Water Journal April 2014

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Volume 41 No 2 APRIL 2014

JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALIAN WATER ASSOCIATION

Volume 41 No 1 FEBRUARY 2014

RRP $18.95

WELCOME TO THE

RRP $18.95

SPECIAL EDITION

INSIDE THIS ISSUE > Water Quality & Monitoring > Wastewater Treatment > Extreme Weather & Disaster Management > Water Education > Water Law & Policy > Automation & Remote Monitoring > Disinfection > Energy & Water a

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Contents regular features From the AWA President

Now Is The Time To Get ‘Immersed’ In Ozwater Graham Dooley

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From the AWA Chief Executive

contents

Celebrating Innovation, Debate And Leadership At Ozwater Jonathan McKeown

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water journal ISSN 0310-0367

MANAGING EDITOR – Anne Lawton Tel: 02 9467 8434 Email: alawton@awa.asn.au TECHNICAL EDITOR – Chris Davis Email: cdavis@awa.asn.au

My Point of View

Why We Need An Industry Policy To Secure Our Future Wellbeing Göran Roos

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR – Mike Wallace Email: mwallace@awa.asn.au

AWA WaterAUSTRALIA Update

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Crosscurrent

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Industry News

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Young Water Professionals

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NATIONAL MANAGER – PUBLISHING – Wayne Castle Email: wcastle@awa.asn.au

AWA News

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER – Jonathan McKeown

Water Business

New Products And Services

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Advertisers Index

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ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER – Kirsti Couper Tel: 02 9467 8408 (Mob) 0417 441 821 Email: kcouper@awa.asn.au

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT – Despina Hasapis Email: dhasapis@awa.asn.au EDITORIAL BOARD Frank R Bishop (Chair); Dr Bruce Anderson, Planreal Australasia; Dr Terry Anderson, Consultant SEWL; Dr Andrew Bath, Water Corporation; Michael Chapman, GHD; Wilf Finn, Norton Rose Fulbright; Robert Ford, Central Highlands Water (rtd); Ted Gardner (rtd); Antony Gibson, Orica Watercare; Dr Lionel Ho, AWQC, SA Water; Dr Robbert van Oorschot, GHD; John Poon, CH2M Hill; David Power, BECA Consultants; Dr Ashok Sharma, CSIRO. PUBLISH DATES Water Journal is published eight times per year: February, April, May, June, August, September, November and December. Please email journal@awa.asn.au for a copy of our 2014 Editorial Calendar.

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS Acceptance of editorial submissions is at the discretion of the Editors and Editorial Board.

Aquatech’s MoVap™ mobile water treatment unit.

special report Welcome To Ozwater!

Highlights Of The Upcoming 2014 Conference & Exhibition In Brisbane 48

opinion Where To Now For The Australian Water Market?

Mal Shepherd

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What’s Happening In The World Of Water Trading An Update From The National Water Commission Kerry Olsson

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Online Water Quality Monitoring: The Voice Of Experience

Outcomes From The 2013 Online Water Quality Monitoring Workshop 60

Water Quality Research – Reflections On The Past Forty Years Keynote Address From The WaterRA AGM Held In October 2013 Keith Cadee

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Why Water Quality Research Remains A Vital Priority

An Overview Of Water Quality Research From CRCWQT To WaterRA Jodieann Dawe & Janette Bowman

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Lessons Learned In Unconventional Gas Mining

Management Of Unconventional Gas Wastewaters In Marcellus Shale Devesh Mittal

technical papers PRINT POST APPROVED PP 100003880

Volume 41 No 2 APRIL 2014

JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALIAN WATER ASSOCIATION

Volume 41 No 1 FEBRUARY 2014

RRP $18.95

WELCOME TO THE

RRP $18.95

SPECIAL EDITION

cover

INSIDE THIS ISSUE > Water Quality & Monitoring > Wastewater Treatment > Extreme Weather & Disaster Management > Water Education > Water Law & Policy > Automation & Remote Monitoring > Disinfection > Energy & Water a

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volume 41 no 2

feature articles

Welcome to our Special Ozwater’14 Edition.

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• Technical Papers & Technical Features: Chris Davis, Technical Editor, email: cdavis@awa.asn.au AND journal@awa.asn.au Technical Paper Submission Guidelines Technical Papers should be 3,000–4,000 words long and accompanied by relevant graphics, tables and images.

For more detailed submission guidelines please email: journal@awa.asn.au • General Feature Articles, Industry News, Opinion Pieces & Media Releases: Anne Lawton, Managing Editor, email: journal@awa.asn.au General Feature Submission Guidelines General Features should be 1,500–2,000 words and accompanied by relevant graphics, tables and images.

For more details please email: journal@awa.asn.au • Water Business & Product News: Kirsti Couper, Advertising Sales Manager, email: kcouper@awa.asn.au ADVERTISING Advertisements are included as an information service to readers and are reviewed before publication to ensure relevance to the water sector and the objectives of AWA. PUBLISHER Australian Water Association (AWA) Publishing, Level 6, 655 Pacific Hwy, PO Box 222, St Leonards NSW 1590; Tel: +61 2 9436 0055 or 1300 361 426, Fax: +61 2 9436 0155, Email: journal@awa.asn.au, Web: www.awa.asn.au COPYRIGHT Water Journal is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced in any format without the written permission of AWA. Email: journal@awa.asn.au DISCLAIMER Australian Water Association assumes no responsibility for opinions or statements of fact expressed by contributors or advertisers.

APRIL 2014 water

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From the President

NOW IS THE TIME TO GET ‘IMMERSED’ IN OZWATER Graham Dooley – aWa President

Welcome to the bumper Ozwater issue of Water Journal. This special edition, in conjunction with our annual Ozwater Conference & Exhibition, showcases the truly great work we Aussies do in managing our finely balanced and environmentally sensitive water cycles. And in my view, we manage our finite, variable and unpredictable water superbly well – better than any other country.

As an industry, of course, the water sector is not without its challenges. One of the current issues we face is the rapid downturn in activity level for the consultants, contractors, suppliers and thousands of individuals that support the capital side of our industry. This is a great pity. I feel quite sad when I see good, capable people being made redundant because there is not enough work.

While boom and bust cycles are reasonably common in the mining industry, with the capital refurbishment needs of our old infrastructure and the need to be constantly refreshing our technological base to deliver more and better services, it ought not to be so hard for our major capital works originators and funders to even out the peaks and troughs by bringing some of this work forward to moderate the highs and lows.

All our water knowhow is exportable for value and in AWA, under our waterAUSTRALIA brand, we are working hard to establish a substantial water export industry for Australia of our expertise, our policy and legislative frameworks, our ability to solve continent-wide and regional water challenges, and the myriad of products and services such that you can see on display at Ozwater. If you want to be involved,

water APRIL 2014

either on a corporate level or as an individual, then I encourage you to get engaged with waterAUSTRALIA. The packaging, marketing and delivery of our nation’s water knowhow to those nations that need and value it requires the commitment and investment of AWA, its corporate members and Government. Austrade has helpfully made available some funding to allow AWA to explore nearby regions in detail.

Meanwhile, those readers who have not as yet immersed themselves in an Ozwater Conference & Exhibition are encouraged to do so at this year’s event in Brisbane. The multiple parallel sessions in the Conference Program cover every imaginable aspect of water. Themes this year include Financing Water Infrastructure, Asset Management, Technical Innovations & Breakthroughs, Mining & Resources Industry and more. The Exhibition is free, but to attend Conference sessions, or to be a full delegate, fees do apply. The Gala Dinner and other highlights are always sell-outs, so booking your registration early is recommended.

I love going to Ozwater. You might think that after four decades in the business, I would have a sound knowledge of most water-related topics and products – but I discover new things every time, from the latest devices and gizmos to the most sophisticated technologies and learned studies. As well, Ozwater is a tremendous opportunity to meet new people, network and learn what others are doing in the water industry.

I hope to see you there – and if you do attend, please come up and say hello.

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4

From the CeO

CELEBRATING INNOVATION, DEBATE AND LEADERSHIP AT OZWATER Jonathan mcKeown – aWa chief executive

Ozwater’14 will be held at the Brisbane Convention Centre from 29 April–1 May. The event has already attracted significant support, with strong registration numbers reflecting an excellent program that includes a wide range of strategic and technical sessions, workshops and tours to provide content of value to all attendees.

In addition, on Monday 28 April, the day before Ozwater, AWA will host its first Innovation Forum at the Centre. This event will showcase companies that offer new or adapted technology or other innovations with application to water and its many related industries. The Forum will also provide practical guidance on how to commercialise technology and innovation in today’s competitive markets.

A wide range of participants has registered, from SMEs with new products and innovations, through potential investors and representatives from the venture capital market, to larger suppliers and consulting firms, and water utilities. If you are interested in attending this inaugural event be sure to register now with AWA. The Productivity Commission released its Draft Report on Infrastructure in mid-March and is supporting the privatisation of the network businesses in Queensland and New South Wales and the sale of state-owned assets including sea ports. It’s certain that the public debate around these potential sales will grow.

While the State Governments have ruled out the privatisation of the water utilities, there can be no doubt that much of the ageing

water APRIL 2014

infrastructure that underpins the supply of Australia’s water will also need capital intensive upgrading in the years ahead.

This year’s Water Leaders Forum at Ozwater will discuss the opportunities and challenges that this renewed push for the sale of State Government assets will have on the water sector. Alternative models to finance the capital requirements of our water assets, implications for consumers in both urban and rural areas, and different ownership structures for different assets will be just a few of the matters up for discussion.

Many of these issues will be further detailed on Wednesday 30 April during the WSAA stream on ‘Capital Recycling and the Pre-Conditions for Privatisation of the Urban Water Utilities’.

Ozwater’14 will provide the industry with the perfect opportunity to debate these issues and consider the options.

Ozwater is undoubtedly the premier networking event for the Australian water sector, as representatives from the leading suppliers, contractors and consultants mix with Australia’s major utilities, Government officials, academics, scientists and researchers.

In many ways the Ozwater Conference & Exhibition is a reflection of AWA itself – a forum where individuals, companies, and organisations may access information, establish new contacts, and renew old friendships that all play their part in securing a rewarding and successful future.

I look forward to seeing you in Brisbane.

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My Point of View

WHERE TO FROM HERE? WHY WE NEED AN INDUSTRY POLICY TO SECURE OUR FUTURE WELLBEING Göran Roos Göran Roos chairs the Advanced Manufacturing Council in Adelaide, is a member of the Economic Development Board, the Council for Flinders University and CSIRO’s Manufacturing Sector Advisory Council. Göran was appointed “Manufacturing for the Future” Thinker in Residence by the South Australian Premier for the year 2011 and a member of the Prime Minister’s Manufacturing Leaders Group 2012–2013. He was selected for the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) Top 10 Speeches 2013: A Collection of the Most Influential and Interesting Speeches from the CEDA Platform in 2013 for the Speech: ‘The Future of Manufacturing in Australia: Innovation and Productivity’.

