film from the Authority as a preliminary and slide illustra tion s the speakers discussed waste management in Europe and in the U .S.A. In Europe the emphas is is on incineration , in the U.K. and U.S.A ., la nd disposa l predominates. Disposal costs for liquid wastes is of the order of 10 cents/ litre in Europe as compared with 5.5 cents in Syd ney and 3 cen ts in Melbourne. In the U.S.A. stringent measures control lan d fill operations including thorough geological investigation to ensure no contamination of adj acent groundwaters. All wastes must be in a non-flow ing state for acceptance. Errol Samuel concentrated on incineration techniques in Europe where rotary kilns are favoured. H e co ncluded his remarks with comment on future disposal plans for Sydney and descrip ton of the one eighth size pi lot plant a t Castl ereag h. WATER March, 1983 11

ASSOC/A TION

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The audience of some 50 members provided a lively question session to conclude the evening. New Members

The Branch welcomes new Sustaining Members Acromet (Aust.) P/ L and the N .S. W. Electricity Commission with new Members Messrs . J. Anderson, C. Barrington, C. Davies, P. Englebert, G. Fisher, A. Flinders, D. Ford, A. Gawith, S. Jones, K. Langford, I. Law, D. Lindsay, J. L. O'Brien, G . Pyke, M. Quinn, A. Tattersall, D. Ward. Coming Events

II-15th April - 10 Federal Convention. 11th May - A lecture by Bob Dixon, Foundation Engineer for the Sydney Water Board, on 'Modern Foundation Techniques in Water Engineering'.

17th June -

Half Yearly Social Function.

NEWCASTLE GROUP

Bob McCotter from James B. Croft and Associates has taken over the role of Treasurer with the departure of Ian Finney to Sydney. The Newcastle Sub-Branch would like to wish Ian all the best with his new position and thank him for his work during the year. On February 7th, the Sub-Branch held its 61st general meeting in the form of an excursion to the Hunter District Water Board's newest sewerage plant Belmont Wastewater Treatment Works. Twenty-six members and friends inspected the works, a high rate activated sludge plant with provision for return activated sludge to enable operation as a standard rate activated sludge plant. Treated effluent is discharged to the ocean whilst waste sludge is discharged to sludge lagoons adjacent to the works . After the inspection, light refreshments were provided by the Board. Coming Events

14th March - 62nd General Meeting Jim Buchanan from the HunteI District Water Board will speak on 'Restructure and Management of the Water Industry in Britain'.

23rd May - 63rd General Meeting - Paul Dougas from Sinclair Knight and Partners will speak on 'Liquid Waste Treatment'. STATE NEWS

As a result of changes announced in the State Cab inet, the new Minister for Water Resources and Forests is Mr. Paul Whelan. In this portfolio, Mr. Whelan is reponsible for the Sydney and Hunter District Water Board and the Water Resources Commission. The previous Minister for Energy and Water Resources, Mr. Paul Landa, is now AttorneyGeneral and Minister of Justice and Consumer Affairs. 12 WATER March , 1983

NEWS

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VIEWS

VICTORIA BRANCH ACTIVITIES

At a well attended meeting in November, Dr. Graham Davies spoke on 'What Price Water?' An economist specialising in water and sewerage matters, Dr. Davies stressed four aspects of accountability and pricing policy - Issues and Trends, Key questions of Finance for Management, Is User Pays the Answer? and Accountability and Managment Control. Carefully summarised statistics, examples and selected viewpoints from the water industry presented challenging questions to the audience, the resulting discussion produced further questions , few answers and much food for thought. 'Issues and Trends' produced the information that Austra lian Water Authority revenue spent on loans is decreasing at the expense of administrative costs, which may reverse shortly, also the variation in output/ capita served between Authorities and finally that costs of providing water are rising faster than income. In discussing finance and management, Dr. Davies raised the questions of acceptable external debt, depreciation, the adequacy of financial strategies to meet exenditure requirements, the desirabilty of self financing playing a greater role and the comparison of trends in unit costs with inflation, industry norms and income per service. Arguments for and against 'User Pays' were presented with stress on the following aspects: • Pricing policy should be commercially oriented and have specific financial objectives. • Depending on degree of fixed costs, marginal costs may be more efficient. • Economic pricing (rating) will not necessarily meet financial goals. • 'User Pays' should in most cases be part of the tariff structure. • Economic pricing tempered by political judgement should be part of investment planning ie. the average incremental cost of water supply proposal should be known. Dr. Davies advocated three steps in developinp consistent data for comparison of performance: • Identify needs, specify objectives, assess resources, monitor use of resources, adjust pricing policies. • Integrate financial and technical management planning and control. • Develop an executive information system to monitor performance of technical and financial aspects . The paper left the impression of room for further analysis of pros and cons of financing and pricing policies. The Public Bodies Revue Committee in Victoria is at present examining the requirements for the monitoring of technical and financial performance of Victorian Water and Sewerage Authorities and the Branch has formed a sub-committee to make submissions.

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COMMENT

The Branch would appreciate commment from other Branches or Members on this matter. Coming Events

As we go to press the Branch will be visiting the Sunbury WWTP and a report will be given in the next issue. A further event pending is a joint meeting with the I.E. Aust. on March 10th to be addressed by Dr Walter Knisel of U.S.A. on Planning and Management for Non Point Sources of Water Pollution.

Under this heading we list suggestions made for future activities which may also be of interest to other Branches: • Instead of a 'speaker' meeting, run an informal open seminar on selected topics use short position papers to prime general discussion. • Arrange a one day seminar for practising engineers on monitoring treatment plant performance . • From time to time, good ideas for Branch activity are generated but are not used and so, lost. Why not spread them around through these columns? Branch Correspondnets - your attention! Along these lines, Vic. Branch is looking into Association ties (the wearable variety- good publicity and it helps weld the Association. STATE NEWS

In common with much of the rest of Australia , Victoria is in the grip of drought with dire consequences to the man on the land and the urban dweller. Water supplies in many places are at dangerously low levels and in some cases,, comp lete ly dep leted. Melbourne is suffering under increasingly more stringent water restrictions, and experienced a complete 'black out' dust storm early in February and the state suffered disasterous and tragic bush fires. Figures given by the SR & WSC to the end of January show that streamflows are in many cases, close to or below previously recorded minimum levels . Almost all urban communities throughout the state now have some form of water restrictions. A few critical with consumers lim ited to essential use only . The announcement by the Federal Government on 25th January of the $640 million water resources programme will inject much needed funds into the water industry. For Victoria three projects will receive assistance: • Lake Merrimu Stage 3 development which wi ll increase storage from 15 000 to 74 000 ML for outer metropolitan use and agriculture. • Wimmera-Mallee Scheme Stage I which will put existing open channels into pipeline and save about 90 000 ML in evaporation and seepage losses . • Mitchell R. Dam: a controversial 15 000 ML storage in Gippsland to supply primarily irrigation water.

l I

ASSOC/A TION SOUTH AUSTRALIA BRANCH ACTIVITIES

The first of the year's activities, an address on 'Quarantine Controls at International Sea and Airports' was given on February I Ith by Mr. Ronald Jay, a quarantine inspector with the Commonwealth Department of Health in Adelaide. Much interest has been shown in this subject since the introduction of direct international flight s to Adelaide towards the end of 1982, and the meeting was reasonably well attended. Mr. Jay introduced his topic with a general explanation of the Australian Quarantine Service, before covering specific aspects of quarantine and control in more detail. These included : • The structure of quarantine in Australia. • Quarantine control of 11 seaports and two airports in South Australi a. • T he extent of quarantine inspection and the control of all foodstuffs and wastes. • The International Sanitary Regulations pertaining to the requirements for water disposal of wastewater at all ports catering for international traffic. • Australian quarantine controls on water and effluents. This talk , on a matter of ever in creasing importance, was most interesting. The problems invo lved increase with the ever increasing volume of traffic and, in the case of airports, the shortening of flight times between centres.

Coming Events

The meeting programme proposed for the remainder of 1983 , subj ect to confirmation of certain programme topics and speakers, is as fo ll ows: March 10th - 'Design of High Rate Filters for Water Treatment Plants' - Mr. B. G. Stone, Brian Stone and Associates, Perth, W .A. and Mr. S. Kawamura, James M. Montgomery, Pasadena , U.S.A. May 5th - Joint Symposium of Water Researc h Foundation, A.W .W .A. and Hydrological Society of S .A. on 'Land Use Affecting Water Resources'. Details of this one-day symposium are given in a separate notice featured on this page . June 16th - 'Use of Oxgen in the Water and Wastewater Industry' - Mr. M. Ogston, Commonwealth Indu strial Gases Ltd., Ade laide. July 5th - Joint meeting with Civil and Struct ural Branch of LE .A., A.W.W.A. and Hydrological Society of S.A. on 'Controls of Salt Flows into the River Murray' - Programme and speakers to be advised. September 23rd 'Chloramination' Speakers from the Engineering and Water Supply Department, Adelaide. November 25th - 'Ancient Roman Water Supply Systems' - Dr Sear, Department of Classics, University of Adelaide, S.A.

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NEWS

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STATE NEWS

In the State as in most of Australia the prolonged dry and heat wave conditions have led to a record consumption of water si nce winter. Storage holding in metropolitan reservoirs have been unusually low a nd pumping from the River Murray via the three major pipelines has been at full capacity since ~eptember/October 1982 and is li kely to remain this way throughout the summer period. Despite the drought, the Minister of Water Resources reassured Adelaide consumers that South A ustralia will continue to receive its full entitlement under the River Murray Waters Agreement and so there wou ld be no need for water restrictions . This financial year, 85 per cent of Adelaide's water wi ll be supplied from the River Murray and pumping costs are expected to reach a ma mmoth $ I I million . The E. & W.S. Department is again conducting an extensive water conservation programme through the summer period . The State Government is conducting a threemonth publicity campaign warning South Australian consumers, particularly those in the hot northern regions, of the dangers and risks of amoebic meningitis. Thirteen people in South Australia have died from this infection since I 965, the latest death occurring in Whyalla in 1981. The co ndition , inflammation of the brain caused by the amoeb ic organ ism being inhaled through the nose wh ile swimming or bathing in infected water, is best prevented by maintaining clean and adequately di sin fected swimming and wading pools, and avoiding water contact with the nose. It is expected that the construction of two water filtration plants on the MorganWhyalla and Swan Reach-Stockwell pipelines wi ll be a signficant step in the control of this problem . The construction of these filtration plants is one of three South Australi an projects to benefit from the $640 million the Federal Government proposes to spend in the next five years on water resources development projects around the nation . The additional funds will a llow acceleration of work on the water fi ltration programme for both Metropo litan Adelaide and the Iron Triangle towns, as well as the upgrading of the Cobdogla drainage scheme at Berri.

AWWA

INTERNATIONAL SPECIALISTS CONFERENCE Darwin, N.T. -

4-9th Sept. '83

REGISTRATION DETAILS WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY

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COMMENT

HONG KONG TECHNICAL TOUR SEPT. 10-23, 1983 A technical tour with social aspects has been organised for A WW A members and fami lies for the period September 10th to 23rd, a 14 day, 13 night group tour with accommodation at the Holiday Inn Hotel.

Technical tours are of cons iderab le interest to ·members and the social activities include visits to the traditiona l poin'fs of interest. Cost will be of the order of $1250 per capita from Perth and organisation as a fo llow on from the Darwin Conference is practicab le. Enquiries should be directed to W.A's Secretary, Rein Loo (see p. 1).

HIGH RATE FILTER ODOURS (WATER DEC. '82)

Mr Va l Lewin from the U.K. offers the following co mm ent s on the Auck la nd and Ch ri stchurch prob lems based on ex perience at the Banbury-Oxen W .W .T.P. in adequate ventilatio n is a factor, co rrected by fo rced vent ilat ion and provision of adeq uate drainage chann el airways. Also, elimination of ret urn of humu s sludge to primary tank s will prevent innocula tion of prim ary slu dge ' with sulph ur reduci ng bacteria and conseque nt H2 S and septic fi lter feed. Treatment and disposal of the humu s sludge ca n then presellt its ow n prob lems.

AWWA -

ADELAIDE

LAND USE AFFECTING WATER RESOURCES SYMPOS IUM , 9 A.M.-5.30 P.M. ADELAIDE, MAY 5TH, 1983

Jo in t ly organized by WRFA , Hydrologica l Soc iety and AWWA , interstate and local speakers wi ll d isc uss, review and summ ar ize loca l and overseas researc h and t he c umul at ive effects of subt le changes up on t he hydro log ical regime. Of interest and co ncern to wate r reso urce manage rs, farmers , educa tors , consu ltants , hyd ro log ists and gove rn ment and sem i-govern ment adm ini strato rs. Registration $35 -

by April 22nd.