Most of what we value in society costs money, whether this be health care, aged care, education, infrastructure, utilities such as water, gas and electricity, public transport, the legal system or emergency services.

The ability for the public sector to fund these valued services rests on the country’s or state’s ability to raise enough funds, either directly – for example through GST, fees and tax on profits; or indirectly, for example from tax on the salaries of individuals employed in value-adding activities – from the value added that takes place within the country or state.

To fund the increasing costs of providing such services, the underpinning value added also needs to constantly increase through a combination

water APRIL 2014

of two factors: 1) the volume of value-adding activities needs to increase through such things as population growth, growth in the number of companies and business, and company and business growth; and 2) the value added in each value-adding activity needs to increase.

The challenges of a small economy In South Australia we do not have sufficient population growth, business growth or entrepreneurial activity to succeed in increasing the available funds solely from growth in the number of value-adding activities. This leaves the opportunity of increasing the value added in each value-adding activity. Unfortunately, however, the smaller the economy the less likely it is that this will happen of its own accord; or in neoclassical terminology, the smaller the economy, the more market failure becomes a feature of the economy as a whole. South Australia is a small economy; hence there is a role for government to develop industry policy – a frequently misunderstood and maligned term.

Modern industrial policy is the intervention perpetrated by government with the aim of improving business environment or influencing a shift in the economy towards a structure that can generate higher economic benefits and, hence, contribute to social good. Interventions such as this will only take place if their absence would not generate the same or higher beneficial outcome.

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My Point of View It is clear, therefore, that industry policy requires a long-term, system-level approach rather than a short-term piecemeal or atomistic one.

The tools used are a function of the economic philosophy

• Becoming the world’s leading provider of water minimisation solutions for agriculture, industry and urban applications; • Becoming the world’s leading provider of tomorrow’s critical manufacturing raw material: inorganic nano-particles (which

that underpins the industry policy, and in the OECD world today

would increase the price from a few pence for the ore to around

there are four competing economic philosophies: Neoclassical;

$300 per kilo equivalent);

Neo-Keynesian; Neo-Schumpeterian, and Evolutionary (which is sometimes clustered with the Neoclassical and sometimes with the Neo-Schumpeterian view).

Since these economic philosophies are simplifications of reality based on differing assumptions, none of them are right and none of them are wrong – they are just different. This can be seen if we look at different OECD countries: for example, Germany is primarily Evolutionary in its outlook; Australia is firmly Neoclassical; whereas

• Creating tomorrow’s solar cells with an efficiency increase of 300% through broadening the absorption into infrared and ultraviolet via the use of properties inherent in specific local minerals; • Increasing the net earnings in the South Australian food industry by a factor of 100 through the development of luxury product systems (for example, adapted palette, packaging, distribution channels and branding) for key Asian markets;

the US and UK, both of which were firmly Neoclassical up until the

• Contributing to an annual productivity improvement of 5% in the

GFC, are together with Japan balanced between the Neoclassical

health care system (such as better quality care at a lower price)

and the Keynesian outlook, while Sweden is balanced between the

through replacement of drug treatment with medical instrument

Neo-Schumpeterian, the Evolutionary and the Neoclassical outlook,

treatments (for example, laser instead of drugs); through the

as are Singapore and Switzerland.

Industry policy has no role using the Neoclassical lens, but has clear yet differing roles within the other economic lenses.

HARNESSING AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITIES Right now South Australia is facing some interesting challenges and opportunities generated a number of factors:

deployment of functional food products; the development of assisted living and the “home hospital”; development of appropriate building systems (such as wood construction element-based, energy-efficient, nano-cellulose fibre-based noise reduction, energy-efficient odour-absorbing air-conditioning, virus and bacteria killing nano-silver doped cellulose bed linen, personal predictive wearable medical devices, and so on).

• Emulating the Norwegian development of a world-leading

• The decline and disappearance of the car manufacturing industry;

indigenous off-shore oil-related engineering and service industry

• Opportunities inherent in having to manage water in a water-

in the unconventional gas space through regulation and licensing

scarce environment; • The beginning of the natural gas opportunity; • Opportunities for growth in functional and luxury food generated by the Asian markets; • Opportunities in the health, wellbeing and ageing domain in both the domestic and export markets; • Opportunity for new high-value added products out of cellulose; • Openings generated by the productivity improvement focus in the mining industry, as well as from under-utilised properties in the ore itself.

It is critical that we respond to these opportunities and challenges

requirements; • Becoming a world-leading supplier of selected components, sub-systems and sub-assemblies to the global automotive industry in the domain of CO2-based drive trains grounded in catalytic technology developed out of our minerals.

• Becoming a world-leading supplier of functional ingredients for the food and cosmetic industry originating in agricultural and marine raw materials.

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF WATER Water and the associated technologies and competencies are, of course, a critical part of achieving most of the above visions.

Only with clarity around the long-term objectives and the economic

in a way that maximises the economic benefit to the state. This is the

lens with associated tools can an industry policy be developed

role of and justification for an industry policy.

and implemented that will enable South Australia to achieve its

Such a policy will deploy a portfolio of tools to improve both the supply side (for example, through funding of research, training, investments and so on); the demand side (through the use of public

chosen objectives. The resultant economic benefit will enable South Australia to increase the social good that those who live in the state will benefit from.

sector procurement, mandating regulations requiring innovation or

On the other hand, if this is not done – or if it is done badly –

capacity building, facilitating the creation of clusters and hubs to

South Australians will have to reduce their standard of living as a

extract agglomeration economic benefits); and information provision

consequence of the reduction in value added created in the state.

enabling better-informed decisions (such as through road-mapping activities, market research and other information provision that individual firms either cannot afford on their own or do not have the capability to demand, as well as improving the absorptive capacity in firms). The industry policy needs to be guided by a set of long-term visions including:

WATER APRIL 2014

Although my focus in Australia so far has been on South Australia, similar challenges probably face the other states and territories, so the appraisal and approach will be similar.

Our future is in our hands, but success will require bold and visionary leadership, with consistent actions over the coming decade.

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AWA waterAUSTRALIA Update

DIPPING OUR TOES IN THE OFF-SHORE MARKET the ASEAN region. There is also an option for delegates to travel to the neighbouring markets of Thailand, Malaysia or India for tailored business meetings as part of a Plus+ Package ($1500).

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LISBON SING APO SIA With a contracting NE RE DO IN TH AI A Australian market, AWA I LA YS waterAUSTRALIA continues to identify and explore business opportunities for the Australian water industry across foreign markets – most recently in ASEAN and Europe. Here is an update on what’s been happening and what’s on offer in the near future, whether you’re serious about expanding overseas, looking into foreign investment or want to boost your brand visibility internationally.

RE PO A G

AND AIL TH

MALAYSIA

IND ON ES IA

SHOWCASE YOUR COMPANY IN SINGAPORE: JOIN THE AUSTRALIAN DELEGATION Looking to grow your business in the South-East Asian region?

AWA invites you to join the Australian delegation to Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) in June this year. SIWW is the premier exhibition for the water sector in the Asia Pacific region, with over 750 companies and 19,000 visitors expected. The last SIWW, in 2012, achieved a record of S$13.6B worth of projects awarded, tenders, investments and R&D MoUs made at the event, conveying the sustained growth in water-related projects across the region.

94%

of exhibitors achieved their business objectives at SIWW 2012

This is one of the biggest opportunities to achieve greater business visibility in front of the international water arena by exhibiting at the SIWW Australian Pavilion. Join as an Exhibitor ($5000), or non-exhibitor ($1500), to gain valuable market insights to help shape your market entry strategy, attend a pre-departure briefing to guide you to success, and meet targeted customers in

WATER APRIL 2014

Apply now at www.awa.asn.au/wateraustralia_international_ missions This mission is supported by the Asian Business Engagement Plan.

DOING WATER BUSINESS IN ASIA: EVENT WRAP-UP The ‘Doing Water Business in Asia’ seminar, an initiative of the Industry Capability Teams, was held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth in March 2013. The seminar, organised by the Australian Water Association, the Department of Industry and Austrade, provided attendees with an update on AWA waterAUSTRALIA activities and assisted in SE Asia market entry.

AWA Chief Executive and waterAUSTRALIA Managing Director, Jonathan McKeown, opened the seminar with a presentation update on AWA waterAUSTRALIA. This was followed by presentations from Austrade posts in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia on the challenges and opportunities in their regions. The seminar was a strong platform for organisations leaning towards ASEAN markets with an opportunity for a global panel Q&A session specific to their products and services.

If you would like access to similar opportunities, join an Industry Capability Team now at www.awa.asn.au/waterAustralia_Capability_ Teams

EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST IN OUR SEPTEMBER’14 MISSION TO EUROPE The IWA World Congress & Exhibition is one of the largest gatherings of water organisations and professionals in the world.

AWA is offering Australian companies the opportunity to present their capabilities in water to this mass targeted audience. If your organisation would like to take advantage of tailored business matching both at the Lisbon Congress and across a range of surrounding markets, express your interest now. Please email awhite@awa.asn.au for more information.

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12

CrossCurrent

International Scientists have found an elusive mineral pointing to the existence of a vast reservoir deep in the Earth’s mantle, 400 to 600 kilometres beneath our feet. It may hold as much water as all the planet’s oceans combined, they believe. The evidence comes from a waterloving mineral called ringwoodite that came from the so-called transition zone sandwiched between the upper and lower layers of Earth’s mantle, they said. Analysis shows a whopping 1.5 per cent of the rock comprises molecules of water. The find backs oncecontested theories that the transition zone, or at least significant parts of it, is water-rich, the investigators said. “This sample really provides extremely strong confirmation that there are local wet spots deep in the Earth in this area,” said Graham Pearson of Canada’s University of Alberta, who led the research.

The World Water Council has paved the way towards functional dialogue between water sector experts and policy makers worldwide. Benedito Braga, President of the World Water Council, will join six other keynote speakers at Ozwater’14 to lead the discussion on the achievements to date, the importance of informed and engaged leadership in water governance, lessons learned at the National Water Authority in Brazil, and the introduction of policies such as integrated basin management and the introduction of charges for agricultural water use.

Researchers have identified that the use of wastewater to irrigate vegetable crops, which is common across developing countries, may contribute to health risks such as rotavirus, a major cause of diarrhoeal diseases. The research, published in the journal Risk Analysis, which focused on the Beijing region, found that the risk posed to children eating vegetables grown with wastewater exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) acceptable level.

Households in Malaysia’s Selangor state are receiving water rations, as dry weather causes some reservoirs to reach critical levels. Water rationing will affect an estimated 60,000 households, according to the Selangor’s private water company. Last week the adjacent state of Negeri Sembilan declared a water crisis, mobilising to supply treated water to thousands of households. The hot, dry weather has also contributed to more cases of dengue fever as it speeds up the life cycle of the aedes mosquito. The World Health Organisation calls dengue one of the fastest-growing viral threats globally, especially in the tropics.

National The Australian Government has announced $10 million for research funding to support improved environmental water use in the Murray-Darling Basin. “This collaborative research project will be coordinated regionally by the Wodonga- and Mildurabased Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centres, which will be undertaken with other research organisations and government agencies working in the Basin,” Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Senator Simon Birmingham said.

water APRIL 2014

The Australian Government has completed an agreement that brings all jurisdictions together to implement the historic MurrayDarling Basin Plan for water reform. The Premiers of NSW and Queensland have now signed the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on Implementing Water Reform in the Murray-Darling Basin and an amended National Partnership Agreement (NPA).

A commitment to cap water purchases at 1500 gigalitres and prioritising water infrastructure programs were key components in bringing the two states on board.

A Senate inquiry has paved the way for Parliament to give Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, legal immunity against future legal challenges to his decisions on mining projects. If it passes the Senate, the move will protect the government from being taken to court over the Abbot Point dredging scheme, the Curtis Island gas project, or any other environmentally contentious development in Australia.

A draft report by the Productivity Commission has found an abundance of flaws, mythologies and foregone opportunities in infrastructure financing, funding and procurement. The Commission draft outlines a proposed process for improving infrastructure investment across all levels of government, as a consequence attracting increased private investment. Peter Harris, the Presiding Commissioner and Commission Chairman said, “Governments have it in their power to attract higher levels of private infrastructure investment, and to improve their own capacity to fund infrastructure, even in the presence of apparent borrowing constraints. They can do this through the judicious use of pricing mechanisms and by collectively establishing stronger transparent processes for project identification, selection, design and implementation.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced a $320 million assistance package to support drought-hit farmers in NSW and Queensland. Justifying the package, Mr Abbott said: “Drought of this severity is not the normal course of business. This is not just a once-in-a-decade drought. It’s a once-in-a-quarter-century drought in many places. In some places, it’s a once-in-a-century drought”.

New South Wales The NSW Government will consolidate the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) with the State Water Corporation to form Bulk Water NSW, a new efficient service provider for the State’s water sector, Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson has announced.

“This is about a merger of two equals into a modern and responsive service provider for the NSW bulk water sector,” Ms Hodgkinson said. “Importantly, the legislated requirements to provide clean and safe drinking water will continue and there will be no change to the objectives of ensuring water and catchment quality and related public health and safety outcomes.”

A coal seam gas project operated by energy company Santos in north-western NSW has contaminated a nearby aquifer, with uranium at levels 20 times higher than safe drinking water guidelines, an official investigation has found. It is the first confirmation of aquifer contamination associated with coal seam gas activity in Australia

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CrossCurrent – a blow to an industry pushing State and Federal Governments for permission to expand. Santos was fined $1,500 by the NSW Environment Protection Authority.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, David Papps, has announced his intentions regarding the trade of environmental water in three New South Wales catchments. No decisions have been made, but the sale of Commonwealth environmental water allocations is being considered in the Peel River in the Namoi and in the Gwydir and Lachlan catchments, subject to prevailing environmental conditions.

NSW Deputy Premier, Andrew Stoner, and Minister for Roads and Ports, Duncan Gay, have announced NSW Government funding of up to $1.5 million for coastal dredging under the second phase of the Rescuing our Waterways program. Mr Stoner and Mr Gay said the program, part of the Government’s Sustainable Dredging Strategy, provided a coordinated approach to improve the accessibility and health of our waterways.

The ACCC has released its Draft Decision on pricing for bulk water supplied by State Water Corporation in the New South Wales Murray-Darling Basin in the 2014-17 period. The Draft Decision results in lower water bills for most of State Water’s customers.

Relative to previous years, price increases are modest. In most valleys, bills for general security entitlement holders are falling.

The NSW Government has established a taskforce to coordinate and oversee the next stage of the review into flood management in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley. The immediate priority of the taskforce, which will work in partnership with Infrastructure NSW under the direction of an Independent Chair, is to support communities and businesses of the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley to better prepare for and respond to future flood events.

The Australian Greens are calling to halt unconventional gas extraction right across the country after the contamination of groundwater from Santos’ operation in north-western NSW. “Twenty times the safe limit of uranium in the water there. That’s a shocking finding that demonstrates the extreme danger to communities posed by coal seam gas extraction,” said Greens Leader Christine Milne. “The community has been told endlessly that there will be no contamination of aquifers, but now there is proof. You can’t trust these companies not to contaminate the groundwater – and groundwater is one of our most precious assets.”

NSW Deputy Premier, Andrew Stoner, has announced $40 million in funding for regional infrastructure projects to promote water security under a new program, Water Security for Regions.

“With much of the State facing difficult drought conditions, now more than ever we need to be focusing on ways to prepare communities by enhancing our local infrastructure to provide improved water security. That is why we are launching Water Security for Regions, a new program offering $40 million worth of funding for infrastructure projects in regional areas that enhance water security,” Mr Stoner said.

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Pollution in inner Sydney waterways comes primarily from industry, according to a new analysis, and it occurs during broad daylight.

PhD student Hayden Beck analysed three creeks in and around the Leichhardt Council area of inner Sydney and found a toxic cocktail of pollution flowing down the creeks out into Sydney Harbour. Levels of metals zinc, aluminium and copper were far in excess of official guidelines for water quality, while lead was also excessively high at times. Leichhardt Council made a financial contribution to the research. The NSW Environment Protection Authority is responsible for granting licences to businesses wanting to discharge wastewater to stormwater drains. Brendan Berecry, spokesman for Leichardt Council, said the results of Beck’s study are likely to change their approach to stormwater monitoring. Beck’s analysis will be published in anupcoming issue of Environmental Pollution.

The Goldenfields Water County Council is hoping its new data network will be rolled out across its 22,000 square kilometre region

by May. The $1m network will see a transmitter on every one of the Goldenfields’ water meters. Goldenfields General Manager, Andrew Grant, says the network was successfully trialled between Cootamundra, Junee and Temora for six months. The main aim of the new system will be automatic collection of information on water use. “We will be able to notify people if they have got a leak, say on one of the larger rural properties, where leaks might go unnoticed for weeks or months,” he said. “We will be able to ring, go out and have a look.” Mr Grant says the primary aim is to collect data about water use, but he also sees opportunities to collect information for rural customers on livestock movement, soil moisture or rainfall.

NSW Shadow Minister for Water, Barry Collier, has called on Premier Barry O’Farrell to rule out the privatisation of Sydney Water.

“If the O’Farrell Government blindly sells off Sydney Water in return for a short-term funding boost by Joe Hockey, the people of NSW will be the losers in the long run,” Mr Collier said.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has released draft Broken Hill water and sewerage prices for public comment. Under the draft prices, customer bills for households and smaller businesses will increase largely in line with inflation for the majority of users in Broken Hill, with prices and bills to fall for some large water users, including businesses.

Spending up to $1 billion raising Warragamba Dam wall is the best way to protect thousands of Sydney homes from being destroyed by floods, a major State Government review has found.

But environmentalists say the mammoth project would be too expensive and damage a huge swathe of sensitive rivers and bush, including the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The probe into flood management in the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley, one of Australia’s most densely developed flood plains, found raising the wall was the best infrastructure option for reducing the flood risk. But the work would cost up to $1 billion and have ‘’significant potential environmental costs’’. Last year, then Prime Minister Julia Gillard pledged $50 million towards raising the wall by 23 metres.

Premier Barry O’Farrell did not support the idea at the time, saying the review had begun. He declined to comment on the findings.

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Queensland Emergency aid and funding is being made available to another 15 shires after 79 per cent of Queensland was declared in drought, the largest area ever recorded. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry John McVeigh added the southern Queensland Shires of Banana, Bundaberg, Cherbourg, Fraser Coast, Gladstone, Goondiwindi, Gympie, Moreton Bay, Noosa, North Burnett, South Burnett, Southern Downs, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and Western Downs to the list of drought-stricken areas. Also included are partial declarations for further areas of Central Highlands and Woorabinda.

More Queenslanders will get support to resolve energy and water disputes after the Queensland Government announced a review of the role of the Queensland Energy and Water Ombudsman. Energy and Water Supply Minister, Mark McArdle, said the review would consider expanding the scope of customer complaints the ombudsman could investigate.

Major project work in Queensland is forecast to contract nearly 50 per cent over the next two years to a trough of $9.5 billion according to a new industry report. The steep decline will be felt hardest in the resources sector with a 45 per cent decline in work expected. Water and sewerage projects and the workforce demand there is anticipated to decline sharply.

Burdekin irrigators will benefit from improved irrigation technology and water management thanks to a $1.5 million investment from the Queensland Government. Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Andrew Cripps, said the funding would boost the adoption of new technologies by irrigators and maximise the performance of existing irrigation equipment.

The Great Barrier Reef will benefit from a new online tool that gathers information on water quality in the Marine Park, making this information publicly available for the first time. eReefs Project Board Chair, Dr John Schubert AO, said the release of the Marine Water Quality Dashboard represented a significant step forward in the publication of a range of water quality indicators in near real-time, with broad-ranging applications.

The Australian Greens are alarmed by reports that Coca-Cola Amatil is extracting thousands of litres of groundwater, which is draining water from the creeks, streams and waterfalls of Springbrook National Park.

“This is a precious World Heritage Area and big business is reportedly being allowed to suck it dry for private profit,” Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens environment spokesperson, said. “We welcome the investigation by Gold Coast City Council into whether Coke is complying with its water extraction conditions. If the existing Council conditions can’t protect the waters of Springbrook they are utterly insufficient, and should be strengthened so that Coke can’t continue to suck dry the water resources which feed this World Heritage Area.”

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CrossCurrent

P Tasmania The Minister for Primary Industries and Water, Bryan Green, officially opened the $10.6 million Kindred-North Motton Irrigation Scheme in the State’s North-West in February. Mr Green said the latest in a string of new Tasmanian irrigation schemes aimed at boosting agricultural productivity through increased water security would be a significant boost to growers in the area. “Farmers have invested $3 million in this scheme, which is in a region that has some of the richest soils in the country,” Mr Green said. “Their investment will see 35 on-farm jobs created and 18 indirect jobs, which will help grow the region’s economy. The district services highly productive pasture and cropping land around the townships of Kindred, Sprent, Abbotsham, Forth, Gawler, Ulverstone and North Motton.” The scheme has the capacity to supply 2,500 megalitres of water per annum with the supply sourced from the Forth River. This scheme is the sixth project to be completed under the irrigation development program, with the program funded

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More than 3.5 billion litres of wastewater has been treated, recycled, purified and recharged back into Perth’s groundwater supply. The milestone was recently achieved at the Water Corporation’s Groundwater Replenishment Trial plant, which recharged recycled water back into the Leederville Aquifer. The wastewater goes through an advanced water treatment to bring it to drinking water standards and is then pumped back into groundwater supplies for future use as drinking water.