Details: Dr G. Schrale, Dept. of Agriculture, GPO Box 1671, Adelaide 5001 . Phone (08) 227 3972. WATER March, 1983 13

SEWERING OF BRISBANE SOME REMINISCENCES F. GREENHALGH INTRODUCTION The C ity of Brisbane is a 'greater' city complex exte nding over a n area of 970 km' and wit h a population over 730 000. Responsibility for water supply and sewerage in the city area rests with the City Coun cil in addition to the norm al municipal function s and public transport. Over a lengthy period the earlier resident s of Brisbane endured life without sewerage, this fac ility not bei ng avail ab le unti l 1923 when the first property was con nected to the main sewerage system . The City Counci l now provides sewerage for a population of over 700 000, some 97 per cent of th at having the necessary water supply. In fact, all closely developed areas of the city are now virtually full y sewered . This is an achievement of major order as in I 960, less than 38 per cent of properties were co nnected to a sewerage system. The small ba lance of unsewered premises is in the rural area. When construction of sewerage reticulation was at its peak , properties were connected at the rate of more than 16 000 per annum , representing in excess of 50 000 persons. Over 75 per cent of present sewerage fac ilities have been provided in the last 20 years or so. It was obv ious that, to achieve real impact on the sewering of the city, it wou ld be necessary to sewer all new subdivisiona l estates during their developm ent. However, it was not until 1965 that the counci l possessed the necessary legal powers to enforce this requirement with developers. Nevertheless sewerage was provided to some new estates from the late 1950s as a result of mutual agreements between the Council and developers a nd thi s activity in creased when legal authority was obtained in 1965. FINANCE ASPECTS Sufficient fu nds for reticulation construction at a desirable rate did not become avail able until the 1960s. Before this time, the number of new lots developed exceeded the number of older properties being sewered and the percentage of sewe red premises was therefore dropping. This shortage of finance was accentuated by the fact that most · avail able sewerage fund s were being directed to the construction of major diversionary works to correct previous design deficiencies, also the total sewerage funds had been reduced in order to finance co nstruction of the

Fred Greenhalgh, former Engineer for Design, Water Supply and Sewerage with the Brisbane City Council is now a Specialist Consu ltant with Munro, Johnson and Associates Ply. Ltd. This paper was originally presented to the Queensland Branch of the Association in August, 1982. 14 WATER March, 1983

Counci l's Tennyson Power Station. T his position changed when the new Coun ci l administration tran sferred power ge neration to the So uth ern Electric Authority in 1963, under an agreement with the State Government whereby loan funds previously all ocated to power generation would be used for sewerage purposes. Additional funds were obtained by various other means and this, together with the sewering of a ll new estates, permitted a grea ter expansion of the sewerage programme . REVISION OF SEWERAGE RETICULATION DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS Very great cost savi ngs were achieved by a complete revision of design standards for reticulation and major sewers. This occurred in the mid 1950s when the opportunity was provided by a period of low ebb in construction activity . Th us the new standards were available for the sewerage con nection boom which took place in the 1960s and onwards . The dramatic drop in costs for sewerage reticulation works from 1954 and the subsequent maintenance of such lower costs in spite of rising wages can be seen from Fig . I. It is not possib le to be precise as to the tota l amount of savings res ul ting from the design changes, but it has been estimated to be of the order of $40 million. The average cost per property in 1954 on th e old standards was $450 and the changes resul ted in a drop to $300 in a period of three years or so. The costs did not exceed $450 per property again unti l 1973, by which time wages costs had doubled . T he more important changes involved were: • T he location of reticul ation sewers in street footpath s, rather than in carriageways. • Omission of additional 75 mm drops at manholes for sewerage junctions, over and above drops req uired to provide depth to command the propert ies. • Reduction of clearances at stormwater sewers and other obstruct ions . • Reduction in manhole sizes for shallow and medium depth li nes. • Redesign of fittings, particlarly ma nh ole covers and backdrop junctions.

T he first and most important objective was to locate as many sewers as possible in footpaths where, of course, most other services had already been laid. This presented many difficulties, including objections from other public utilities as at that time there was no space allocation for sanitary sewers. The obj ective was achieved by severely redu cing ma nh oles to sizes that would fit into th e remai ning narrow spaces to be found in the footpaths. Previously, manholes had been greatly oversized for shallow lines wh ich can usually be mainta ined from the surface. The

new manhole sizes have proved to be adequ ate. The policy of utilising any vacant footpath space avai lable cont inued until 1972 when a space a llocation was predetermined and provided for sewerage purposes . Stormwater drains in Brisbane in new estates are very large to cater for the high rainfall intensities experienced. The adoption of the new sewerage 4 design methods frequent ly permitted the sewers to pass over th e top of the stormwater dra ins, whereas previous ly it was necessa ry to place them undern eat h , at an extra depth of up to some 2.5 metres. The shallower construction was a ve ry substantial componen t of the savings achieved. It will be seen from Fig. I th at costs dipped again from 1966 and bottomed out in I 969. This lowering of average costs was brought about, fir st ly by the mandatory sewer ing of new estates at lower than average cos ts, a fter provision for such was made in the 1965 Town Plan Ordinances, and second ly, as a result of the intense competition in tendering experien ced during the peak co nstruction years betwee n 1965- 1974. These lower costs have been ignored in assess ing the savings brought about by the revised design sta ndards. T he grow th of sewerage connect ions a nd the percentage of properties sewered are shown in Fig. 2. PROGRAMMING OF WORKS The stabi lit y in costs during the I 960s and ear ly 1970s faci li tated the lon g term programming and schedu ling of works and enab led the courfcil to give a reasonab ly reliable es tim ate of the time when a particular property wou ld be sewered . This programming was remarkably successfu l and accurate a nswers were given to thou sands of enqu iries on sewerage ma tters durin g this period. T he in formation was also used to provide assistance to the then Lord Mayor in answering simi lar queries on hi s week ly talkback programme on Brisbane radio stations. DESIGN EFFORTS In retrospect, it is difficult to comprehend how the extremely heavy design demands were met during the pea k years of sewerage co nst ruction, as Design Branch staff levels remained fairly constant. Consultin g Engineers were engaged by the council for the des ign of so me sewerage ret iculation works, particularly fo r the bayside suburbs of Wynnum and Sandgate and Consu lting Engineers a lso shared design work on new estates. However , by far the predominant design load was undertaken by the department' s own design staff which , at the sa me time, designed all major sewers, pumping stations, ri sing mains and treatment plants. It was also a very busy period in the extension of the water supply system an d , as a resu lt,

130

th e city it beca me eas ier to command new development a nd the resort to tempo rary expedients was accordingly reduced.

130

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;·

110

1300 100.---+----,1-----+----+----+----+-----'--'---I-----

1200

ttOO

60-~~T~roken line ts the more probable trend 11 condi tions had continued as previously. The drop 1n cos ts from 1965 to 1974 resulted

~-i,~.~~ei~n~:~~!~1 ~~ ~~7.~~n1 ~;~:a!lli~r;:;,~~~I~~~

1000 70 900

SEWERAGE SYSTEMS

110 100 90

--+---- -++-- - - - ~ - - 80

!::,~~tense com-

60 V

600

700

600

_§ ;;;

500

400

;;;

8 C •

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ai NOTE: Cos ts below broken line should be ignored in

s - ~ =V,::::__--f----+-~M~~- ---j f,~s~s;!:0~=;~~gd5

300

adopted from 1954 .

;;;

Actual Ae11culallon Cosl s per allot ment I Peak Construction Years

200

Figure 1. Sewe rage reticulation -

comparison of average costs per allotment and B.C.C. minimum wage.

ass istan ce from that secti on of the Des ign Bra nch to sewerage activities was lim ited to avoid fall ing behind on water suppl y designs . Co nsiderable design wo rk was act uall y carried ou t as co nstru ction proceeded for both day labo ur a nd co ntract work. Tend ers were ca ll ed on very limit ed a nd often guessed in formation but, in the execution th is proved to be fair ly accura te a nd serio us di sputes with co ntracto rs were rare. Ph otogram me tr y wa s introdu ced to prepare 40 feet to I" sca le (later I :500) detail sheets at a time whi ch proved to be most convenient, as ot herwise it would have been imposs ible to ca rry out reticulat io n designs in

time to meet th e acce lerated co nstruction progra mme. The surveyors previously engaged on ground surveys for detail sheets were redeployed o n survey a nd pegging of reticulatio n sewers a nd so the benefit s from the use of photogrammetry were twofo ld . Photogra mmetry work was undertaken by contract. Th e introduct ion of package sewage treatment pla nt s and t he more general use of subm ersibl e pumps were of great help in ensuring that a ll new es tates could be sewered . These were prov id ed as temporary fa ciliti es, until the permanent systems were ex tended to th e areas concerned. It will be apprec iated that as progress was mad e in the sewering of

IO O r - - - - , - - - -- - , - - - - , - - - - , - - - - - - . - - - - - - r - - ---,

The o ldest and la rgest system in the city is the main sewerage system which serves approximate ly 58 per cent of the population. This sys tem drains to the Eagle Farm Pumping Statio n which , in I 955 , rep laced the temporary arra ngements made after th e collapse in 1940 of the main low level sewer at Pinkenba. T he Eagle Farm statio n deli vers th e sewage to treatment at Luggage Po int. Ini tia lly twin ri sing mains were used a nd in 1976 a third main was added when the pumping ca pacity was increased by 150 per cent. <Oxygen is in jected into the ri sing mai ns at Eagle Farm to control se pticit y of th e sewage reac hing the treatment plant. Th e second largest system is the Southern and Western Suburbs Sewerage Sc heme which caters for a pproxim ately 23 per cent of the population. At the present tim e th ere are severa l local plants in the catc hm ent wit h their own separate sys tems, but these, wit h th e exception of t he Fairfield plant sys tem, wi ll ultim a tely be comb ined with the S & WS system whi ch drains to the Ox ley Creek Wastewater Treatment Plan t. This latter plant is des igned for a n eq ui valent popul a ti on of 185 000 a nd secondary trea tment is by the diffused ai r act ivated sludge process. Efflu ent former ly flowed to the O xley Creek as an inter im a rrangement but the constru ction of a permanen t ou tfa ll to the Brisbane Ri ver at Co rind a has recent ly been co mplet ed a nd commi ss io ned . T he pla nt occasionally suffered from gross trade waste over loading un ti l steps were taken to relieve the situat ion. Four ot her sys tem s, Bulimba Cree k , W ynnum , Cab bage Tree Creek a nd Moggill, cater for the remaining I 9 per cent of the population, eac h having loca l treatment pla nts se rving their particu lar needs. There are severa l plants in both the Bul!mba Creek and Cabbage Tree Creek catchments a nd ultimately th e subsystems drain ing to these pla nt s wi ll be int egra ted int o larger sys tems, eac h with o ne terminal plant.

90 80

.,, V V

! V

70 60

IS0 .000 ~

V 0.

" V

C C

- IIO

0 30 : 20

10 0 .....-=,:.-...u.......w..u..~..........1.............._,........u..J.........u..................J.............................,__......._...................1.....................~o

1920

1930

19~0

1950

1960

1970

Years to 30th J une

Figure 2. Growth of sewerage co nnect ions.

1980

1990 Fig . No. 2

SEW AGE TREA TME T Treatment plants of a variety of types a nd sizes have bee n designed a nd co nstru cted and in va lu ab le experi ence has bee n ga ined in o perating the different processes and types of equipm ent. These plants ra nge in size from sma ll package type units to th e large Luggage Po int a nd O xley Creek plants. In all, 34 plants were co nstructed, of which 14 now remain fo ll ow in g extensio ns of th e larger sys tems to th e o uter suburbs . The number of system s and plants wi ll be reduced progress ively as further ra tionali sation occurs . The pla nt s have in co rpora ted th e fo ll owing methods a nd processes : Scree ning - a ut o mat ically o pera ted bar scree ns, co mminutors an d bar minut ors . Bar sc ree ns a re preferred a nd th e ba rmi nutors a nd some comm inutors have been replaced. Screenings a t Luggage Point are in cinerat ed . Grit remova l - De trit ors, parabolic a nd trapezoida l cha nnels a nd spiral flow aera ted WATER March, 1983 15

Oxley Creek WWTP diffu sed air sludge aeration tanks .

grid channels . Grit is usuall y pum ped th ro ugh cycl ones to separa te grit fro m th e li quid . Para boli c cha nn els are preferred , exce pt in the large pl a nt s where space rest ri ction s dictate th e use of ae ra ted chann els. Pre-aeration - Pre-aera ti on chann els were prov id ed at the Oxley C ree k and Luggage Point pla nt s to fl occul ate th e solids to ass ist primary sediment ati on. The deg ree of success of these unit s has not been determin ed. Prim ary sedimentation-Circula r cl a rifiers were adopted for treatm ent work s ot her than at Oxley C reek and Luggage Point. Rotating bridge sc rapers a nd scum skimm ers are preferred for circula r tank s and tra ve lling bridge scra pers with sc um skimmers, fo r recta ngul ar ta nk s. Cha in a nd timber fli ght scrapers for recta ngul ar tanks are not fav oured , beca use of the high cost of equ ipment a nd associated civil engin eering wo rk and becau se th ey necess itate separa te sc um removal which is less sati sfactory a nd much more ex pensive. Secondary treatment - biological filtr ati on with recircula tion has been adopt ed fo r the sma ller to medium sized pl ant s where suit a ble sites were avail able. On occas ions, becau se of site res tri ction s, the mech a ni ca l sur face aera tion acti vat ed sludge process has bee n used. This sys tem has a lso bee n adopt ed where it was necessa ry to a ugment th e pla nt in seve ral stages . Biological filtra ti on is preferr ed beca use it produ ces a good efflu ent, with th e minimum of attenti on and skill ed operati on and will accept a co nsidera ble overload without appreciable reduction in efflu ent sta ndards. 16 WATER March , 1983