The WA Water Corporation has called for fracking to be prohibited in or near public water supplies because of concerns the fracturing of rock to release natural gas could contaminate water. Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion says there is no need for a ban because any application by an oil and gas company to frack near drinking water would face tough scrutiny.

Construction has begun on one of WA’s biggest man-made wetlands in a $4 million project to tackle river pollution before it enters the Swan and Canning Riverpark. The wetlands are being built at the Ellen Brook tributary, east of the suburb and in a catchment responsible for contributing the greatest levels of phosphorus and nitrogen into the river system. Nutrients such as phosphorus feed algal growth, depleting oxygen levels and sparking mass fish kills. The wetlands will be laced with 115 tonnes of a nutrient-binding material, called IronMan Gypsum, a byproduct of mineral sands processing that contains radioactive particles. The first stage of the project will take about three months to complete.

WA Water Minister, Mia Davies, has announced the completion of a $4.2 million State Government project to refurbish 1.5km of wastewater pipes in Mount Lawley and East Perth. The project forms part of a five-year, $60 million program that began in July 2012 to reline about 20km of wastewater pipes across the state. Since the

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CrossCurrent Water Corporation program started, almost $25 million has been spent on five projects. The remaining $35 million will be spent on refurbishing wastewater pipes elsewhere in WA.

Victoria South West Victoria’s groundwater monitoring network will be given a $1.5 million makeover to help protect the region’s rural water supply. A number of bores will be refurbished in South West Victoria where groundwater is a major source of water for the urban and rural communities. This is part of a $6 million statewide investment, which will provide a more efficient and focused observation network to the whole of Victoria but, most importantly, to local users of groundwater.

Member News Melbourne Water has appointed Dr Paul Pretto, General Manager – Asset Planning, to the role of Acting Managing Director. Dr Pretto has been with Melbourne Water for 14 years and has 21 years of experience in the Australian water industry.

Akheel Soltan has been appointed Divisional Manager – Wastewater Engineering at water tech company, BioGill and will head up the food, beverage and industrial wastewater treatment division.

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URS has appointed Bob McGowan as Managing Director, Australia.

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The Australian Government has signed an agreement with the Australian Capital Territory that will see up to $85 million of Australian Government funds available to help clean up Canberra’s lakes and waterways. “Establishing an innovative and comprehensive water quality monitoring system will help guide significant improvement in the overall health of waterways in and around the nation’s capital,” Senator Birmingham said.

Applications are now open for the International RiverFoundation’s Australian Riverprize, which recognises rewards, and supports those who have developed and implemented outstanding, visionary and sustainable programs in river management. Valued at $200,000 the Australian Riverprize is comprised of a cash prize and a twinning grant, enabling best practice to be shared in a peer-to-peer knowledge exchange program with another river basin organisation.

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Industry News

HOWZAT! FLOOD REPAIRS MAKE FOR PERFECT PITCH

Jubilee Oval has been a cricket ground since 1912 and is also used for hockey and AFL in winter, and year-round by local schools and community groups. The oval was created in the mid-1880s on reclaimed land from Johnstons Creek. The site has been prone to flooding and is often virtually unplayable after light rain, leading to years of postponed matches and lost play.

For years the Balmain Sydney Tigers have struggled with soggy wickets and regularly rained-out matches, but they’re looking forward to a bumper season after a major upgrade of their home ground at Jubilee Oval. The innovative flood-proofing project undertaken by the City of Sydney raised the oval nearly half-a-metre, so water can quickly drain and allowing cricket to be played all summer even after heavy rain.

Parks Services staff took a radical approach to flood-proofing the site. The original oval was created simply by pouring soil onto the bay, meaning high tide and run-off left the area perpetually soggy. Staff were unable to add drains to the site and were forced to physically shift the land upwards by 300 millimetres to ensure proper drainage.

Until the revamp, local sporting teams frequently found the oval unusable after rain because of drainage issues. Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the upgrade had overcome a number of challenges, including the site being a heritage site, being next to an endangered plant community, as well as the major flooding issues.

• New drainage and irrigation systems;

“They say you can’t play cricket on poor wickets and this was certainly true for the Balmain Sydney Tigers Cricket Club who experienced years of their oval regularly being out of play,” the Lord Mayor said. “Jubilee Oval has been used by sporting clubs for decades and these year-round improvements provide greater availability for the whole community.”

The $600,000 upgraded included:

• A new cricket wicket square; • New turf and regrading to improve the playing surface; and • Improved drainage to Johnston’s Creek.

AQUALOGY ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENT Aqualogy has appointed Paul Banfield to the role of Commercial Manager for Australia. Paul brings a wealth of knowledge to the organisation, having previously held senior positions with advanced technology providers Takadu and Innovyze.

“We are excited to welcome Paul on board,” says Matthew Stephenson, Business Development Director at Aqualogy UK. “We look forward to working with him as the business continues to expand in 2014. We are keen to focus on the immense opportunities there are for our business in the Australian market and with Paul’s experience, we are extremely optimistic about the future growth for Aqualogy.”

Aqualogy is the global technology and solutions division of Agbar, an international water and environment organisation. It specialises in all stages of the hydrological cycle, from flood prediction and stormwater control, to water treatment plant design and operation, to water distribution and commercial wastewater management.

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Industry News

NEWATER WINS BEST PRACTICES AWARD NEWater has won the ‘Water for Life’ United Nations Water (UN-Water) Best Practices Award 2014 for its public communications and education efforts. Conferred annually by UN-Water, the award promotes efforts to fulfil international commitments made on water and water-related issues by next year, by recognising outstanding best practices that can ensure the long-term sustainable management of water resources.

National water agency PUB said NEWater was awarded the prize under the “best participatory, communication, awareness-raising and education practices” category. PUB Chief Executive Chew Men Leong received the award during a special ceremony held in commemoration of World Water Day 2014 in Tokyo, Japan.

The PUB said the key to the successful introduction of NEWater in Singapore was its campaign to garner public confidence and acceptance. A public campaign about its stringent production process was rolled out, assuring the public that NEWater was safe to drink and correcting misconceptions about water reclamation.

Various stakeholders, including opinion leaders, water experts, grassroots leaders and schools, were also engaged.

NEWater is one of four sources of water under the PUB’s Four National Taps policy, which includes local catchment water, imported water and desalinated water. The reclaimed water was pioneered by

the PUB in 2003. The water agency said NEWater has passed more than 100,000 scientific tests and exceeds drinking water standards set by the World Health Organization and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

It is used primarily for non-potable purposes at wafer fabrication parks, industrial estates and commercial buildings, although a small amount is also blended with raw reservoir water before it undergoes treatment at the waterworks for the water supply.

NEWater can currently meet 30 per cent of Singapore’s daily water needs, and its capacity will be increased to meet up to 55 per cent of the country’s future water demand by 2060.

IS SYDNEY’S DRINKING WATER SUPPLY THREATENED? The security and quality of Sydney’s drinking water supply will be placed at risk by the State Government’s decision to merge the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) with the State Water Corporation, Total Environment Centre (TEC) has warned.

“The Sydney Catchment Authority has played a vital role in managing and protecting the source of Sydney’s precious drinking water,” says TEC Executive Director Mr Jeff Angel. “It is disturbing to see their expertise and advocacy diluted by absorption into the new ‘Bulk Water NSW’. Who will keep polluters like coal and gas mining, agriculture and urban developers honest now?”

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The SCA was created to protect Sydney’s drinking water catchments after the 1998 Sydney water crisis, when Cryptosporidium and Giardia contamination was detected in Sydney’s drinking water. It was a key recommendation of the McLellan Inquiry, which found that management of Sydney’s catchments was inadequate and required a specialised agency.

“Providing safe, clean drinking water to a city of four million people is a vastly different task to simply being a bulk water provider for irrigators,” Mr Angel said. “It seems the die was cast for the degradation of SCA’s vital management expertise when it was transferred to the Department of Primary Industries from Environment, under the O’Farrell government.

“With SCA effectively gutted, Sydney will lose a vital voice for protecting its drinking water from threats like longwall mining, coal seam gas extraction and intensive agriculture,” says Mr Angel.

OSMOFLO WINS IRRIGATION PIPELINE CONTRACT Expanding from its traditional desalination business, water solutions provider Osmoflo has won a five-year contract to provide operations and maintenance support to a major recycled water irrigation network that services South Australia’s famous McLaren Vale wine-producing region.

The contract with Willunga Basin Water Company (WBWC) – a subsidiary of Water Utilities Group (WUG) – encompasses WBWC’s recycled water distribution network south of Adelaide.

Approximately 6,000 megalitres per annum is taken up by WBWC and supplied to more than 180 customers who use it to irrigate approximately 4,000 hectares of grapes and other high-value fruits throughout McLaren Vale and the adjoining Willunga and Sellicks districts.

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STRENGTHENING FRENCH WATER TIES Opportunities to further develop links between East Gippsland Water and France’s prestigious engineering school ENSIL were top of the agenda at a recent meeting between the two organisations in Bairnsdale.

ENSIL’s Principal, Patrick Leprat, in the region as part of a relationship-building visit to Australia, expressed his appreciation for the contribution East Gippsland Water has made to his institution, with Managing Director Bruce Hammond. Both discussed the value of continuing and strengthening the current internship program.

East Gippsland Water initiated an internship program in 2010, offering ENSIL students the opportunity of a three-month placement with a participating Victorian water corporation.

This has enabled a number of students specialising in water and the environment to gain an invaluable appreciation of Australia’s water issues and engineering practices, while also carrying out research projects on behalf of their host. It has also provided water industry professionals in Australia with an insight into the water engineering industry in France.

BIOREFINERIES: THE FUTURE OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT To find out more come and see us at OZWATER’14 STAND 2M6 SIGN UP TO MEET OUR TEAM OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS

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WATER SOLUTIONS » WASTE MANAGEMENT » ENERGY SERVICES

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Industry News Looking at the long-term, this program is seen as

SLR BOOSTS ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

an important tool to help address skills shortages in Australia’s water industry.

Indeed, one former intern subsequently returned to the corporation on a two-year graduate program.

East Gippsland Water’s Managing Director, Bruce Hammond, says: “There

East Gippsland Water’s Managing Director Bruce Hammond (left) meets with ENSIL’s Principal Patrick Leprat.

is great potential for this initiative that goes beyond a comparison of engineering practices and assisting interns with their professional development back home. By providing students with a taste of the Australian lifestyle we hope that a number will be attracted back here to live and work.”

East Gippsland Water has just commenced the selection process that will see another ENSIL student work with the corporation over winter. In addition, a French Environmental Science student studying for a Masters Degree will shortly start a four-month placement.

While in East Gippsland, Patrick Leprat also took the opportunity to visit the Bairnsdale Wastewater Treatment Plant and Ramsar-listed Macleod Morass, as well as the innovative water treatment plant and storage infrastructure located at Woodglen.

water APRIL 2014

SLR Consulting Australia has welcomed Marguerite White to the Environmental Management, Planning and Approvals (EMPA) team. Marguerite has 15 years’ experience in project management, environmental impact assessment and environmental management planning in a variety of sectors.

Specialising in the design, delivery and compliance review of environmental management frameworks, Marguerite has successfully guided organisations through environmental permitting and approval processes, and practice management change initiatives. This assists in the promotion and facilitation of proactive environmental performance during the execution of project/program design, construction, operation and decommissioning activities.

Marguerite’s skills and experience in the transport, water, energy, mining, oil and gas, and intensive agriculture sectors will supplement SLR’s existing service offerings.

In addition, Marguerite’s experience on a range of Environmental

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Industry News Management auditing teams will boost the company’s skill set as SLR continues to expand its Environmental Management, Planning and Approvals operations across Australia.

“Marguerite is a great addition to SLR’s Environmental Management, Planning and Approvals team, enabling us to continue providing quality advice and services to our clients and also expand our offerings in various sectors across Australia,” says Eryn Bath, SLR’s EMPA Technical Discipline Manager.

SCIENTISTS URGE ‘WISER’ USE OF WETLANDS Agriculture and wetlands should be managed in unison in order to conserve vital ecosystems and support the livelihoods of millions of people, according to a new report published to coincide with World Wetlands Day. Wetlands boast a wealth of wildlife, provide water and food for people and livestock, and play a crucial role in the hydrological cycle. However, the debate around conservation of wetlands has been polarised for years, with agriculture implicated as one of the greatest threats to their survival.

Now there is a growing consensus that a ‘people-centred’ approach that seeks to optimise the benefits for smallholder farmers and reduce poverty, while simultaneously protecting biodiversity

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“Wetlands and agriculture can and must coexist,” says Matthew McCartney, a hydrologist at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR centre, and a contributor to the report, Wetlands and People.

“We need policies on wetlands that support ecosystems, sustain rich biodiversity, and simultaneously improve the livelihoods of farming communities who depend on wetlands or whose activities directly affect them. We need to find a way to have the best of both worlds.”

Around 6% of the world’s landmass is classified as either permanent or seasonal wetland, with millions of people directly depending on them for food, water, and other products and services, such as medicines, fuel and wildlife tourism.

Wetlands also capture and store rainwater, help replenish groundwater, regulate river flows and are important carbon sinks.

Researchers estimate that wetlands are worth around USD70 billion, globally, each year.

But they also face a number of threats, the most serious of which is agriculture. Millions of hectares in Southeast Asia have been drained for oil palm and biofuel production; water in rivers that supply wetlands have been diverted for irrigation; and wetlands have also been polluted by fertilisers and pesticides from farms.

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Industry News In the report, Wetlands and People, researchers highlight a number of examples of the value of wetlands to poor rural communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and ways to manage them sustainably for current and future generations. It encourages ‘wise use’, as advocated by the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental treaty on wetland conservation that has long supported a move away from the absolute protection of wetlands to an approach that integrates conservation with development.

World Wetlands Day 2014 -– Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growth is organised by The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

WORK BEGINS ON CLOSING TAROONA SEWAGE PLANT Work has begun to remove the Taroona Sewage Treatment Plant in Tasmania as part of a $5.2m project that will make further ground in improving water quality in the Derwent Estuary.

would have major benefits for water quality in the Derwent, and for residents of Taroona.

“One of TasWater’s big challenges is the number of sewage treatment plants around the state which are not capable of meeting today’s environmental standards,” Mr Brewster said.

“This has an impact on water quality in rivers and waterways around the state, so it is a high priority for TasWater and our regulators that these plants are either upgraded or removed as soon as is practicable.

“The Taroona Plant has been identified as being one of these problem sites, so we are very pleased to be starting work on taking it offline.”

Work was completed in December 2013 on a new sewer pipeline from Taroona to Sandy Bay which allows the Taroona plant to be bypassed and closed down.

“As a result of this project sewage from the Taroona area will be treated to a much higher standard at the Selfs Point Treatment Plant at New Town,” Mr Brewster said.

TasWater is closing down and removing the Taroona plant due to its poor environmental performance and redirecting sewage from the area to a pump station in Sandy Bay. The current treatment plant removal phase is an investment by TasWater of $1.4m.

“In addition to the environmental benefits of closing this plant, the local community will also welcome the removal of the treatment plant, particularly as it is located next to a popular foreshore walking track.”

CEO Mike Brewster said that the closure of the 40-year-old plant, which is located at the end of a residential street in Taroona,

The removal of the treatment plant is being carried out by Shaw Contracting and is expected to be completed by mid-2014.

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Industry News

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ACTION NEEDED ON PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE A draft report by the Productivity Commission has found flaws, mythologies and foregone opportunities in infrastructure financing, funding and procurement. The draft outlines a proposed process for improving infrastructure investment across all levels of government; and as a consequence attracting increased private investment.

and quite often this will involve public financing. Nevertheless, the report says that, if executed well and for the right projects, private sector involvement can deliver vital new efficiency gains.

On infrastructure costs, the draft report finds these could be significantly reduced through the adoption of better practice procurement processes by governments.

“Australia is not a cheap place in which to build infrastructure, but the sources of the cost pressures that have created this situation are numerous and no single reform is likely to alter them. Action on a number of fronts is necessary,” Mr Harris said.

Peter Harris, Presiding Commissioner and Commission Chairman said: “Governments have it in their power to attract higher levels of private infrastructure investment, and to improve their own capacity to fund infrastructure, even in the presence of apparent borrowing constraints. They can do this through the judicious use of pricing mechanisms and by collectively establishing stronger transparent processes for project identification, selection, design and implementation. A visible project pipeline should naturally emerge from adoption of these reforms.”

The report finds poor industrial relations arrangements in some major projects, with adverse effects on costs and productivity, but less persuasive evidence that the effects were relevant across the whole construction sector.

The Commission also proposes to examine further a number of potential improvements to financing mechanisms for infrastructure, including options proposed to address specific concerns related to the role of superannuation funds in greenfields projects.

However, the report says that perceptions of a crisis in productivity or undue wage breakouts across all infrastructure construction activities are misplaced. Cost pressures have come off to some extent, as the construction mining boom has abated.

The report cautions against imagining ‘magic pudding’ solutions will arise from private sector financing. Ultimately taxpayers or users must pay for infrastructure. Many projects will still need public funding

The report finds that pursuit of these reforms could readily save $1 billion dollars a year, as a conservative target. A final report will be provided to the Australian Government in late May 2014.

The Commission says that governments should use greater penalties for unlawful industrial disputes and use their buying power to leverage better industrial relations practices. Both firms and unions should feel the clearest commitment of government buyers to better industrial practice.

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Young Water Professionals

A ROAD WELL-TRAVELLED Jo Greene – AWA YWP National Committee President It is with a mixture of sadness and excitement that I write this column. I have found myself at a junction in my life and the road I have chosen beckons me out of the water industry and on to complete my Post-Graduate Diploma of Education. This means I have resigned as AWA Young Water Professionals (YWP) National Committee President and, as such, this will be my last column for Water Journal. Unfortunately it also means that I won’t be attending Ozwater this year, much as I would have loved to.

However, I am thrilled to be moving into the world of school teaching and look forward to the opportunity to share my knowledge with our up-and-coming young students. I know I will also share some of the great experience I have gained within the Australian water industry.

YWP OZWATER ACTIVITIES I have been fortunate to be a part of the YWP activities at Ozwater during the past three years and have been inspired by the energy and commitment of these young people. Of great note is the state YWP contribution to the YWP program each year where they run a YWP Breakfast and Workshop. I am confident that this year the Queensland contingent will live up to expectations, as they look to repeat what worked but find new and interesting ways to improve these popular events.

At Ozwater each year, the YWPs on a national level provide volunteers to pack the delegate satchels and act as Assistant Chairs to every platform presentation. Over the past few years, the Assistant Chairs have attended a meeting each afternoon to provide their summary and thoughts of the sessions they have worked at.

The NRC President, often in conjunction with

WAter April 2014

the YWP Chair from the host state, compiles these thoughts and ideas into a presentation that is carried out at the Ozwater Closing Ceremony.

Sadly, due to time constraints there will be no YWP address at this year’s Closing Ceremony.

However, in collaboration with the Queensland YWP Ozwater Committee I have been working towards ensuring that the great opportunity for the YWPs to connect with their water industry peers by speaking at this part of the event is not lost.

HEADING IN A NEW DIRECTION Recently there have been some concerns as to the purpose and direction of the YWPs, and particularly the NRC. The YWPs exist as a Specialist Network within the AWA, but are not a typical group. To their credit, each state is now running almost autonomously of the NRC and doing a great job running seminars, tours, mentoring programs and other events. But it seems the connection between the state YWP committees, the YWP National Representative Committee (NRC) and, in fact, AWA has become blurred.

This is an opportunity for a fresh beginning for the YWPs and the NRC. I look forward to a new President taking the reins and leading this inspiring, clever and driven group of young people forward.

The time I have spent being an active part of the AWA Young Water Professionals has been extremely rewarding and I have met some wonderful people along the way. As much as I am sad to close this chapter of my journey, I will stay in touch with the YWP National Representative Committee (NRC) and look forward to seeing the new direction the YWPs will take.

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AWA News The ACWP benefits subscribers by:

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM WATER PROJECT UPDATE The Australian Water Curriculum Project (AWCP) capitalises on the opportunity provided by the development of the Australian Curriculum. The ACWP ensures a collaborative approach to curriculum-linked water education in Australia. By working with subscribers, the ACWP is collating and aligning existing water education materials, developing new water education resources to fill resource gaps and ensuring resources are integrated into the Australian Curriculum digital resource database. Importantly this project offers the opportunity for the water sector to collaborate with national education agencies such as Education Services Australia (ESA) and the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

We are well into the second year of this three-year project and great progress has been made so far. Current activities include: • Assisting subscribers with contributing their resources to Scootle, the digital curriculum resource portal where teachers access their curriculum content; • Identification of best practice water-related resources; • Development of Teacher Guides to fill resource gaps and promote water careers; • A History Curriculum Audit to complement the Science and Geography audit of education water resources available nationally; • Updating and digitising the We All Use Water resource providing a general introduction to the breadth of water management topics in Australia; • Development of a Water Educator’s Toolkit, a collection of demonstration and activity ideas for site tours and classroom incursions.