The diffu sed air act iva ted sludge process was chose n fo r th e Oxley Creek and Luggage Point plants. T he aera ti on ta nks have increment al feed cha nn els a nd a re pro vid ed with tapered aera tion to ac hieve uniform di sso lved oxygen leve ls throughout the ta nk s, as part o f the a ut oma ti c co nt ro lling of th e out put fr om the air bl owers. Final settlin g - Circul a r clarifiers are in uni versa l use a nd both fi xed and rot at in g bridge scrapers insta lled , a lth ough the la tte r are preferred . Draggin g chain , a nd a lso flig ht a nd sucti on lift scra pers have been used in activated sludge pl a nt s. Th e mos t so ph isti ca ted units are th e 3-bridge rotatin g suction lift scrape rs at Luggage Poi nt. These la tt er mac hines are o f aluminium constructi on, with fibreg lass sy ph o ns disc harging settl ed slud ge fr om th e fibr eg lass rotating laund ers to th e fi xed centra l laun der. Return sludge is co nt ro lled by a uto mati ca ll y opera ted valves. C hlorination - all trea tm ent pl a nt s, except Luggage Point , are provided with automati c chlorin e dosing sys tems. Sludge digestion - sludge di gests satisfactoril y in th e Brisbane cl imate by th e co ld process, prov iding ta nk s are sized adequ ately. However, at th e medium sized to large pl ant s it has bee n th e practi ce to red uce th e required di ges ter ca pac ities by incorpora tin g mi xin g a nd so met imes heat in g equipm ent . Th e most sa ti sfactory mixing sys tem fo r minimising th e build-up of scum and grit deposits in the di ges ters has bee n th e diffu sed gas rec irculati on sys tem used in Jn a la, Wyn num a nd Luggage P oint plants. Gas is co llected fr om the roof storage and

fed through co mpressors for d isc harge at poin ts with in the ta nk . Th e ri sin g gas bubbles provi de good mi xing of th e ta nk co nte nt s a nd contro l sc um buil d- up. At th e Sa ndgate, Ca rin a a nd Ox ley Creek pla nts the " Hea tami x" sys tem has a lso bee n used . This system has ex tern a ll y pl aced gas rec irculat ion upd ra ft tubes in corporat ing a hea t exc ha nger jac ket. Alt hough prov idin g good mi xin g a nd hea tin g o f the co ntents it has bee n found that sc um bui ld-up is onl y co ntrolled nea r to th e rec irc ul at io n disc harge poi nt s. Th e te mperat ure of heated pr im ary d igesters is usua ll y co nt roll ed at 35 °C. Seco nda ry di ges ters are prov id ed fo r storage a nd for wit hdrawa l o f supern a tant. S lud ge dryin g - All Brisbane pl a nt s utili se drying beds a nd at Sa ndgate, Oxley Cree k a nd Luggage Point beds have mec ha ni ca l sludge Ii ft ers provided . Th e insta ll a ti on at Lu ggage Point , is on e of th e larges t and mos t so phisti cated sludge liftin g machines in the wor ld and in corporates slud ge feed ing, co ul terin g, li fting , resa ndin g a nd co nveyor equipment. Sludge is li ft ed from each o f th e four I 8.25 m wide x 6 I 6 m lo ng beds in o ne pass a nd th e convey ing system d isc harges th e dri ed sludge to a po in t at one en d of th e beds, eith er directl y to di sposa l ve hicles or to stoc kpil e. Waste Act ivated Slu dge T hi cken ing - At th e Oxley Creek, Mt. Grava tt and Luggage Point pla nts waste ac ti va ted sludge is thi ckened pri or to di sc ha rge to th e di ges ters. Both disso lved a ir flot ati on th ickenin g and centri fuge unit s a re used at Oxley Creek and cocurrent type cent rifuges at the ot her sit es . In genera l, it ca n be stated , that centrifuges th icken to abo ut twice the pe rcent age of so lids as compa red with th e fl otat ion uni ts. The centrifuge at Mt. Gravatt thi cke ns to a bout 6 per ce nt so lids and has co nsistentl y perfo rm ed sa ti sfac toril y a t th e des ign loadin gs. Howeve r, th e la rges t unit at Luggage Point, alth o ugh o f th e sa me manu fac ture, has yet to operate sa ti sfactoril y at the speci fi ed throu gl}pu t a nd will require some modifica tion by th e suppli er. Package-type Treatment Plants Th e fi rs t pac kage type ex tended aerati on pla nt in Australia was insta ll ed at Marshall La ne, Kenm ore in 1966 a nd sin ce th at tim e several such plant s we re install ed to se rve new sys tems in th e outer suburbs. In genera l, th ese pl ant s have been th e circula r type, approxi ma tely 15- 16 m in di a meter, to serve 2000 popul a ti o n and for ha lf th a t ca pac it y th e more eas il y tra nsporta ble recta ngula r type has bee n used. Mos t of th e unit s prov id ed at di ffe rent sites over the yea rs have been moved a nd re-established on new sit es . PIO NEERI NG OF EQU IPMENT A N D PROCESS ES NEW TO AUSTRALIA

The ra pid deve lopment of sewerage in Brisba ne has permitted so me pioneerin g wo rk to be done by the co un cil in th e use of meth ods a nd equipment new to thi s country a nd it is of int eres t to li st some of th ese, whi ch are beli eved iO be ' fi rsts'. • Pac kage treatment pla nt , Marsha ll Lane, Kenmore. • Mec ha ni ca l surface aera ti on ("Simplex" co nes), lnala • Mecha ni ca l surface aera ti on ("Simca r" co nes) , Fairfi eld.

• • •

•

" Hea tami x" gas rec ircul at io n heatin g and mixing of slu dge d ig ters, Sandga te. Porou s co ncre te surfaced sludge dry in g beds, Fa irfi eld. Trave llin g bridge scrapers and scum s kimmers for rectan gula r p rimary se ll lin g ta nk s (a lum in iu m co nstruction), Ox ley Creek. La rge three bridge rotatin g sucti o n type sc rapers fo r fina l sett lin g ta nk s (a lumin ium a nd fibreglass co nstru cti o n), Lu ggage poi nt. Mec hani ca l slud ge lift ers (a ) In c r e m e ntal s wat he t y pe with coulters, Sa nd gate. (b) O ne pass lift er , with sludge feed , co ult ers, re-sa ndin g and co mpl ete conveyin g a nd stackin g system , Luggage Po int.

CO CLUS IO NS A D ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The writ er is co nscio us o f th e fact th at the su bject matter is too ex ten sive to give adeq ua te desc ription in a paper of thi s lengt h a nd that m ore justi ce co uld have bee n do ne to th e subjects by prese nt ing m ore d etail ed infor mati o n, in seve ral papers, durin g th e course of event s. H oweve r. thi s opportu nit y was lost and it is tru sted that th is bri ef account , presented in retrospec t, prov ides in fo rm ation o f value . Th e writ er expresses h is appreciatio n to hi s for mer co ll eagues in the Brisba ne City Coun cil and, in pa rti cul a r, to Mr B. P. O'Co nn el l, C hief Enginee r and Ma nage r, Department of Wa ter S uppl y a nd Sewerage, for th eir ass ista nce a nd enco urage ment a t a ll tim es.

Oxle) Creek WWTP sludge lifter.

JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

A.W.W.A. MEMBERSHIP Notice to Applicants Application forms are available from Branch Secretaries (addresses on page 1 this issue) and should be completed and returned to the appropriate secretary.

•

AUSTRALIAN WATER & WASTEWATER ASSOCIATION JOURNAL

I enc lose herewith the sum of$ . .. . . . (Austra li an) as prepayment for supp ly of the fol low ing issues of 'WATER'. March D

Membersh ip is in four categories: • Membership - qualifications suitab le for membership of the In stitution of Engineers (Aust.) or equivalent qualificat ions of simi lar professional organisations . Fees $20 p.a. • Associate Experience in the water and/or wastewater industry without formal qualificat ions . Fees $20 p.a. • Student. Fees $5 p.a. • Sustaining Member - an organisation of firm invo lved in the water and wastewater industry, wish ing to support and furt her t he aims of t he Assoc iat ion. Fees $100 p.a. Fees are plus state levies where applicable .

June D

Sept . D

Dec. D

1983

Note: A ll s ubscr iptions conc lude w ith the December issue, renewa ls are due by t he end of February for a fu ll year's subscript ion. Price , in c lud ing surface mai l to all countries, $10.00 p.a. or $2.50 per issue in Australian currency , made payab le to the A.W.W .A. - 'WATER '.

Name . Address .......... .

Mai l th is form to: The Editor 'Water' 7 Mossman Drive, Eaglemont, Vic. 3084.

WATER March, 1983 17

PLANT AND EQUIPMENT FULL BORE DIAPHRAGM VALVE FOR ABRASIVE DUTIES

COMBINED INSTRUMENTS SYSTEMS

MARKLAND DUCKBILL POLLUTION SAMPLER

GREAT LAKES INSTRUMENTS

Saunders Type K High Flow valve is now avai lable with a CV range up to 9950 for the rubber lined DN350 (14 ") model.

Announcing new range of of pH, ORP, conductivity and resistivity instruments - the 570 series.

This new sampler is pneumatically operated with no moving parts. Works in highly polluted waters and raw sewage without clogging, no suction pumps or scoops.

AU standard ranges of 70 series availab le in 570 series, 90 mm square DIN enclosure. High and low alarms with features . An L.E.D. indicates re lay status . Ana logue outputs of 0-1 mA and 0-5 V DC standard on all units, automat ic temp. compensation to 95 °C. Systems al l run o n low impedence c ircuits - no mo isture prob lems , min imum fie ld maintenance . Details: Combined Instruments Systems (Aust.) P/L, PO Box 107, Nunawading, 3131 and N.S.W., O'ld, W.A.

CPAA BROCHURES CONCRETE PIPES With no pockets to co llect debris and , in open position , diaphragm out of the f low passage , the valve offers unobstructed flow . Rubber lined, it is suitable for slurries and abrasive materia ls. Sizes 1 ½ in . to 14 in. , working pressures to 700 kPA . Details: Mr. R. Evans, Saunders Valves , PO Box 318, Mentone 3194.

......

KENT FIXED-BORE CONTOUR DALL TUBES Low loss flowmeter primary elements for flow of liquids, air, low pressure steam and relatively clean non-condensing gases are advanced development of classical Venturi tube.

The Concrete Pipe Associat ion of Australi a has updated its technical manuals and makes avai lab le, in a binder: 'Concrete Pipe Gu ide ' 'Laying Concrete Pipe the Right Way ' 'F ield Testing of Concrete Pipe lines and Joints ' Early in 1983 a further brochure ' Hydrau lic Des ign Data' wi ll be issued . These techn ical manuals wi ll be issued free to bona f ida users and designers and are updated w ith amendments and additions. Available from Humes Limited Concrete Offices in all states and offices of other pipe companies.

The rubber Duckbi ll closes around f ibres or particu late matter without jammi ng, the lips prevent entry of large particles into the tab le. The Duckbil l is se lf clean ing each t ime air is applied to eject the samp le. Enquiries: Hahn & Kolb (Aust) P/L, 5 Uni versity Place, Clayton Nth. 3168. Phone (03) 561 5211.

DELTA SCIENTIFIC CHLORINE TRANSMITTER John Morris Sci t) ntific P/L announces the 82/8324 ch lorine transmitter by Nat ional Son ics/Env irotec h for measurement of free ch lorine in aqueous so lutions .

'PROMINENT' - RECENT PLANT INSTALLATIONS Dry Feed Fluoridat ion System has been insta ll ed for the P.W.D. at Bamarang WTP , Nowra inc luding an ALLDUS dry chemica l feeder. For t he Snowy River Shire Counci l at Jindabyne, a so lution feed f luoridat ion plant uses an electron ic metering pump accept ing d irect a 4-20 mA sig nal for speed proportion contro l of the pump output . In standard designs for 225 to 1000 mm pipe li nes, accuracy is better than ± 1 per cent f low rate - higher accuracy with indiv idua l ca libration. Details: Douglas Richard, Marketing Manager, Kent Instruments Aust. P/L, 70 Box Road, Caringbah 2229.

Dry feed fluoridation plant is also to be suppied to Dept. Transport and Con struction for Boneg ill a and so lution feed fluoridation systems for Berrigan Shire Counci l.

Mode ls for submersib le or f low-through app lication . Contro l unit shows readings on 4 ½ in. ana log meter, transmits for recorder or data logg ing. Ideal for computer contro lled systems. Operating range 0.2 ppm , accuracy ± 3 per cent fu ll scale, operates at Oto 50 °C.

Details: Prominent & Fluid Controls P/L, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth .

Details: John Morris Scientific P/L, PO Box 80, Chatswood 2067.

18 WATER March, 1983

I ,I

New Methods for the Determination of Sulphur Anions in Natural and Waste Waters S. Rama Bhat, J.M. Eckert and N . A. Gibson SU MMARY New colo rim etri c metho ds fo r th e determin a to n o f sulphi de, sul phite a nd sulph ate in wa ter a t mg/ L levels, based o n th e fo rmat ion o f a stable, intense ly co loured complex o f copper(! ), were tested in a series of fi eld tri als. Th e resul ts o btain ed by t he pro posed a nd stan dard meth ods fo r est ua rin e a nd sea water sa mpl es, boiler fee dwaters a nd a nox ic ta nk was te waters a re prese nt ed a nd d iscussed .