The third year of the project will focus on resource building to fill identified curriculum gaps along with developing an engaging web presence that will provide access to the best resources possible for school and community engagement programs.

• Reducing financial and human resources required to invest in water education. The ACWP develops targeted support resources to meet the educational needs of subscribers.

• Providing opportunities for collaboration with the education sector.

The ACWP is a ‘trusted partner’ with Education Services Australia (ESA), which allows the water industry to lead the way.

• Building stronger relationships with other water agencies. Subscribers get to exchange, share expertise and avoid reinventing the wheel.

• Promoting employment in the water industry. Specific resources linked to water careers will be created that engage secondary students and address the existing skills shortage.

AWA is looking to extend the benefits of this project to new subscribers and is offering a special one-year subscription rate for newcomers. For further information please visit www.awa.asn.au/ AustralianCurriculumProject or contact Kim Wuyts, ph 02 9436 0055 or email kwuyts@awa.asn.au.

JOIN ONE OF AWA’S INTERACTIVE NETWORKS If you’re an AWA member, a key benefit is to join one or more of our 19 interactive Specialist Networks. It’s free to join and there are plenty of rewards to reap, including: • Chance to exchange knowledge and ideas with peers in your area; • Increase your technical knowledge and competence; • Receive the latest news and advances in your specialty area; • Hear about opportunities to help you excel professionally; • Lead the way through thought leadership; • Build contacts with people that share similar water-related interests; • Contribute to the development of industry programs, policies, strategies, guidelines and standards.

Specialist Networks are tailored to the diverse specialties across the water industry and include (see overleaf):

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AWA News • Asset Management • Biosolids Management

SPECIALIST NETWORK ACTIVITIES AT OZWATER’14

• Catchment Management • Environmental Water Management • Membranes & Desalination • Operations

Monday 28 April: YWP Workshop

• Rural Water • Small Water & Wastewater Systems (SWWS)

Tuesday 29 April:

• Source Management

Workshop: Asset Management: Thinking above the Ground (Asset Management Specialist Network)

• Sustainability

Stream: From Meter to Cash to Retail Processes (Water Retail Specialist Network)

• Water Education • Water Efficiency

Stream: Water Management in the Murray Darling-Basin (Catchment Management, Environmental Water Management and Rural Water Specialist Networks)

• Water Management Law & Policy • Water in Mining and Energy • Water Quality Monitoring & Analysis

Wednesday 30 April:

• Water Recycling • Water Retail • WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene in Developing Communities) • Young Water Professionals If you’d like to be more involved you can join a network committee.

For an average commitment of one hour per week, you will have the opportunity to use your knowledge and experience to lead developments in your area of expertise, and strengthen your industry contacts. Go to www.awa.asn.au/joinanetwork and follow the links.

Workshop: Achieving Business Excellence through Better Decision-Making (Sustainability Specialist Network) Stream: Current issues for Water Management in Mining (Water in Mining and Energy Specialist Network) Wednesday 30 April Breakfast Session: How to Develop Ideas into Advocacy and Position Statements (YWP Specialist Network)

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AWA News

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WATER QUALITY?

SEBALOG N-3 NETWORK

If you’d like to expand your knowledge about water quality consider joining one of these AWA events.

Ozwater Workshop Day 2: National Certification Framework for Water Treatment plant Operators – progress & Future plans, Wednesday 30th April, 1.15–3.15pm This workshop is supported by the Water Industry Skills Taskforce and hosted by AWA and the Queensland Water Directorate.

Find out about the key features of the Framework and the likely implications for your business; hear about Victoria’s experience and pilots being run in NSW and Queensland; and learn about the benefits and challenges of this important industry initiative from regulators, employers and participants.

AWA Master Class: Sydney 28–29 May 2014: Troubleshooting risk in Water Quality Management

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The fun and games were accompanied by a ‘Social Conscience’, with fundraising efforts from the evening’s raffle donated to support victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The happy winner left with a golf bag generously provided by Pentair, while a total of $195 was donated to UNICEF’s Typhoon Haiyan Children’s Emergency Appeal. The money will contribute to providing shelter, food and clean water to some of the four million children affected.

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BRANCH NEWS

This year’s YWP annual social event was held at the Fitzroy Bowls Club on Friday 7 February. Sponsored by Pentair, the evening proved very popular, with more than 30 young water professionals attending.

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Delivered by some of Australia’s top water quality and risk scientists, this Master Class will focus on how risks to the health and safety of water supply can be best controlled. Currently health-based microbial and chemical measures of risk tolerance called DALYs are increasingly used to underpin water quality guidelines for both drinking water and recycled water. The Master Class will look in depth at the concept of risk, the nature of hazards, critical control points and DALYs.

through cost effective solutions

Thanks to Pentair for their generous support and presence at the event, Fitzroy Bowls Club, Victorian Branch Manager Gail Reardon, event organisers Adrian Leo, Orry Thomas and Virginie Crouzat and YWP President Will Gielewski.

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AWA News

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AWA News RMIT Public Lecture Approximately 75 people from metropolitan and regional water utilities, universities and consulting companies attended the public lecture given by Professor Karl Linden of the University of Colorado Boulder at RMIT University on 19 February. Dr Karl Linden at RMIT University.

The presentation: ‘Rethinking Disinfection in Drinking Water Systems’ considered how disinfection would be evaluated if it were a new technology today, and explored whether it would be acceptable for use in water treatment compared with UV and ozone. The lecture was hosted by the Water: Effective Tools and Technology (WETT) Research Centre and the Victorian Branch of the Australian Water Association.

YWP Regional Conference The annual regional Victorian Branch YWP Conference was this year held in Launceston, Tasmania, from 21–22 February 2014. The theme for this year’s event was ‘Catchment to Coast – A Whole of Water Cycle Approach in the Tamar Valley’.

The key concept was the importance of community engagement.

While in recent times, community engagement has increasingly become more of a focus in project decision-making, it became evident that our Tassie counterparts already ‘get it’. Maybe it’s something to do with the smaller population, or a greater conscience for sustainability and the environment, or maybe you simply can’t go to the pub without bumping into a fellow water colleague!

Reform was another key topic that was explored by the TasWater CEO, Mike Brewster. He explained the tariff reforms that are underway to provide a more equitable system for charging for water, and most importantly trade waste services. The amalgamation of council-operated water systems into three regional utilities and finally into a single entity, TasWater in July 2013, has brought about many issue including cultural change as well as the adoption of many under-performing legacy assets. We learned about the resourceconstrained operating environment, which may lead to more innovative ways to solve problems.

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46

AWA News

NEW MEMBERS AWA welcomes the following new members since the most recent issue of Water Journal

NEW CORPORATE MEMBERS

NEW INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

NSW

ACT B Edgerton NSW K Agllias, D Azzopardi, G

Corporate Bronze Oxyzone Pty Ltd

Hurley, K McAlister, J Knudsen,

M Yeo, P Filet, N Smith, P Kassianos, D Baille, D McConnell, B Civelle, B Jarvis, R Davies, S Pollard, G Zipf,

SA B Bavaresco, B Neyland, J

ViC

MS Joshi, K Harper, M Sharpin,

Whiting, T Grosser, T Anderson, J Kerrigan

Corporate Silver

S Wilson, R Taka, T Nguyen,

Bergmeier Environmental

J Walker, ASM Mohiuddin, A

VIC J McBain, S Sarkis, J Yeung,

Corporate Bronze

Nomani, P Nolan, D Patch

ECEFast Hurll Nu-Way Pty Ltd

L Airey, H Baker, T Muster, N Song, R Schwarzman, S Taylor, R Debman, R Bergmeier, M Murray, B Rowlinson, J Portlock

NT M Impey QLD R Gilmour, J Hartwig,

WA S Mawhinney, K Jayakody, P Smith, P Barry

NEW OVERSEAS MEMBERS S Harlos, New Zealand

NEW STUDENT MEMBERS NSW D Tipping, S Thirupparan, G Carvajal-Ortega

SA P Sanchez Castillo

AWA EVENTS CALENDAR This list is correct at the time of printing. For up-to-date listings and booking information please check the AWA online events calendar at: www.awa.asn.au/events

April/May Tue, 29 Apr 2014 – Thu, 01 May 2014

Ozwater’14, Brisbane, QLD

Tue, 13 May 2014

ViC Seminar – private Sector involvement, Melbourne CBD, VIC

Fri, 16 May 2014

Women in Water – Networking Breakfast Event, HWA Head Office, Mayfield West, NSW

Fri, 16 May 2014

ViC YWp Annual Dinner 2014, Ormond Hall, Melbourne, VIC

Thu, 22 May 2014

SA Young Water professionals Forum 2014 – New Water Ways: Doing More With less, Adelaide Pavilion, South Tce, Adelaide, SA

Wed, 28 May 2014 – Thu, 29 May 2014 Master Class: Troubleshooting risk in Water Quality Management, Sydney, NSW Thu, 29 May 2014

QlD Young Water professionals Mentoring program launch, Brisbane, QLD

June Wed, 04 Jun 2014 – Thu, 05 Jun 2014

Water industry Operations Conference & Exhibition, Logan, QLD

Wed, 11 Jun 2014

ACT Water Sensitive Urban Design – Technical Series: WSUD Technical Site Visit, Crace Recreation Park, ACT

Wed, 11 Jun 2014

QlD Monthly Technical Meeting, Brisbane, QLD

Wed, 11 Jun 2014

SA Technical Seminar: Unconventional Gas – Where To From Here? A Water Wednesday Event, Adelaide University, SA

Thu, 12 Jun 2014

ViC YWp Seminar – innovation, Young & Jacksons, Melbourne, VIC

Wed, 25 Jun 2014 – Fri, 27 Jun 2014

Biosolids and Source Management National Conference, Bayview Eden, Melbourne, VIC

July Tue, 08 Jul 2014 – Thu, 10 Jul 2014

peri-urban’14, UWS, Parramatta, NSW

Wed, 09 Jul 2014

QlD Monthly Technical Meeting, Brisbane, QLD

Tue, 15 Jul 2014

ViC Seminar – Catchment Management for Water Quality, Melbourne CBD, VIC

Wed, 30 Jul 2014 – Thu, 31 Jul 2014

QlD – North Queensland regional Conference, Mackay, QLD

Wed, 30 Jul 2014

WA Water industry lunch, Parmelia Hilton Hotel, WA

August Thu, 07 Aug 2014

ViC Branch – 52nd Annual Dinner, Melbourne Town Hall, VIC

Fri, 08 Aug 2014

SA Branch Conference 2014: Sharing the Successes of the South Australian Water industry, Serafino Winery, McLaren Vale, SA

Wed, 13 Aug 2014 – Thu, 14 Aug 2014 Small Water and Wastewater Systems National Conference, Newcastle, NSW Wed, 20 Aug 2014

SA Young Water professionals – Mentoring Event, Adelaide, SA

Thu, 28 Aug 2014

TasWater14, Wrest Point, TAS

WAter April 2014

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Ozwater Highlights

WELCOME TO OZWATER’14!