INTRODUCTIO N The tas k of measuring mg/ L leve ls of th e comm o n sulphur a nio ns in wa ter is by no mea ns a n easy one. Th e lo w oxi da tion sta te a ni o ns, such as sulphide a nd sul phi te, whi ch a re prese nt in a nox ic waters, ox idi ze ra pidl y upon contact with air o r dissolved oxygen . Methods fo r th e determin a ti o n o f th ese io ns are also lia ble to interferences, es peciall y by oth er reducing agents. In the iodine titrimetric a nd meth ylene blu e colo rim etri c methods for sulphid e, for exa mpl e, int erferences by redu cin g agent s in cluding sulphite ma ke it necessa ry to separa te th e sulphide as zin c sulphide befor e a na lysis. Sulphide, o n the other ha nd , interferes with the iodide- ioda te titrimetric met hod fo r sulphit e (Sta nd a rd met hods, 1976). Th e ultimate fa te o f a ll un sta ble sul phur species in na tu ral wat ers is co nve rsion to sulph a te. Altho uÂˇgh no o th er a nion has cos t a nalyti ca l chemists more, in tim e, effort and inge nuit y, th e a vaila ble meth ods for determining sulphate at mg/ L leve ls have a number of well d ocum ented shortcomin gs . Obtainin g reproducibl e results with turbidimetric meth ods can be difficult while spec trophotometry, fo llo wing reduct io n o f sulph a te to hyd roge n sulphi de, is better sui ted to solid samples because the reduction systems are ge nera lly re ndered ineffect ive by small qu a ntiti es o f water. Th is paper reports the results of field trial s which were carried o ut to test th e use fu ln ess , in es tuarine, sea and waste water analysis, o f new colo rim etric method s fo r th e determin at ion of low- level sulphide, sulphi te a nd sulph ate (Ra ma Bha t et al., 1979, 198 1) . The determina tion of sulphide a nd sulphit e invo lves the redu cti on of the bi s(DMP)copper{ll ) ion (wh ere DMP = 2, 9-dimeth yl- l , 10-phena nthrolin e) by sulphide in th e presence o f form a ld ehyde a nd by sulphide a nd sulph ite in it s a bsence, a ll o wing sulphite to be obtained by difference . Forma ldehyde mas ks sulphit e in thi s reaction by formin g a sta bl e addition compound . In th e meth od for sulphate, sulphate io ns a re redu ced by tin(! I) chl o ride in hydriodi c acid to hydrogen sulphid e which is carri ed by a stream o f nit rogen in to a bu ffe red sol ut io n co nt ainin g bis(DMP) co pper(Il ) io ns. All de te rmin a ti o ns are co mpleted by meas uring the a bsorba nces due to the strongly co loured copper([) complex fo rm ed in t he redu ction reac ti o n.

EXPERIM ENTAL Apparatus

The apparatu s used for sulpha te a nalys is is shown schematically in Fi g. I. Th e redu ction mixture was prepa red in a 250 mL three-nec ked round-bottom fl as k to wh ich was a ttached a verti cal wa ter-cooled helix- type cond enser of effecti ve lengt h 200 mm which was in turn connected by glass a nd tygon tubin g to two 125 mL Drechsel bott les with porosit y ' O' sintered heads. The nitrogen fl ow, co ntroll ed to 25 Q-300 ml/ min , was introdu ced nea r the bo ttom of th e fl as k throu gh a n inlet tube. The water sa mples were inj ected through a puncture-type silicone rubber sea l in o ne nec k o f th e fl as k, usin g syringe pipettes fitt ed with pu sh-butt o n di spensers a nd IO cm Luertype hypoderm ic need les . T he nitrogen fl ow rate a nd reduction time specified in th e procedure are appropri a te to thi s a pparatus . If glassware of di ffe rent ca pacit y were used, it wo uld be necessa ry to

Dr. S. Rama Bhat, a graduate of the University of Mysore and a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney, is currently a lecturer at the Advanced Teachers ' Co llege, Minna, N igeria. Dr. James M. Eckert is Senior Lecturer and Dr. Neville A . Gibson Associate Professor, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Sydney.

(a) reduct ion mixture; (b) nit rogen inl et; (c) seal for sample injection ; (d) water-coo led co ndensor; (e) glass connect ing tube ; (f) wash solution ; (g) trapping reagent. Fi gure 1. A pp aratus for sulphate analysis.

determin e a n a ppropri a te fl ow ra te a nd redu cti o n tim e . Absorba nce measurement s we re made wijh a Va ria n-T ec htron model 63 4 spectro ph o tom ete r. R eage nts

Copper sulphate solution. Disso lve I .87 g o f copper sulph a te pentah ydra te in water a nd dilute to I L with water. Copper-DMP reagent. Disso lve 0. 1 I g o f 2, 9-dimeth yl- l , 10-ph enanthro lin e(DMP) hydrochl o ride (n eocuproin e H C l , Merck) in wa ter, add 20 mL of t he co pper sul pha te so luti o n a nd dilute to 100 mL with wate r. This reagent sho uld be used wit hin 24 h. Buffe r solution pH4. Conta in s 4 10 mL of 0 .2M acet ic ac id a nd 90 mL of 0 .2M sodium acetate per litre. Buffe r solution pH 4.8. Contain s 200 mL of 0 .2M aceti c ac id a nd 300 mL of 0.2 M sod iu m aceta te per litre . Buffer solurion pH IO. Cont ains 3.2 1 g of amm o nium chloride a nd 70 mL of 2M a mmoni a per litre. Brom ophenol blue indicator. 0. 1OJo w/ v so lu tion in eth a no l. Standard solutions

Sta ndard sulphid e a nd sulphi te so lutio ns were prepa red by d isso lvin g th e reage nt-g rade sodium salts (Na,S .9H , O a nd Na 2 SO,.7 H 2 O) in oxygen-free water conta inin g 50Jo v/ v glycerol to enh a nce sta bilit y. The so lutions we re prepa red fres h a nd sta nda rdi zed iodimetri ca ll y just before use . Sta nda rd sul phate soluti o ns were prepa red fro m sulphuric acid or reagent -grade an hyd rous sodium sulpha te (Sta nda rd methods, I 976) . Procedure for sulphide and sulphite determination

Place suita ble (a nd equa l) vo lum es of wa ter for a nalysis in two W A T ER March, 1983 19

250 ml po lythene boules (A a nd B) , a dd suffi cient buffer soluii o n pH IO to each to ra ise 1he pH 10 9.8- 10.0 and shake 10 mi x . Any vo lu me of wa ler up to 100 ml may be sa mp led but ii sho uld co ntain no1 m o re t ha n 15 µg of sul ph id e and .5 0 µg of s u lphi te. Im m ed ia ie-ly add I ml of forma ldehyde so lutio n (40 0Jo w/ v) 10 bou le A, m ixing well , th en to eac h botlle add 5 ml of t he co pper-DMP reagent. Th e 1rea1ed sa mp les ma y, if necessary, be s tored for up to 24 h al 1hi stage. Tra nsfer t he co nt ent s of the bo1t les, with rin sin g, 10 1wo 250 ml se paratin g fu n nel s a nd adj ust 1he vo lumes 10 about 100 ml with water. To each fu nnel add 10 .0 m l of ch loroform , sha ke the fu nne l for I mi n and a ll ow to stand unti l 1he ph ases separate . Run 1he ch loroform layers throu gh glass wool p lugs a nd meas ure 1he absorbances of the extracts (A a nd B) a 1 457 nm with chloroform in the referen ce ce ll. Carry o u l a b la nk determi na tion wit h 100 ml of distilled water. The blank abso rba nce sho u ld 11 01 be more tha n 0.02. T he absorbance of ext ract A (corrected for the bla n k) is due to su lp hide, a nd th e d iffere nces betwee n t he absorba nces (B- A), 10 su lph ite . Calcula te th e co nce ntration s of sulphid e a nd sulph ite in th e water sa m p le by co mpa ri so n with stand a rd s run simultan eo usly.

Procedure fo r sulph ate determin ati on P repa re t he reducl ion m ixlu re in the th ree- nec ked fla sk by swirling 5 g of 1in( II ) ch lo ri de d ih ydra le (Merc k) wit h 5 ml and wat er or 2 o r 3 drops of IOM hydroc hl oric acid until 1he so li d dissolves, and then a ddin g 150 ml of hydriodi c ac id (Merck, 570Jo w/ w). With a strea m of nitrogen pass in g through th e mi xt ure , bo il ii ge nt ly for 30 min in 1he open fla s k. Th is qua n1i1y of mi xture is suitab le for a la rge number of determ inations and will rem a in e ffect ive for some weeks if stored un der an at m osphere o f ni troge n. P lace 60 m l of b u ffer so lu tio n pH 4 in a gas was hin g bottl e a nd add 10 drops of bromoph eno l blu e ind ica tor. Thi s is th e wash solu1ion . Prepare th e frapping reagen1 in a second gas washin g boll le by mixin g 5. 0 ml of copper-DMP reage nt a nd 5.0 ml of buffer so lution pH4.8 and d ilutin g with water to rou ghly 40 ml. Assemble the apparatus as show n in Fig. I. S ubstitu te a grou nd-glass join! 1hermo me1er fo r the sil ico ne sea l and heat the redu ctio n m ixture ge n tly ove r a sm a ll Bunse n flam e , wit h ni trogen flowin g th rough th e sys tem at 250-300 m l/ min , until the thermomet er read s a stead y 95- 105° C. Rep lace th e thermom ete r by the silicone sea l and inject a n a liquot of th e waler for a nal ysis int o 1he redu ction mixture. An y vo lum e up to I ml may be inject ed bu! ii sho ul d co nt a in not mo re th a n 45 µg of sulph a te ( or 15 µg of tot a l ino rga n ic sulp hur). Heat t he reduct io n mi xture for a furt her 10 m in , !hen remove th e bott le co nt a inin g the trappin g reagent. Wash the sintered head of thi s bon le with 4-5 ml of acetone, tra nsfer th e reage nt a nd washings quantitat ively 10 a 50 ml vo lum etric fla sk a nd dilut e 10 volum e with waler. For repeal ed determinations, continu e to hea l 1he red uct ion m ixture ge nt ly betwee n ni'ns . Replace 1he was h so lu tion when it cha nges co lo ur, vio let-b lue to ye ll ow, in dicat ing 1h a 1 the p H has dropped be low 3. Meas ure th e absorbance of th e so lution in th e 50 ml vo lum etri c fla sk at 454 nm with water in the re ference cell . Include in 1he determ ination s a b lank ca rried ou1 wit h an equ a l vo lume o f distilled waler. The blank absorbance shou ld not exceed 0 .02 . Calculate t he co ncent ratio n of su lpha te in the sa mp le by co mpar iso n with su lph a te sta nda rd s.

RESULTS AND DISCUSS ION DMP ha been used prev iou s ly, with redu cin g agent s for th e determ ination of co pper (see, e .g., Sandell, 1959) a nd with co pper( II ) for t he determ in a ti o n of redu cing agelll s : b lood suga rs (Brow n , 196 1) a nd iodid e (Ya mamo to el al., I 974) . T he co lou red reaction produ ct , a bis(DM P ) copper(!) comp lex, has a max imu m m o lar absorpt ivity of 7. 9 x IOJL/ moL cm a l 45 7 nm wit h ch loride as the co unter-ion in chloroform ( Ha ll e1 al., 1962) a nd of 6.15 x IOJ a t 454 nm a s the su lphate in water; and a hi gh stabilit y relative 10 the copper(l l) complex (E 0 = 0.62V at 20° C, Hawk ins and Perrin, 1963). Interferences in the present app lica tion are di sc ussed by Rama Bhat e1 al . ( 1979, 198 1). Iro n( II ) a nd (I l l ), fo r exa m ple, do 11 01 in ter fe re in t he determin a ti o n of su lp hi de and su lphite at co nce ntrat ion s of 100 mg/ L, nor does ni trite at IOOO mg/ L: bu! calcium ion s do int erfere a l 20 WATER March , 1983

le vel s over 50 mg/ L. In th e sulphat e a na lysis , however, where 1he meas ured s pecies is se para ted in a strea m of nitr1'gen before reaction with the co lo ur-produ cing sys tem , these ions a re 1olera1ed al co nce ntra ti ons of al least IOOO m g/ L. T he ease with wh ich hydroge n sulp hid e ca n be separa ted from int erferin g species a nd ih e se nsi1 ivi1 y with which ii ca n be measured make redu c1ion-s pec1rop ho1o metry an a1trac1ive approac h 10 1he de1ermina1ion of sulphat e (see e.g . William s , 1979) . Tin(II) sa lt s a nd hydri odi c acid ha ve been wid ely used in 1he reduction step bu1 previous ly in comb ination with phosp horu s or a ph osphorou s co mpo un d, no! eac h o th er. Man y of these red uction sys tems are un stabl e, evo lving the toxic gas phosphin e w he n heated , a nd a ll a re into lera nt 10 water, m a kin g ii necessa ry 10 replace 1he reduction mixture frequently or 10 evapo ra te 1h e waler samples to dryness before a na lysis. Th e co mbination of lin( II ) c hloride and hydriod ic acid is more sta ble 10 hea l a nd more to lerant to water. The reduction of su lphate by th is mi xtu re, as in Rama Bhat el al. ( 198 1), pr-oceeds wit h bett er than 97 per cent efficie ncy in 1he presence of up 10 50 ml of wa ter , a limit set mo re by th e qua n1i1 ies of reage nt s in the redu ct ion mi xture than by it s se nsitivit y 10 water. Large r vo lum es of water ca n be 1o lera1ed if these quant iti es are increased o r if a n old reduction mi xture is treated with fr es h tin( II ) c hloride. T he ot her co mmon su lphur-contai ni ng a nion s (su lph ide, sulp hit e, 1hiosu lpha1e, telrat h ionat e and di1hionate) a re reduced by tin( II ) chl oride in hydr iodic acid with th e same e ffi cie ncy (9 5- 100 per cent) a s sulphat e , whereas spec ies co nt a in ing C-S bonds, such as 1he a ni on ic sur fac1a n1 s linea r alky lben ze ne sulphon a ies , do no! ge nera te hydroge n sulphide. Thus, one ca libra ti o n gra ph (ex pressed in terms of µg of inorgan ic sulph ur) se rves for all th e co mmon inorga nic sulphur ions. W here waler sa mp les co nta in m ixtures of organic and in o rganic sulp hur species , this grap h can be used to ob tai n a value for "tota l inorga ni c sulphur."