Alicia Boyd, AWA’s Ozwater Program Manager, reports on what’s in store.

Australia’s peak annual water sector event, AWA’s Ozwater Conference & Exhibition, takes place this year from 29 April–1 May at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. The Conference boasts an impressive speaker faculty of over 250 local and international water sector thought leaders, technical experts, policy makers and up-andcoming young professionals. Highlights include: • Renowned keynote presenters who have prepared insightful and timely opening addresses to capture the imagination of delegates and set the bar for three days of high-level discussion; • Technical tours that will take delegates to the heart of some of South-East Queensland’s most innovative water management developments, and hands-on workshops that will bring sector issues to the fore through in-depth discussion working towards action agendas; • A stunning Gala Dinner with world-class entertainment; • Trade Expo featuring over 200 businesses showcasing their products and services.

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?

KEYNOTE PRESENTERS

Ozwater’14 is the must-attend water industry event in Australia, with an unparalleled coverage of major water management disciplines and topics, access to key water sector stakeholders, and business-to-business networking. Each year delegates come away with experiences that will benefit themselves and their organisations, whether it be new contacts, knowledge, technology or business opportunities.

Exciting late additions to our line-up of keynote speakers include:

With a comprehensive trade expo, international conference, technical tours, social functions, workshops, partner events, innovation and investment forums, there is something for everyone.

Em. Prof. Helmut Kroiss, President Elect, International Water Association, Institut für Wassergüte und Abfallwirtschaft, Technische Universität Vienna, Austria

To reserve your place please go to www.ozwater.org/register

DOWNLOAD THE OZWATER’14 SMARTPHONE APP View the conference program, plan your day’s schedule, find out essential event information and have your say on the best speakers and sessions via our conference app, available for download at www.ozwater.org.

Victor Javier Bourgett, Director General, Mexican Institute of Water Technology, Mexico Mr Bourgett, an esteemed water scientist and engineer, will share his experiences in the creation of the National Agency for Hurricanes and Severe Weather and the modernisation of the National Weather Service in Mexico.

Helmut’s career focus has been on the implementation of industrial and municipal waste infrastructure. His passions are water quality and global equity of water access, which ties in with our broad conference theme Water for Everyone. Helmut will present delegates with a sneak peek on what will be on offer at the IWA World Water Congress in Lisbon.

You can see the rest of our keynote presenter line up at ozwater.org/keynote-speakers

CONFERENCE PROGRAM With six presentation and two workshop streams each day, Ozwater’14’s Conference Program provides a comprehensive overview of water sector agendas, challenges, working groups and projects with coverage of a host of topic areas including: • Water Efficiency • Desalination & Water Recycling • Customer & Community Engagement • Integrated Water Management • Liveable Cities & Interface Issues • The Water & Energy Nexus • Water in Mining and the Resources Sector • Operations & Asset Management • Biosolids & Residual Management • Industrial Water Management • Water Treatment • Technical Innovations & Breakthroughs • Wastewater Treatment • Financing Water Infrastructure • Governance & Water Reform • Water Management Law & Policy • Agriculture & Food • Rural, Remote & Regional Water.

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Ozwater Highlights We are also pleased to announce three exciting new additions to the Program: • The University of Queensland will lead an interactive discussion on the water-energy nexus, exploring scenarios for reducing water-related energy use. We have in the past looked at water and energy challenges as separate entities, each with separate actions. This has delivered significant efficiency improvements.

If we want to further improve, the next change will come from the inter-relationship between water and energy, and across previously unstudied scale boundaries. This session will examine options for reducing water-related energy use both within the water utility sphere of influence and downstream of their traditional jurisdictions by improving end-user energy efficiency.

• Research and Development is the cornerstone of improvements to technology, efficiency, effectiveness and commercial growth in Australia’s water sector. The Australian Water Research and Development Coalition, in collaboration with the Partnership Working Group for Urban Water, AWA and WSAA, will run a round-table discussion on the conditions required to foster industry-relevant Urban Water R&D. Water utility, private industry and research sectors will discuss priorities for Urban Water R&D and develop clear pathways for commercial application and adoption of innovations. This session will explore progress to date and provide the opportunity for discussion on the future direction of water sector innovation and arrangements for national R&D investment in urban water.

the opportunity to discuss strategies towards providing water, sanitation and hygiene for everyone, everywhere. This interactive session will engage with Australian water industry professionals to progress the dialogue around the question – how are we to make universal coverage a reality in our lifetime?

Our full conference agenda is available at ozwater.org/conference

GALA DINNER The Ozwater’14 Gala Dinner on Wednesday 30 April is one of the most important informal networking opportunities in the water sector. Featuring the AWA National Water Awards Presentation it also provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate the industry’s successes in style. Don’t forget to register early as places are strictly limited and this event always sells out.

• Globally there are 800,000 people without access to adequate water supplies, and 2.5 billion without access to sanitation. The vision of creating universal access to WASH as a reality requires new ways of working. The International WaterCentre will offer

WATER INNOVATION FORUM 1pm–6pm, Monday 28 April 2014 Location: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Held on the day prior to Ozwater the inaugural AWA Water Innovation Forum will promote new and emerging technologies and innovative products with an application to the Australian water sector, and provide the opportunity for innovators, buyers and investors to come together to share their perspectives on water sector R&D, gain practical insights on commercialisation and form solid business relationships.

A selection of innovators will have the opportunity to present their product or service to interested buyers and investors, while also gaining practical knowledge from specially tailored small group advisory sessions and round-table presentations from leading commercialisation experts. Buyers and investors will have the opportunity to witness what some of the best innovators in the water sector have to offer in an exclusive curated showcase, and have their say on the kinds of innovation they are seeking in the water sector through a facilitated round-table session.

This event will form part of AWA’s ongoing series of events focused on providing innovation business partnerships and engaging key industry stakeholders to have their say on the future direction of water industry R&D. Interested companies wishing to participate as buyers or investors should visit www.ozwater.org/innovationforum to find out more. This year’s forum is sponsored by Innovation Interchange.

INTERNATIONAL OZONE ASSOCIATION SYMPOSIUM The International Ozone Association (IOA) will convene a full-day Ozone Symposium at Ozwater’14 on Wednesday 30 April 2014. The symposium will cover a range of aspects of ozone science and technology in water and wastewater treatment including: • Ozone and related oxidants and essential human health needs; • Treatment of urban wastewaters with ozone; • Ozone and advanced oxidation processes in drinking water treatment, including case studies; • Ozone in drinking water, including application, design, operation and optimisation.

Highlights will include a hands-on workshop from Kerwin Rakness, of Process Applications Inc, USA, centred around his recent book release, Ozone in Drinking Water Treatment: Process Design, Operation and Optimization, and insights into the role of ozone treatment in meeting regulatory drinking water compliance, provided by Alex Mofidi, former technical and drinking water quality manager at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, United States.

The symposium will provide an excellent opportunity for anyone with an interest in the ozone treatment of drinking and wastewaters. For more details contact Craig Jakubowski at IOA: craig.jakubowski@hwa.com.au

APRIL 2014 WATER

52

Opinion

WHERE TO NOW FOR THE AUSTRALIAN WATER MARKET?

By Mal Shepherd, AWA Board Member and Industry General Manager for Water & Enviro at John Holland.

The Australian water sector has long enjoyed a strong international reputation as being innovative, agile, adaptable and responsive.

This could not have been more evident to me than when I attended the Singapore International Water Week Water Utilities Leaders Forum last year.

This enviable reputation has been established through the global presence and performance of our research organisations and academics, utilities, engineering houses and water technology products. In more recent times, this cohort of Australian water professionals has been joined by our constructors, with the completion of several globally recognised desalination projects.

At Ozwater’14 in Brisbane this year the industry will again have the opportunity to showcase its capability, as well at the IWA Water Congress in Lisbon later in the year.

The Australian water sector has enjoyed immense success over the last decade. This has been driven and aided by our responses to the millennium drought, population growth in major population centres, water security issues, rationalisation of our irrigation sector and the booming resource sector.

These market sectors are now returning to more normal and traditional levels of business activity; therefore, it is logical that we now reach out to geographically located markets that require the deployment of our knowledge and knowhow. We have the opportunity to explore how to export into these other economies the capabilities that we have been developing over the past decade.

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK waterAUSTRALIA was established in 2009 by AWA as a wholly-owned subsidiary to promote and develop new business for the Australian water industry both domestically and in international markets. It does this by: • Raising the awareness of the sector’s success in integrated water management in both domestic and international markets;

WATER APRIL 2014

• Providing opportunities for organisations to collaborate to increase market reach; and • Targeting high value market niches especially suited to Australian capabilities. waterAUSTRALIA is the brand under which the Australian water industry is promoted overseas.

Over the next 12 months, AWA will focus on identifying international business opportunities, facilitating export growth and amplifying local supplier brands to the international market.

AWA is working closely with Austrade and the Department of Industry to run missions internationally to present the Australian water industry to overseas markets and provide top-level business introductions to ensure that those who wish to explore export markets have a high level of business readiness and market awareness in regards to accessible and addressable markets.

AWA will be taking trade delegations to the Singapore International Water Week in June and the World Water Congress in Lisbon in September.

AWA has also recently established a powerful network of organisations from both the public and private sectors across SE Asia to assist Australian companies to enter these fast-emerging markets.

A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT Water is the most essential building block of any nation. This starts with urban water utilities providing good public health outcomes that allow economic growth. However, it also means that the health of our raw water supplies is critical, including the rivers and aquifers that underpin our food bowls, energy and resource sectors and, in many cases, drinking water supplies.

Up to approximately 20% of the world’s population may at any one point be living either in drought, flood-affected regions, or economic water shortage where countries lack the necessary infrastructure and financial capacity to take water from rivers or aquifers and deliver it to households.

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Opinion The global and diverse nature of some of these issues dictates that a collaborative effort is required. The diverse climate and population distribution across Australia presents some interesting challenges for water utilities, bulk water providers and irrigators alike.

better goods, services and infrastructure, while a number of MENA nations are seeking to improve ageing infrastructure. With economic wealth comes an expectation of high-quality water and efficient sewerage services.

Collectively the Australian water sector has seen these challenges as opportunities to develop action plans and pathways to effectively deploy innovative ways to utilise technology and people. In doing so, sustainable solutions have been implemented to address these issues.

John Holland, through AWA subsidiary WaterAustralia, is engaging with Australian SMEs to undertake work both in Australia and offshore. We are also developing partnerships with in-country SMEs when assessing the project development pipeline of work in these international markets.