Est uari ne and sea waters Wa ter sa mpl es were co llec ted from Botan y Bay a nd from Du ck Ri ver , nea r th e po int of il s e111ry into Parramall a Ri ve r, by im m ersing I l po lyth ene bottles 20 cm be low th e surface. T he sa m pl es were fil tered under suction th rou gh 'N uclepore' po lycarbonate membrane filler s (0 .4 µ m po re-size) o n th e da y of co ll ect io n and th e filtrates a na lysed 1he fo ll ow in g day. Salinity was determined by the a rgentom eiri c method set out in Standa rd m ethod s , 1976 and sulphat e by th e meth od of Rama Bhat el al. (198 1). In 1he su lphat e delerminai ion, th e waters were ana lysed d irec tly, wit ho ut d ilu tion, by t he use of sma ll ( 10 µ L) sa mple vo lum es. Th e major ion s of sea water d o not int er1fere with 1he m ethod and matc hin g of standard and sa mple sa liniti es , 10 combat mat rix effec ts, is therefore unnecessa ry . Cal ibrat ion data was o bt ai ned usin g simple sulphate solutions in di stilled wa te r. Th e res u lts are give n in Tab le I a nd, for co mpari son, lit era ture va lues (Ri ley and Sk irrow, 1975 ) fo r di lut ed sea wa ler. Obse rved and lit erat ure val ues agree with in ex per ime nt a l error. Th e wate rs were we ll aera ted and sulphid e and s ulphit e were not de1ec1ed.

TABLE I. SULPHATE IN EST ARINE AND SEA WATERS* Source

Du ck Ri ver Bo1an y Bay

7.6 8. 1

(% ")

Mean sulphatet (111 g/ k g)

Standard deviation t (111gl kg)

15. 1 34.0

I 154t 2620t

20 30

Salinit_v

• Dcl crmined by rcdu ct io n·co ppcr- DMP met hod {Ra ma 8ha1

al .. 19 8 1) .

t ~1ean a nd -. iand a rd d e, ia1ion of 8 d c1cr m in a ti o m.

Co mpare ,,i1h 1162 mg/ kg at 150"0., 'ia linit y an d 263 5 mg/ kg at J4 °'o., (Ril ey an d Skir ro \\,

1975 ).

Boil er feedwate rs Sod iu m sul p hit e is added 10 boil er feed waters 10 scave nge di sso lved oxygen and so ret a rd corrosion. Sa mples of "blowdown" water were co ll ected in polythene bottles from steam boi lers in th e Schools of Chem istry a nd Biochemi stry a t the University of Sydney. Sulphide and sulphi te were determi ned by the method of Ra m a Bhat e l al. ( I 979) , the co lour-de ve lop m ent step bei ng carried out immediat ely after co ll ecti on a nd the rest of the a na lysis with in 24 h . For co mpa riso n, th e sa mples we re ana lysed by iod ide- iodate titra tio n and by th e meth ylene b lue co lorimetric mehod , with in I h of sa mp le

co ll ectio n (Standard met hods , 1976) . Sulph ate was determined later by th e method of Ram a Bhat el al. ( 198 1), usin g 10 µ L aliquot s and gra vimetri ca ll y, as barium sulphate , usin g 20 ml a liqu ots (St a ndard method s, 1976) . T ab les 2 a nd 3 give the resul! s obtain ed for wat ers from each boiler , sa mpled twice, a week a par t. Sulphid e was not detected by the standard o r proposed m ethod s. In the sa mplin g period (Ma y 11 - 22), neith er boi ler was trea ted with fres h sulphit e liquor a nd the concentrat io ns of sul ph ite decreased , as ex pec ted , with tim e. Measured sulph ate leve ls a re hi gh. Sulphat e ha s ev ide nt ly a cc umul a ted in th e wa ters o f both boi lers as a res ul! of sulphit e ox id at io n.

TABLE 2. SULP HITE IN BOIL ER FEEDWATERS

Date

Source Biochemistry School boi ler C hemistr y School boi le r •

Standard M eth od• Standard M ean sulphitet deviation

11 .5 .8 1 18.5.8 1 15.5 .81 22.5.8 1

Proposed Method t M ean Standard sulp hitet de viation

mg/ L

45.3 31.4 26.4 6.3

I.I 0 .8

45.9 32. 1 26.8 6.4

0 .9 0. 8 0 .6 0.2

0 .5 0.2

Iodide- iodate tit ratio n (Stan dard methods. 1976) . Coppcr-DMP met hod (Rama Bh at er at.. 1919 ). /\•l ean and 'ilandard deviation of 6 detcr mination'i.

Date

Source

CONCLUSIO S " Idea l" m ethods of c hemi ca l a na lys is a re s imp le 10 perform , very sensiti ve a nd fr ee from a ll int erfere nces : a nd p roba bly do no t ex ist. Ce rt a inl y a ll th e method s tested in th e prese nt work , including th e copper-DMP m eth od s, a re less th a n idea l. Th e copper- DMP m eth ods d o, however , have two a ppea lin g fea tures, 11 01 shared by ri va l meth od s. (i) Co lo ur stabi lit y . Co lo ur d eveloped in th e tests by forma ti on of th e bi s(DMP) co pper(l) io n is stab le over a wide tern era ture range ( 10- 30° C) fo r at least 24 hours. (ii) A sulph ate- red uct io n system whi ch ca n be used repea ted ly, witho ut pri or evaporatio n of th e water samp les . Thi s is pa rti cul a rly co nve ni ent. Usin g 10 to 100 µL sa m p le vo lumes, we were a bl e to perfo rm as many a s 500 det ermination s with a single ba tch o f redu ction mi xture. Stored und er nitroge n , th e mi xture rema in ed e ffect ive fo r a t least two m o nths .

ACK OWLEDGEMENT

TABLE 3. SUL PHAT E IN BOIL ER FEEDWATERS Standard Method * Standard M ean s ulphatet deviation

Th e res ul! s obta ined fo r sulph ate by t he var io us m~hod s (Tab le 4) agree wit hin ex perim enta l error. Th e reductio n-spectrophotometr ic _meth od of G ust afss on ( 1960) proved to be the leas t prec ise (rela tive sta nda rd d ev iat io n = ± 80Jo, co mpa red with ± 3- 40Jo for the oth er m et hod s) . Thi s is due probab ly to the need in th e Gu sta fsso n Meth od fo r pre li mina ry sa mpl e evaporat ion a nd ca reful tempera ture co ntrol in th e co lo ur-deve lop m ent step.

Proposed Method t Standard M ean sulphate§ de viation

mg/ L

Biochemistry School bo iler

11.5. 8 1 18.5.8 1

2200 22 15

80 75

2220 2200

55 60

C hemistr y School boi ler

15.5.8 1 22.5.8 1

1290 1280

20 20

1300 1320

25 25

•

Bariu m 'i ulphat e gravime tri c (Standa rd methods . 1976). Rcduc ti on-co ppcr -DM P method ( Rama Bh at er a/., 198 1). l Mea n and sta ndard d ev iatio n of 4 determinatio ns. § Mean and siandard deviation of 6 determinat ions

Sewage and wastewa ter Anoxic waler was obtained from o ne of th e sc reening cha nn els of a Sydn ey Metropo li ta n sewage treatment p la nt. Th e samples were co ll ec ted in polyth ene bo!l les. So me of th e bott les conta in ed zin c aceta te reagent , to fi x sulphide io ns as zinc sulph ide, a nd th ese sa mp les were ana lysed for sulphide wit hin 4 h of collection by the met hyle ne b lu e colorimetric met hod (Standard method s, I 976). Ot her sampl e were not "fixed " with zinc aceta te but in stead treated immedi ately with the reagen ts of th e method of Ra m a Bhat el al. (1979) for sul p hide a nd sulphit e a nd th e a na lyses co m p leted with in 24 h. Sa mpl es were a lso a nal ysed iod im etri ca ll y. A week late r , sulph a te in th e wa ters was determined by th e meth od of Ra m a Bhat el al. (198 I) , by th e redu ct io n-meth ylene blue procedure of Gustafss on (1960), grav im etri ca ll y a s barium su lphate a nd volumetrica lly, using barium perch lo rate titra nt a nd tho rin indi cator (William s, 1979). Th e concent ratio n of sulphide was fou nd to be 1.09 ( ± 0.02) mg/ L by the method of Rama Bhat e l al. ( 1979) a nd 1.06 ( ± 0.02) m g/ L by the meth ylene blu e method , these va lu es bein g in eac h case the m ea n a nd sta ndard dev ia tion of 6 determin at io ns. No sulphit e was detected by t he copper-DMP method , al!hough iodid e- iodate titration s indicated a n apparent sulphit e level of 2.5 mg/ L, pres uma bl y due to respo nse by the sulphide io ns.

Ass istan ce by th e Metropo li ta n Wat er Sewerage a nd Dra in age Board in th e co ll ec ti o n of wastewater sa mples is grate fu ll y ac kn ow ledged.

REFERENCES BROWN , M. E. ( 196 1) Ultra-mi cro sugar determin a tion s using 2,9dim eth yl- l , 10-ph enanthrolin e hyd roc hl o ride, Diabe1es 10 , 60-62 GUSTAFSSON, L. (1960) Det er mination of ultramicro amoun ts of sulph ate as meth yle ne blue, Talama 4, 227-243 . H ALL, J . R., MAR C H ANT, N. K. a nd PLOWMAN , R. A. (1 962) Coo rd ina tion compound s o f substitut ed I , 10-ph ena nthrolines and rela ted d ipyrid yls, Aust.J. Chem. 15 , 480- 485 . HAWKI NS , C. J . an d P E RRI N, D. D . ( 1963) Ox idati o n-red uct io n pot enti a ls of metal co m plexes in wa ter , J. Chem .Soc.2996-3002. RAMA BH AT , S ., EC KER T , J . M ., GE YE R , R . a nd G IB SON, N. A. ( 1979) Extrac tion-spectrophoto m et ri c dete rmin a tion of sulphide a nd sulphit e in waters based on format ion of the bi s {2,9-d imeth yl- 1, 10-phena nth ro lin e) co pper(l) ion , Anal.Chim . Ac1a 108 , 293-296 . RAMA BHAT S ., ECKE RT , J. M. a nd G l l'-SON, N. A. (198 1) A red ucti o n - spectrop hotometr ic method for the determination of sulph ate in waters, Aal. Chim . Ac! 128 , 263 -267. RIL E Y, J . P. a nd S KIRROW , G. (Editors) ( 1975 ) 'Chemi ca l O cea nogra ph y' (Aca dem ic Press, London) 4, 320. SAN DELL , E . B. (19 59) 'Co lorimetri c Determination of Traces of Met a ls ' , 3rd edn (l nt erscience, New York). 'Sta nd ard Method s for the Exa minati o n o f Wat er a nd W astewater ' ( 1976), 14t h edn. (Am e ri ca n Publi c H ea lth A ss ociat io n , Was hin gton , D. C. ) . WILLIAMS , W. J . (1979) ' Ha nd book of An io n Determin a tion ' (Butterworth, London) , 500-6 12. YAMA MOTO , Y., KUMAMARU , T. , HAYASHI , Y. a nd YAMAMOTO , M . ( 1974). Th e spectrophotometric det er mination of a nion s by so lvent extract io n with m eta l chelate ca tions, Anal. Chim. Ac/a 69, 32 1- 328.

TA BLE 4. SULPHATE IN SEWAGE TANK WATER M ethod

M ean sulphate

Standard deviation

mg/ L

,ng/ L

Reduction-copper-DMP method of Ra ma Bhat et al. ( 198 1)

68 .7*

2.0

Reduct io n-met hylene blue method of Guslafsson ( 1960)

67. 1•

Ba rium sulphate volum etric method

67 .6*

5.2 2.0

Ba rium su lph ate gravimetric met hod

68. It

2.5

• Mean a nd Standard deviat ion of 8 determination ,; t Mea n and Sia ndard dcvia1ion of 6 determinati o n'\.

COMMENT AND DISCUSSION BY READERS Correspondence is welcome on papers published in this Journal and on any Editorial material or on subjects of interest and of relevance to the Association WRITE THE EDITOR WATER March, /983 21

INDEX

1981 & 1982

WATER

VOL. 8-1981

VOL. 9-1982

No. I - MARCH The Phi losop hy o f Australian Water Legis lati o n - Part III .......... Sandford. D . Cla rk Indu strial Waste Treatment by J. G. Parker, B. J . Lyons Direct Aerobic Digestion ..... and C. D . Park er ..... E. A. Sw inton Desalination - State of the Art Estimated Ann ual Water Use in A ustra lia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... B. Klaassen

No. I - MARCH L.A. Nagy Aq uatic Mercury/ Pollution Control . .and B. H. Olson A Review of Treatment Techniques . . Development of the Water Resources o f South -East Asia . ...... . D. G. Price and J . A. H. Brown Proposed Reha bilitation of a n Aqu ifer Co ntaminated with . P. C. Smi th and G. Schral e C heese Factory Wastes . . .

No. 2 - JUNE Con tinuous Ion Excha nge E . A . Swi nton , P.R. Nadebaum , Usi ng Magnetic Microresi ns R. W . M urtagh Pa rt I . . .and R. J . O'beirne Ninth Federal Co nve ntion - Perth 1981 T he Convention on the Swan-Poem Po lymer Membrane Dam Lining . .. R. P. Burford Performance Testing.... Water in to the Hunter Valley - Abst ract

'No. 2 - JUNE Protecti ve Coati ng for Waterwork s Struct ures - So me Experiences of th e S. R. & W.S .C . ... .. . . . . L.A. Rei ll y and T. J . Ri chards Melbourn e Water Distribution System Corrosion and its Mit igation .... Talk by B. Hatfield

No. 3 - SEPTEMBER Manpower and Ed ucatio n for the Water Industry .. A.W.R.C . Technical Paper -Abstract Co ntinu ous Iron Exchange E. A. Swinton , P.R. Nadebaum using Magnetic Micro resi ns R. W. Murtlagh Part II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. R. J . O'beirne Opt imi zation of Energy in Water Distr ibution Systems by Effective . . . .... K. A. Steele Meas urement and Control . . .. 1. G . Parker Potato Waste Treatment , Ballarat ..

No. 3 - SEPTEMBER Chlori ne Dose and Triholomethane Formation . . N. H. Pilkington Water- Pristin e Pure? ... . .. .... .. . ......... W. N. Sloane Interm ed iate Sedimentation with Two-stage Biologica l Filters ............ . . .. K. J. Hartley A ust ralian Society for Limnology - 21st Co nference - Griffith N .S.W.

No. 4 - DECEMBER Biology, Taxonomy and Wat er Q uality Monitoring in A ustralia Streams ... Ia n C. Ca mpbell Iss ues in Urban Water Supply a n Eco nom ic Perspective ...... . . .... . . .. D . R. Ga ll agher Reclamation o f Salin e Land in the Mu rray Basin ......... .. .. . .. . . . .. .. .. A. R. Coad

No. 4 - DECEMBER S. Rama Bhat, Th e Determination of Sulphur A ni ons in Water and Wastewater ... J.M . EcKert and N. A. Gibson Sewering of Brisbane .. . . . . . .'. . ... F. Greenhalg So me Remini scences .. .. . Th e Wastewater Industry in Queensland ....... .. . . . .. . ... . .... J. O 'Connor

* KENT INSTRUMENTS IN NEW POWER STATIONS

A. E. ST ANSEN INSTRUMENT CATALOGUE The publication includes a range of samp lin g and flow measurement devices and analytical instruments for: Disso lved Oxygen , Salini ty, Conductivity, Temperature, Spectrophotometry, Flu orometry , CO2 Incubators, Nephelometers, ATP Photometers and glassware. For copies contact A. E. Stansen & Co . P/L, PO Box 118, Mount Waverley 3149 .

......

APMA PIPE FRICTION HANDBOOK Th is second technical pub li cation by the Australian Pump Manufacturers Association presents co ld water friction losses in met ric units for virtual ly all types of commercial pipe. The Electricity Comm ission , NSW has awarded Kent Instruments (Aust.) P/L a $A4.8 mi lli on contract for instrumentation systems at Bayswater and Mt. Piper Stations for bo il er water ana lysis, con tro l and monitoring eq uipment. Sim ilar systems are in use at Vales Point, Erar22 WATER March, 1983

ing (illustrated), Liddel l, Munmorah and Wal lerawang . Kent will also provide automat ive plants for batching and inj ec ti on of chemicals with local and centralised control funct ions in c luding dosing rumps, panels and dilution tanks.

Additiona l tables cover viscous liquid s, irrigation , hydraulic power transmission and liquid properties . Available at $25 (incl. post) from APMA National Secretary, PO Box 817 , Canberra City 2601.

THE WASTEWATER INDUSTRY IN QUEENSLAND J. O'Connor INTRODUCTION This paper provides data on the development and extent of wastewater control in Queensland. Mention is made of the relevant State legislation and statistics are included wh ich summarise the efforts of the community to ach ieve thi s control. MUNICIPAL SEWERAGE The total expenditure on sewerage systems by Queensland Local Authorities to June 1982 exceeds $2,500 million in present day cost terms and this does not include sewerage work financed from private, that is, non-government, fund s. Out of a total estimated State population of 2,247,800 at 30th June, 1980, approximately 1, 753,000 persons were served by sewerage and of these 1,699,000 were served by sÂˇewage treatment plants. (The city of Townsville still di scharges approximately two thirds of its sewage untreated into the sea.) Brisbane was the first Local Authority to provide sewerage in I 923 . Other major cities which commenced to provide this service after the above date were:Toowoomba 1925 Rockhampton 1948 Mackay 1937 Ipswich 1949 Maryborough 194 1 Townsvill e 1949 Bundaberg 1944 It is noteworth y that south western shires provided sewerage early in the hi story of sewerage development in Queens land. These included such towns as:Qu ilpi e 1941 Warwick 1944 Cunnamull a 1942 Charleville 1947 By 1962 most of the towns in the south and central western Local Authorities of Queensland were sewered . A leading figure in this achievement was Consul ting Engineer, J. Mulholland , who convinced Counci ls of the necess ity for thi s service to the community and designed in expens ive schemes based on Imhoff tank and lagoons. By 1962 there were 40 municipal sewage treatment plants complete or under construction and by 197 1, the number had increased to 110. TABLE 1

Plant Type Primary sedimentation , sludge digestion only Imhoff ta nk/ lagoon Imhoff tank/ biological filtration Primary sedimentation , sludge digestion biological filt er Prima ry sedimentation, sludge digestion , activated sludge Oxidation ditch

Plants with tertiary treatment (i.e. sand filtration or microstraining or grass filtration or aquatic plant lagoons) Plants with final effluent chlorination Plants without final effluent chlorination

Since that date there has been a steady growth , with 172 installations in 1975 administered by 97 Local Authorities. By February 1982, out of the total 134 Queensland Local Authorities, 102 Local Aut horiti es had sewerage system s under their administration. The number of Local Authority sewage treatment plants then in service was 192. Until the mid- sixties, sewage treatment was either by Imhoff tank and lagoons or by sedimentation and biological fil tration but since then man y plants have been designed using the activated sludge system. Recently, oxidation-channel treatment has been adopted for severa l large new plants in th e Go ld Coast are a nd in Ipswich in an at tem pt to reduce odours and operational problems. Of the 192 muni cipal sewage treatment plants existing in 1982, all but one provide secondary in addition to primary treatment. Tab le I li sts the various treatment plant types. The sewage treatment and disposal sys tem which has attracted the most public interest and discussion in Queens land is that for the Gold Coast region. Construction of the sewerage scheme commenced in 1962 but is not yet complete, la rgely because of the unprecedented population growth in the region. Ocean disposal of treatment pla nt effluent has always been a co ntroversial feature of the planning for thi s sys tem but several assessments and reassessments have all r.oncluded that such di sposal is the most practical and environmentally acceptab le approach. INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER SYSTEMS Since 1973, practically all major industries in Queens land have installed or have improved their wastewater treatment sys tem s to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act. These include 30 sugar mills, 24 abattoirs, I paper mill , 27 mining and mineral processing operations, 2 fert iliser works, 3 tanneries, 9 dairy factories and 4 food process ing factori es. Figures of the expenditure by industry on industrial wastewater systems are not available but the total volume of industria l wastewater disc harge under licence control of th e Clean Waters Act is approximately 10 million cubic metres per day, equivalent to the domestic sewage discharge from a populatiorf of 40 million persons. OPERA TOR TRAINING

N o.

Total Design Population

3 42 19

21,000 53,000 42,000

685,000

60 12

1,646,000 204,000

192

2,651,000

10 131

103,400 1,857,000

794,000

Effluent from 36 plants is disposed of solely onto land. Jack O'Connor is Prin cipal Engin eer (Technical Services), Technical Services Branch, Town Water Supply and Sewerage Division, Queensland Departm enr of Local Governmenr .

In 1965, a formal training course for operators of wastewater, water supply and swimming pool treatment plants was introduced in Queens land. This was prov ided by the Technical Correspondence School of the Queensland Department of Ed ucation . In 1975, a proposal was submitted to Queensland State Cabinet for an operator training school , similar to that now existing in Victoria but designed for the training of water supply and swimming pool plant operators as well as wastewater operators. Finance for such purpose was offered under the Federal Government' s National Sewerage Programme which was in operation at that time. The submi ssion was rejected by Cabinet for reasons not stated . In the author's opinion one poss ibl e reaso n co uld have been Cabinet's re lucta nce to set up a techni ca l edu cation fac ilit y outside th e ambit of the Queensland Department o f Education. In 1978, a completely revised correspondence training course for wastewater plant operators was made available by the Department of Education's Technical Correspondence School. All of the lecture material was prepared by officers of the Queensland Department of Local Government. This course involves one academic year's study and includes two weeks full time attendance at classes on laboratory techniques and plant operation a nd maintenance duties. In Feburary 1982, a working group produced a repo rt on the needs for operator training in Aust rali a for th e Plannin g and Management Commi ttee of the Australi an Water Resources Council. The report assessed the current need for trained wastewater operators in Queensland as 465 persons to service both the municipal and WATER

March, 1983 23

industrial wastewater fields, with an annual loss by retirement and other causes of about 15% . To date approximately 150 persons have been trained to a basic standard un_d er the Queens land Technic!l l Co rrespondence School course. In line with o ne of th e reco mm endation s of the report , atte mpts are now bein g made in Queens land , to set up and adv isory committ ee on training of both water and wastewater operators, which wou ld endeavour to introduce several levels of training and/ or qualifi cation to suit varying complexiti es and sizes of faci li ties handl ed by operators. Th e Water Qua li ty Coun cil of Queensland has adopted a po licy requiring th at all wa stewater treat ment pl ant s be under the Âˇco ntro l of a qualified operator and that such requirement should be included in licences at so me future date. Due to the inadequate number of qua lified operators, th e Council has not yet implemented this policy . WASTEWATER REUSE IN QUEENSLAN D The major reuse of reclaimed municipal wastewater in Queensland is for th e irrigation of golf links, sports fi elds a nd recreat ion areas. This, however, uses onl y a small proport ion of th e wastewater avai lab le, probably no more than 5% of the total State volum e. Although some investiga tions have been made into the reuse of municipal wastewater for power station coo ling water, the cost has not been sufficientl y attractive. By far the largest element in the cos t wou ld be pipeline transport , since the most proba bl e application is for new power stations remote from large urban centres . Th is situation co uld change in the next two decades with the es ta blishment of new major users of process water such as paper mill s and ext ractive industries and th e further commitment of the State' s fresh water resources for agriculture. Certain Queensland industri es reuse their wastewater either as process water or for irrigation. Notable exampl es a re sugar mills, a battoirs and coal mining. Reuse in sugar mills is for was hwater and for suga r cane irrigation, in abbattoirs for pen washing and holding yard irrigation and at several coal mines water for coa l washing is reused after pond settling. Such reuse is es timated to be about 25%. LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION In Queensland, legislative control over wastewater is ves ted in both State and Local Government. The most speci fi c state co ntrol s are the Pollution of Water by Oil Act and the Clean Waters Act. The form er applies only to the discharge of oi l into natural waters. In relati on to offences against illegal di scharges of oil , thi s Act ta kes precedence over the Clean Waters Act. Where wastewater is a mixture of oil and other waste material, an offence may be punishable under either pi ece of legislation . The Clean Waters Act appli es to all other wastewaters with som e nominated exceptions referred to later, and is the major tool used in the State's control of wastewater disposal in Queensland. Loca l government control stem s from the Local Government Act 1936 - 1981, the City of Brisba ne Act 1924 - 198 l and the Sewe rage and Water Supply Act 1949 - 1981 , the fir st two Acts givi ng Queens land Local Authorities power to undertake the function of providing sewerage, the third setting out standard Local Authority By-laws for both sewerage and water suppl y. The principal By-laws associated with wastewater are the fo ll owing Sewerage By- laws:By- law 33 Compulsory and Permiss ible Discharges By- law 34 Prohibited Discharges By- law 35 Conditions of Discharge These By-laws give a Local Authority power to control di scharges . to sewerage systems. Other Sewerage By-laws are aimed at preventing overflows from sewerage systems. Prior to the proclamation of th e Clean Waters Act in early 1973, wastewater disposa l was largely the responsib ility of Local Authorit ies except for some special agreements between the State a nd large indu stries. Thus the Local Authority would decide the degree of treatment necessary for the discharge from its own sewerage system and also th e requirements for wastewater di sposal from private indu stry in its area. Long established industries such as sugar mills a nd abattoirs were, in practice, free to di spose of their wastewaters as they thought fit. The State exercised some influen ce on effl uent stand ard s

â&#x20AC;˘ 24 WATER March, 1983

by virtue of State-guaranteed fund conditio~ but this had no statu tory basis. Since 1973, effl uent control has been administered by the Water Quality Council under the Clean Waters Act subj ect to the Mini ster for Local Government. The Act requires that a person occupyi ng premises from which wastewater is discharged to any natural waters mu st hold a licence for that disc harge. Some wastewater discharges are excluded from the licensing requirements, including wastes from vessels di scha rging into tidal waters, effluents from septic tank in stallations usually serving not more than 100 persons, stormwater runoff from agr icu ltural land and certain industria l effluent s where special state industry Acts or agreements refered to earli er a ppl y. A ll discharges to natural waters from Local Authority sewerage systems and from pri vate wastewater systems are subject to li censing under the Clea n Waters Act. Such discharges includ e overflows as well as wastewa ter treatment plant efflu ent s. Wastewater di scharges di sposed of totally by percolation in to the gro.und or by evapotran spiration, even when the weather is wet, are not subj ec t to lice nsin g. Licences under the Clea n Waters Act spec ify max imum volumes and rates of discharge a nd qua li ty a nd may include oth er specia l co nditions. They are subj ect to annual rev iew. By April 1982, there were 188 licences held by Local Authorities and 227 by other orga ni sat ion s co nsistin g of se mi -governm ental and pri va te organi sation s and indu stry. These figures exclude li cences for overflows, that is, they are solely for di scharges from wastewater treatment plants. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WASTEWATER INDUSTRY A considerable proportion of current expenditure on municipal sewerage is for the augmentation of treatment , trunk sewers and pumping systems. The remainder is direted to overcoming the backlog of unsewered a reas, largely in the south-east corner of Queensland, and for ex tending sewerage to new growth areas such as developing tourist regions and mining towns. Increased effort s wi ll be made to ex tract greater effi ciency from existi ng Local Authority treatment systems and to expanding such plant s with minimum capital outlay. The increased emphasis on these matters has been brought about in the last two yefirs by the changed relativity, between the interest rate on loans (that is, the cost of capital) a nd the inflat ion rate. Economic assessments now prescribe that capit al be expended on ly when it is essential to compl y with present regulatory or other unavoida ble requirem ents. Capital outlay for long term needs ca n no longer be justffied on economic gro unds. Hence, systems with lower capital cost but hi gher operation cost will have in creasing vogue. For example , activated sludge treatment plants could be upgraded by increas ing their oxygenation capacity using air or oxygen inj ection , by the use of flow- equalising storage basins or pumpin g equipment , and by pre-treatment by upstream sewers or press ure main oxygenation. Pl ant expansions wi ll be for shorter proj ections than has been past practice . In dustry has never built wastewater systems for as long a design life as has been the practice for municipal work s because, in general industry has not seen the same permanency in activities. However, faced with the same problems in capital outlay as semi-government bodi es, indu stry will be placing similar importance on limiting capital expenditure wherever possible. In summary, practical research to develop a changed approach to was tewater treatm ent and di sposal by both the Local Authorities and private industry is forecast. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A ll of the data contained herei n has been o btained by virtue of my employment in th e Queensland Department of Local Government. I thank a ll officers of that Depa rtment who have assisted me in compilin g thi s inform ation, particularly Mr. H . F. Desmond , Queensla nd Director of Water Qua lit y a nd Mr. D . E. Kemp, Executive Engineer of the Water Quality Section of the Department.

TECHNICAL INTERESTS FURTHER NOTICE

AWWA FIFTH SUMMER SCHOOL Canberra, Feb. 6-10, 1984

WATER MANAGEMENT METHODS 1984 AND BEYOND Major themes are : • Ass im ilative capacity of lakes and streams for effluents. • Monitoring and modelling of urban waterways. • Unit processes for water and wastewater treatment. • Finance and management for the water industry. The venue, Canberra College of Advanced Education offers excellent facilities, laboratories, micro-computers for participants, programmes and convenient accommodation. Further information: AWWA Summer School Cl- School Applied Science, Canberra College of Advanced Education, P.O. Box 1, Belconnen, A.C.T. 2616. Phone (062) 52 2525.

......

INSTITUTE OF WATER POLLUTION CONTROL

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION Coventry - Sept. 6-8, 1983 The De Veere Hotel , Coventry is the venue with excellent facilities and a wide choice of accommodation is available. Papers will include coverage of research and deve lopment on sludge treatment and disposal, process management in sewage treatment , water research in South Africa , project design and management , health and amenity aspects of surface waters , purification lakes and water reclamation and river management. Vis its to treatment plants, laboratories and historic sites and social programme. Enquiries to the Secretary, 53 London Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 8JH, UK.

PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE Data Processing in the Water Industry Papers and proceedings of the sym posium held in Bournemouth , April , 1982. Paperback, 92 pages, $10 . Small Sewage Works (reprint) Papers of the Doncaster symposium, 1981. Paperback, 164 pages, $10.

AUST. INST. OF HEALTH SURVEYORS

PATENTS IN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY & RESEARCH

11TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE Launceston, Tas., Oct. 8-12, 1984

ONE DAY SEMINAR Melbourne, July 13, 1983

CALL FOR PAPERS Topics includ e all aspects of En vironmental Health subjects , including but not limited to : • Urban and Country Planning • Occupational/Industrial Health and Safety • Counter Disaster Planning • Food Technology • Waste Treatm ent and Disposal , solid and liquid • Health in isolated areas • Health Education and Promotion • Swimming Pools , private and public • Community Health Programmes • Ventilation • Pollution Futher details from Mr J. Scott , P.O. Box 1, Beaconsfield , Tas. 7251.

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

FLOOD PREDICTIONS ESTIMATIONS AND FORECASTING Summer Short Course 1983 June 27-July 1 Fee US$600 Details from Course Director Prof. H. W. Shen, Hydrology and Water Resources Programme, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Col. 80523, USA.

CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES

PRINCIPLES OR WASTEWATER TREATMENT, DESIGN, OPERATION MANAGEMENT OF HAZARDOUS TOXIC INTRACTABLE WASTES Sydney, July 18-22, 1983

Sponsors: Dept . Chem . Eng. , Old University , Schoo l Civil Eng. , University of N.S.W.

Sponsored by Inst. of Patent Attorn eys and Royal Aust. Ch emical Inst. , Polymer Div 'n. Making effective use of Patent System , Australian Patent System , taking out patents overseas , computer researching , case studies . Contribu t ions from patent attorn eys, the patent office compani es and res earch organi sati o ns. Further details: Dr G. Guise, RACI , Polymer Div 'n, P.O . Box 224, Belmont 3216. (052) 47 2695.

BOOK REVIEW WAT ER A ND WA ST EWATER ENGI NEERI NG SYST EMS D . Ba rn es, P . J . Bliss, B. W. G ould a nd H . R. Va lentin e. Pi t ma n P ubli shing Pt y. Ltd., Lo ndo n , 198 1, $22.50 . Thi s 500 page book prov ides a n excellent introdu cti o n to the basic principles a nd des ign criteri a for wa ter a nd was tewa ter systems includin g treatm ent processes. Th e boo k is prov id ed prima ril y fo r student s stud ying civil engin ee ring but would also serve as a n excell ent reference fo r student s in related fi elds such as environm enta l sc iences, chemica l engineerin g, tow n pl a nning a nd surveying. , It provides substa nti a l inform a ti o n o n th e theoreti ca l prin ciples of wa ter systems with a tt enti o n lO th e fo ll owing a reas: wa ter so urces a nd dema nd , water transmi ssio n, wastewater co llecti o n , chemi ca l a nd mi crobiological aspec ts o f wate r, polluti o n , physical treatm ent processes, coagulatio n a nd n occul a ti o n , disinfecti o n , bi o logica l treatm ent processes, sludge treat ment a nd di sposa l, indu stria l treatm ent a nd ad va nced wastewate r trea tm ent recla mat io n . Th e a uth ors, fr o m the New So ut h Wa les Uni versit y's Departm ent of Wa ter Engin eerin g, have compiled a useful reference with genera l introd ucto ry in fo rm ati o n o n a broad spectru m of wa ter a nd wastewater syste ms.

J . S. PA RK

CHANGING YOUR ADDRESS?

Principal lecturers Prof. Wes Eckerfelder, USA , Dr Peter Croakley , UK , Prof. Steve ltrudey , Canada , Dr D. Barnes , Un iv. NSW, Dr P. Greenfield , Univ. Old.

PLEASE CONFIDE IN US!

Details from Dr. P. Barnes, Univ. Old., St . Lucia 4067 or Dr. D. Barnes, Univ. NSW, P.O. Box 1, Kensington 2033.

ADDRESSES ON PAGE 1

ADVISE YOUR BRANCH SECRETARY

WATER March, / 983 25

PLANT AND EQUIPMENT DANFROSS - TREATMENT AND MOTOR SPEED CONTROLS

LARGE SUBMERSIBLES FOR SEWAGE

NEW TREATMENT GROUP STAUFFER AUST.

Ru sse l Arm stro ng P/L has released a new rang e of ' Danfross ' con trols.

Mono Pumps now offer the AF range of electro-submersibles offsetting the cost of dry-wells and with fewer pumping stations.

A new Paper and Water Treatment Group has been announced by Stauffer Aust . Limited with Product Manager E. (Lou) Louizidis.

Th e EMUF and EMUC ultraso ni c fl ow transm itters for pipes and ope n c hanne ls ca n be connected to record ing and disp lay in strum ent s and EMAT vo lum e co unters.

Th e Company wi ll broad en its f locc ulant ra nge by manufactur ing Pol yac ry lam ide Copo lymers. Plant construction wi ll co mm ence in June.

Th e EMCO dissolved oxyge n t ra nsmitter ca n be used for indication and for control of aerat io n motors through VLT stat ic freq uency co nvert er.

Initia l product for local manufacture w ill be drainage aid HIMOLOC KLI I, other hi gh tec hn o logy fl occu lant s w ill fo llow.

Th e VL T motor co ntro l pro vid es infinitely var iab le co ntro l o f any standard sq uirrel cage mo tor.

Enquiries: Robert Milner, Marketing Manager, Stauffer Aust. Limited , PO Box 80, Pa rra matta 2150, (02) 638 4555.

Enquiries: Russel Armstrong P/L, 224 Wellington Road , Mulgrave 3170. Phone (03) 561 1144.

KENT - LIQUID ANALYSERS CATALOGUE PORTABLE TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY RECORDER Kent Instruments (Australia) announce the introduction of the HT100, a small compact electronic recorder primarily intended for the measurement and recording of the temperature and relative humidity of air in office blocks and laboratories, computer rooms, and other controlled environments.

This new 20 page catalogue describes the extensive Kent range of liquid analysers for industria l, scientific and research applications.

Th e il lu stration shows a larg e AF900 in Albert Shire , Queensland whic h will in iti ally pump raw sewage at 42 US against 44 m head and f inally 102 US aga inst 36.25 m head. Th e new AF range has a co ntra bl ock sys tem to deal w ith mode rn sewage so li ds, its own coo lin g system and inbui lt pro tec ti on fea tures. Enquiries : F . Dawson, Marketing Manager, Mono Pumps (Aust .) P/L, PO Box 123, Mordialloc 3195. (03) 580 5211 .

Covered are instrum en ts , sensors and eq uip ment for meas ureme nt and co ntro l o f pH , Redox, p Io n, Conductivity , Disso lved Oxyge n, and for co nt inuo us monitoring o f wa ter ana lys is. Copies available free from Marketing Dept. Kent Inst ruments ,(Aust.) P/L, PO Box 333, Caringbah 2229 or any Kent branch.

......

-t

LEVEL DATA AQUISITION SYSTEM MARKLAND ULTRA-SONIC SUSPENDED SOLIDS METER

The HT100 recorder has a temperature range of - 10 to + 70°C and a humid ity range of Oto 100 per cent RH. Record ing is on a waxed paper strip-c hart w hich prov ides up to two years record, th e s lowest cha rt speed of 24 mm/day . As standard the instrument also has c hart speeds of 48 and 96 mm/day .

Hahn & Kolb announce the new 500AD and 500S suspended solids meters with significant advantages over optical and radioactive meters in turbidity limits , drift, hazard and maintenance cost factors.

Suitab le for sludg e blanket detec t io n, auto mated detection , automa ted desludging , automati c make -up and co ntro l or batc h mi x ing .

Designed for desk mounting , the se nsor is c li pped to the side o f its case for am bient t emperature mo nitoring . The sen sor can be pos it io ned up to 5 m d istance from the recorder . The recorder can be mains or battery operated and has an inbu il t battery rec harger.

Range 0.05 to 7 per cent SS (s tand ard ) ot hers ava il able, acc uracy ± 0.05 per ce nt min , liqui d temperature 1 to 45 ° C, output s - relay 10A , c urrent 4-20 mA option , vol tage-li nea r 0-10 V 100 mA max . short ci rc uit pro tected , probe stain less stee l pv c epoxy fa ced t rans du cer coax ial vin y l sheath ed ca bl e.

Information from: Douglas J. Rickard, Kent Instruments (Aust .) P/L, 70 Box Road, Caringbah 2229.

Details: Hahn & Kolb (Aust.) P/L, 5 University Place, Clayton Nth . 3168. Phone (03) 561 5211 .

26 WATER March, 1983

The ISCO system measures liquid levels in sewers or other open channels at a number of locations and collects and transfers to a data processing system.

The bas ic 2500 system comprises leve l sensor, memory modu le, ca li brator and interrogator. At meas u reme nt po in ts , pressure tra nsducers in the invert of the f low stream transmit level data by cab le to a Memory Modu le for storage . An interrogator periodicall y transfers t he stored data to a magnetic tape and the nce to a data process ing system . A cal ibrator in the system is used during init ial installatio n of sensors for ca li bration and for synchron isat ion of t he Memory Mod ul e. The Sensor and Memory Mod ul e can measure leve l every 30 m inutes for 28 days, a s ingle tape in t he Interrogator ca n ho ld informat ion from up to 85 sites. Enquiries: A. E. Stansen & Co. P/L, PO Box 118, Mt. Waverley 3149.

CALENDAR 1983-1984 April 10-17, Crete

July 4-7, York, U.K.

October 3-6, Tel Aviv, Israel

Environmental Impact Symposium.

3rd IA WPRC River Basin Conference .

Agritech '83 .

April 11-15, Sydney, Aust. AWWA 10th Federal Convention.

July 11-15, Sydney, N.S .W .

October 5-7, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Seminar-Management of Toxic, Hazardous and Intractable Wastes (Univ. of

Oxidation Ditch Technology.

April 12-15, Manchester, U.K. W .R .C. on Stabilization and Disinfection of

N.S.W .)

October 10-19, Moscow, U.S.S.R.

Sewage Sludge.

July 12-14, London, U.K.

Water Management. Congress, World Water '83 (J.C.E.).

October 25-27 , Innsbruck, Austria

July 15-26, Hamburg, Germany

5th Int. Symposium on Internal and External Protection of Pipes .

April 12-18, Shanghai, China

Multinational Conference & Exhibition on Instrumental Technology. April 18-22, Anaheim, Cal., U.S.A.

Int. Symposium and Workshop on Hydrological Application of Remote Data Transmission.

National Ass. of Corrosion Engineers Corrosion '83.

August, Newcastle, N .S. W.

November 8-10, Hobart, Australia

April 25-26, Kansas City, U.S.A.

Computers in Engineering Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics.

Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium.

November, Brisbane, Australia

Metal Structures Conference.

Wind and Solar Energy Technology. April 25-26, London, U.K.

Conference on Control of Exposure to Hazardous Materials.

August 12-16, Hobart, Tasmania

November 8-10, Jakarta, Indonesia

Aust. Surveying Assoc. with Inst. of Mining & Eng. Surveyors.

Asia Pacific Water Supply Conference.

August 14-19, Perth, W. Australia

Conference on Water and Development in Asia .

November 20, Cambridge, U.K.

May 2-6, Noordwijkerhout, N'lands

Solar World Congress.

Int. Symposium on Methods and Instrumentation for the Investigation of Groundwater Systems.

August 14-20, Mass. U.S.A.

November 22-24, Canberra, Australia

3rd Int. Symposium on Aerobic Digestion.

Workshop on Water Resource Data.

May 9-13, Perth W. Aust.

August 15-27, Hamburg, W. Germany

53rd ANZAAS Congress .

Hydrological Applications of Remote Sensing and Data Transmission.

November JO-December 2, Canberra, Australia

Symposi um on Prediction in Water Quality.

August 17-19, Melbourne, Australia

December 5-9, Sydney, N.S.W.

4th Int. Congress on Plant Pathology

Int. Conference-Groundwater and Man.

May 9-13, Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S.A.

Remote Sensing of the Environment. May 16-20, Brisbane, Queensland

Annual Scientific Meeting, Soc. of Microbiology .

August 24-26, Copenhagen, Denmark

Rainfall and Urban Runoff Design and Analysis (IAWPRC).

May 17-19, Burlington, Ont. Canada

!st Int. Symposium on Toxicity Testing Using Bacteria .

September 4-9, Darwin, Northern Terriory

1984

Specialised Conference on Water Regime and the Uranium Industry.

April, Yellowknife, Canada

Arctic Water Pollution Reserve.

May 23-26, Perth, W. Aust.

Geochemical Exploration in Arid and Deeply Weathered Environments.

September 12-16, Brussels, Belgium Aqua-Expo, 1983 & IWSA Exhibition.

April 9-13, Sydney, Australia

38th Annual Conference of Appita . May 23-27, Florence, Italy

September 19-21, London, U.K.

!st World Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse.

Advances in Solid-Liquid Separation Symposium.

54th ANZAAS Congress

May

May 30, Baltimore, U.S.A.

September 19-22, Brisbane, Queensland

May 22-26, Munich, W. Germany

Groundwater Flow and Solute Transport in Fractured Rocks.

2nd National Local Government Engineering Conference.

European Sewage and Refuse Symposium (EAS) .

June 5-8, Florence, Italy

September 19-23, Vienna, Austria

June 4-8, Gothenburg, Sweden

1983 Conference of Int. Federation of Consulting Engineers.

Design and Operation of Large Wastewater Treatment Plants (IAWPRC).

3rd International Conference on Urban Storm Drainage.

June 13-16, Edmonton, Canada

September 19-25, Toulouse, France

September 17-20, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Int. Conference on Pipeline Inspection.

4th Int. Conference on Chemistry for Environmental Protection.

12th International Conference on Water Pollution Research and Control, IA WPRC.

June 13-17, Colorado, U.S.A.

Design of Water Quality Monitoring Networks (State Univ.) .

September 26-28, Paris, France

September 17-20, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Energy Savings in Waste Pollution Control.

AQUATECH '83 - International Water Technology Ex hibition .

June 20-22, Basie, Swizterland

October 2-7, Atlanta, U .S.A

2nd European Conference for Construction and Maintenance of Pipelines.

WPCF Conference.

Sept. 30-Oct. 5, New Orleans, U.S.A .

W.P .C.F.

WATER March , 1983 27

For advert ising in this Journa l please co ntact :

~~EUWA

Phone (03) 347 2377

Miss Ann Sykes , Commercial Manager Ci- Appita, Clunies Ross House 191 Royal Parade, Parkville, Vic. 3052

WATER TREATMENT p

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POL

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RIVER SANDS PTY. LTD. High Quality

FILTER MEDIA Manufacturers at REDLAND BAY ROAD CARBROOK, QUEENSLAND 4130 Telephone: (07) 209 8344

EUWA-INFO-COUPON Please inform me in detail of the following systems. (Place cross against information requested and post today.)

1o 2o 3o 4o So

EUGEMAT. Countercurrent regenerating Ion exchange ELECTRODIARESE Electrically regenerating ion exchange ELDEC "A". Electrical ionization measurement of carbonates in water Differential conductivity control of cation ion exchange Degaslfylng and Thermal Degasifyln9. Deacidiflcation and Oxidation

Sterilizing and Disinfecting

EUDOMAT system for removal of Nitrates

SIMMONDS & BRISTOW PTY. LTD. WATER & WASTEWATER CONSULTANTS 1 ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATIONS Water Sewage & Industrial Wastewater POLLUTION PREVENTION Process & Pilot Plant Investigations Treatment Plant Operations & Control WATER BACTER IOLOGY Algal Identifications Environmental Surveys CORROSION Assessment & Prevention 30 Shottery St., Yeronga - Phone: (07) 48 7699 If no answer 202 6534

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Water treatment for Breweries, and Soft Drink plants

EUWA (AUST.) PTY. LTD. Water rreatment Plants 196 Magill Road NORWOOD SA 5067 Tel. (08) 332 1133 Telex 87286 28 WATER March, 1983

:~EUWA ~

BOBY ANALYTICAL LABORATORY SERVICES

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Industrial waste water, sewage and process water analysis. Wast e disposa l investigation s to M.M.B.W . and E.P.A. requirements.

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ProMinent Electronic Dosing Pumps with capacities up to 100 lph or 25 Bar Effluent pH / rH control systems complete with instrumentation , dosing pumps and all accessories to complete any system requirement.

Dry chemical feeders and Alldos piston diaphragm metering pumps for capacities up to 4,000 lph or 200 Bar Polyelectrolyte or lime preparation plants using pumps and feeaers - can be offered to su it your requirements.

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Jr pfc

Seepex, Eccentric Screw Pumps Pumps with the longer pitch design offer many advantages for a variety of app lications includ ing • Water treatm ent, • Sewerage, waste water• Industrial • Beverage and food industries • Mining and paper

ProMinent & Fluid Controls Pty. Ltd.

Head Office - Sydney: 54-56 French's Road . Wil loughby. New South Wales 2068. Australia . Telepho ne (02) 958 1844 Telex : AA25946 PFCAU S Melbourne: 21 A Shierlaw Avenue . Canterbury Victoria 3126 Teleph one: (03) 836 1416 Perth: 130 Oats Street. Carlisle. Western Australia 6101 . Telephone (09) 361 7377 Telex : AA94191 MAL TOM

Agents throughout Australia.

GENERAL ALARM MONITOR AND PAGING SYSTEM For $20 a day* you can have around-the-c lock continuous monitoring of water pump stat ion s with automatic paging . In fact the whole system can be automatic and includes a "no maintenance" battery backup in case of mains power black-out. Any time a pump fails, the Torrens Tl 1003 pages the duty man and "speaks" the fault details. That's when the duty man goes to work. Suitable for water and waste water monitoring, fire alarm control and building security. Other Torrens equipment can provide full systems management and control. â&#x20AC;˘ Payable month ly -

TORRENS Tl 1003

95 Wollongong Street Fyshwick, A.C.T. 2609

Advertising in

'WATER' Back up Our Water Journal your can regu lar ly place your company, its S ~ Ies products and Representatives service information , on the desk of executives and key staff of the industry and Government Instrumentalities in Austra lia and New Zealand . To help maxim ise your advertising effect iveness , your med ia personne l shou ld be aware of our forward editoria l program. Is your company name on our mailing li st?

Let us keep you informed

install ation extra.

Telephone: (062) 80 6609, 80 6897 Telex: 6204

Miss Ann Sykes Commercial Manager Appita 191 Royal Parade Parkville, Vic. 3052

We wish to be advised of the forward editorial program for the Water Journal. Attention: Company: Address:

Telephone: ... ................ ...... ......... ..... ... .......... Telex:

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30 W A T ER March, 1983

Automatic Controls

for water treatment plant Danfoss flow transmitter type EMUF for fluid filled pipes and EMUC flow transmitter for open channels both measure flow by means of ultrasonics. Both types are extremely robust and highly flexible with regard to pipe materials and channel types. The EMCO oxygen transmitter for measuring dissolved oxygen in various aeration tanks distinguishes itself by its ability to keep the sensor clean, even in very dirty media.

Oxygen measuring

The VLT frequency converter offers great possibilities for controlling the speed of standard pumps on water treatment plant. The product programme of Danfoss Industrial Automatics includes contactors and motor starters, static frequency converters, solenoid valves, thermostats and pressure controls, thermostatic water valves as well as transmitters for measurement of flow, dissolved oxygen, pressure and temperature.

Flow measuring for fluid -filled pipes

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Frequency converters

oss

TOTAL CAPABILITY IN

CONTROL

In Mechanical, Process and Biological Engineering Mechanical Engineering Grit removal plant Screening press and bagger unit Circu lar and rectangu lar sedimentat ion tank scrapers Sludge conso lidation tank thickeners, mixing tank stirrers Sludge drying bed mechanical lifters Sand bed lifters

~ HAWKER

Process Engineering Therma l and chemical sludge condition ing plants TC Incinerator for screenings Mu ltip le hearth , f luid ised bed , rotary drum sludge incinerators Static grate incinerator Dissolved air flotation Carbon regeneration and absorption systems

Biological Engineering Standardised activated sludge plant for sma ll populations of up to 20,000 persons Extended aeration plant , Aerobic sludge digestion . Diffused air activated sludge plant. Automatic control systems for activated sludge plant

SIDDELEY ENGINEERING PTY. LIMITED Incorporated in NSW

Head Ollice : 262-284 Heidelberg Rd ., Fairfield , Vic . 3078. Tel. 489 2511 Branches : Sydney • Brisbane • Perth • Auckland Hawker Siddeley Group supplies electrical and mechanical equipment with world-wide sales and service.

Agents for Hawker Siddeley Water Engineering Ltd . (Temp lewood Hawksley Activated Sludge .)

3560HSE/R

HACH BRINGS SIMPLICITY TO WATER ANALYSIS Hach Water Test Kits are compact, portable kits designed to give quick and accurate measurements utilizing classical analytical procedures. Uniquely packaged special reagents and step-by-step instruction manuals make these kits ideal for use by technica l and non-technical personnel.

COLOUR CUBE KITS

DIGITAL TITRATOR KITS

The si mplest test kit system. The cube combines a sample ce ll and colour comparator in a single moulded plastic piece . Packed in a sturdy plastic case each kit contains all equ ipment needed for 50-100 tests. Pocket sized and lightweight, it is ideal for fi eld use.

The Hach Digital Tit rator is a precision dispensing device wh ich eliminates many of the difficulties normally associa ted with titrations. Can be fitt ed with a va ri ety of cartridges for convenient on-site te sting . Each kit is suppl ied with a Titrator and all necessary reagents and apparatus for 50-100 tests.

SELBYS SCIENTIFIC LTD. Me lbo urn e 544 4844

Sydney 888 7155

Brisbane 371 1566

Pert h 451 2577

Ade lai.de 51 4651

Hobart 28 4691

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SAVES COSTS MINIMISES WATER WASTAGE ALLOWS WATER RE-USE

RECOVERS VALUABLE BY- PRODUCTS INCREASES PLANT LIFE

·M•A•N GHH

AUSTRALIA PTV. LTD.

275 Alfred Street, PO Box 735 , North Sydney N.S.W. 2060 , Telephone : 9227822 Telex: AA 22354 MANAG