On reflection, these solutions could not have been delivered without the strong leadership provided by an aligned collegian of water leaders sharing knowledge, lessons learnt and experience. It is this strong Australian water community that can impact the global stage.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Moving forward, long-term strategic planning and asset management approaches are required to maintain appropriate levels of service.

This is against a backdrop of population growth and climate change along with societal demands for liveable cities. The future will be about planning, partnerships, engagement and leadership. While many water matters are catchment-based, we need to be able to look to each other and use the benefit derived from the collective local and global knowledge.

There are three key markets that John Holland as an Australian water contractor is targeting: New Zealand, South East Asia and MENA regions. These areas are all signalling major potential for growth in demand for water and sanitation in varying sectors of the water market. The Asian Century White Paper has already identified that an increasingly wealthy and mobile middle class is demanding

SMEs play an important part when you consider that many are involved in the development of innovative technology and solutions for the water sector. SMEs will continue to provide to the water sector both revolutionary and evolutionary innovative solutions to meet the particular needs of the catchment or geography of the region in which it is being applied.

THE AUTHOR Mal Shepherd is Industry General Manager – Water & Enviro at John Holland, a major provider of water and wastewater treatment processes to the Australian and international water sector. Mal has served in a range of project-based and management positions including roles as Project Engineer, Project Director, Alliance Manager and National Operations. Mal is a member and current Board Director of the AWA.

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water trading

56

Feature Article

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD OF WATER TRADING With around two decades of experience in the establishment and refinement of water markets, Australia is regarded as a world leader in the market-based allocation and management of scarce water resources. Kerry Olsson, Acting CEO at NWC, provides an update.

The operation of efficient water markets remains crucial to the water reform process in Australia. The National Water Commission is often asked why this is so. The rationale is that water markets will promote economic efficiency by enabling water resources to be reallocated to those who value them most highly in both the long and short terms.

Water trading promotes allocative efficiency. It does so because seasonal water trading allows the water available in any given season to be reallocated across crops, locations and water users (including irrigators) in response to seasonal conditions. It promotes dynamic efficiency in that water trading can facilitate investment and structural adjustments. In a capped system, for example, where no new entitlements are available, trade enables new water users such as new ‘greenfield’ irrigation developments to establish and develop.

Trading also provides more scope for regions and sectors to purchase water and expand – especially when an inability to do so constrains the growth of national, state and regional economies. For those selling water, trading gives them the capacity to receive income and, in doing so, better adjust to changing circumstances. Water trading can also promote productive efficiency, where price signals create an incentive for users to make more efficient use of water. This can drive private sector investment to develop more efficient infrastructure, which can in turn reduce the investment call on the broader community.

For all of these reasons, the establishment of a water market was a critical plank of the National Water Initiative (NWI) when all states and territories signed on to the reform agreement 10 years ago.

What the Initiative Means As an intergovernmental agreement, the NWI remains unique in the world for providing a comprehensive commitment by governments to improving long-term water use and security. The water trading section of the NWI is not just about the better allocation of this scarce resource, it is also about liberating a major financial asset for many water users in Australia which previously had been tied in a sub-optimal way to land.

Australia does not have a single water market because hydrological connectivity does not exist between water systems that are vast distances apart. More than 90 per cent of Australia’s water market activity is concentrated in the southern Murray–Darling Basin, where trading is now possible over large distances and across state boundaries. Water markets in other water systems have developed at varying speeds and to different degrees. In some areas water trading arrangements are well established, while water markets are in their formative stages in Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Over the past decade State and Territory Governments have taken substantial steps towards the eventual objective of an open water

water APRIL 2014

trading market. Publicly accessible water registers of water access entitlements are now available, and the quality of market data and information is improving. Australia now has far more compatible institutional and regulatory arrangements that facilitate trade both within and across borders. In particular, these arrangements account for differences in entitlement reliability, supply losses, supply source constraints, trading between systems and cap requirements. On the whole, progress among the various states has proceeded in parallel.

These institutional improvements are part of overall water planning; they do not stand alone but as part of an integrated and adaptive process as envisaged by the NWI. Perhaps in response to the successful uptake of water trading, New South Wales and Victoria have to date maintained some barriers to trade to allow time for structural adjustments in irrigation districts potentially affected by the exodus of water entitlements. There are also necessary barriers for hydrological reasons, such as river chokes, that add complexity to water trading rules. Clearly there is room for further progress towards the removal of remaining barriers to trade.

We have already seen other significant benefits arise from water trading, including improved environmental outcomes with large volumes of water being moved to meet environmental objectives. In addition, there have been increased economic returns as water moves to higher value and more profitable production. And trade has proved its value in mitigating the impacts of extreme drought on irrigated production.

Trade in groundwater has lagged behind surface water due to limitations of hydraulic connections, concerns associated with thirdparty impacts and the fact that groundwater entitlements in many areas are still to be unbundled. Nevertheless the benefits of trade can be realised in groundwater systems and more can be done to encourage systematic integration of groundwater and surface management and use that will extend the application of markets to groundwater systems.

Business Opportunities Water trading offers businesses a chance to develop a portfolio of water market products, where choices can be made between water products at different prices. These might include options such as different reliability water, short-term temporary water, or securing greater permanent entitlements for the long term. There is also potential for innovative trading instruments such as leasing and derivative products, supported by an increase in market confidence by large agricultural investors who see potential in Australia’s water entitlement market. In the future, we may also see greater demand for separate, tradeable entitlements for delivery itself, not just a share of water. The success of these instruments will be dependent on the development of an appropriate trading platform.

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water trading

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Feature Article

The National Water Commission recently released its Sixth Annual Water Markets Report, which shows the value of the Australian water market at $1.4 billion in 2012–13. While water markets are integral to the ongoing reform that the NWI seeks to achieve, they are only advocated where the benefits of markets outweigh the costs associated with the development of arrangements necessary for their effective function. There is no commitment to achieve any particular trading level.

So far the spotlight on water markets has focused on rural areas, and particularly irrigated agriculture. While it will require careful consultation and a greater evolution of the legal, administrative and regulatory arrangements underpinning the market, expanding the market has potential for managing greater competition for water resources among major users such as manufacturers, energy generators, extractive industries and our cities. In the urban environment, engineering solutions have historically been favoured as a means of adding surety to urban water supplies, and rural-urban water trading remains subject to a number of policy and institutional barriers.

Many of these issues will be discussed in the National Water Commission’s assessment of national water reform, which will be released later this year. In the meantime, the NWI aims to achieve progressive removal of barriers to trade in water and facilitate the broadening and deepening of the water market.

Trading is only one mechanism to deliver the benefits of reform.

However, facilitating the most productive use of water through opening up water markets encourages the best use of water in an environment of constrained availability.

The National Water Commission will continue to monitor jurisdictions’ progress with these steps, advise NWI partners and publicly report our findings to ensure transparency and effective scrutiny.

The latest Australian Water Markets report is available at: www.nwc.gov.au/publications/topic/water-industry/australianwater-markets-report-2012-13 WJ

However, where purchases of entitlements and allocations were possible, they have had significant economic and social benefits in alleviating urban water security challenges and water restrictions during the millennium drought. For example, urban water authorities in Adelaide, Bendigo and Ballarat all made use of the water market to handle urban water shortages. More recently, the ACT Government purchased water entitlement in the Murrumbidgee Valley to enhance reliability of supply for urban use.

These moves, however, have largely been ad hoc. What the market can do is provide a benchmark to measure the costs and benefits of engineering solutions to strengthen supply to cities.

THE AUTHOR Kerry Olsson (email: Kerry.Olsson@nwc. gov.au) is Acting CEO of the National Water Commission. She has been involved in water reform in Australia for over a decade, and has been closely involved with the development and implementation of the national water reform agenda. She has a background in natural resource management and environmental policy and programs at state and national levels.

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APRIL 2014 WATER

60

Feature Article

ONLINE WATER QUALITY MONITORING: THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE Quality monitoring is a vital part of water management, however, it’s not without its technical challenges. This report is based on the outcomes of the Online Water Quality Monitoring Workshop that took place at last year’s Ozwater Conference & Exhibition in Perth.

Introduction Water quality monitoring is an important part of water management and there are many examples of technical challenges throughout the water cycle from catchment to tap. The application of online monitoring and associated sensors will contribute to several key areas of the water business. Changing environmental conditions mean that the quality of source waters is showing increased variability, and early detection of changes in quality and impacts on the treatment process is vital.

In drinking water quality management, any perturbations from the norm in the water treatment process or in distribution systems need to be identified and located quickly, thus minimising water quality incidents and customer inconvenience. Then, in the wastewater area, there is constant pressure to improve the efficacy of processes, especially for the removal of nutrients and other key contaminants to meet increasingly stringent disposal guidelines.

Another factor that can adversely impact on the wastewater treatment process is shock loads of contaminants such as trade wastes. Online monitoring has the potential to give a rapid indication of the changing quality of wastewater and will allow improved management methods to be adopted. Monitoring the quality of treated wastewater will minimise the risk of environmental incidents.

Rapid responses to problems within water and wastewater systems will minimise the costs associated with the corrective actions.

Four key discussion topics: 1) Instrument Selection; 2) Equipment Issues; 3) Data Transfer and Management; and 4) Key Challenges in Implementation – Drivers and Benefits, were pre-selected based on the outcomes of the International Conference on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing Water Quality Monitoring Workshop 2011.

1. Instrument Selection Treatment Performance Indicators (TPIs) were found to be the key criteria to support the correct instrument selection and for developing a successful business case for capital spending. A list of key water quality parameters that are currently measured and a participant “wish list” captured from the workshop discussion are presented in Table 1. Several sensing parameters that can be directly used as TPIs are process dependent. The parameters presented are categorised into physical/particles, chemical, biological and unusual/novel parameters with indication of whether they can be used as direct TPI (bold text) or as a surrogate. The success of the application will be dependent on the selection of a suitable sensor/instrument for the task; it is especially important to consider the sample, as it was reported by some attendees that quite often problems are caused by incorrect use of a sensor in an inappropriate sample.

For the particle/physical category, particle counter, turbidity, particle charge analyser, streaming current detector and conductivity are listed. Turbidity is the most commonly used parameter and turbidity meter selection is quite important when considering the water type/quality. Both turbidity and conductivity are direct TPIs,

With stormwater, the raw product is known to be highly variable and many schemes are designed to allow separation of “first-flush” water prior to treatment from the main body of the treatment system.

However, such procedures are far from optimised and, by the time laboratory analysis is Table 1. Water quality parameters – currently measured and desired. carried out and data confirmed, stormwater that Particles/physical Chemical Biological Novel is potentially of good quality and high value can Particle counter pH Chlorophyll-a EIS be wasted. Similar concerns reveal a growing need for the development of online sensors for Turbidity Chlorine/chloramine Phycocyanin 3D Fluorescence EEM water and wastewater areas of the industry.

Particle Charge Coal seam gas UV absorbance Analyser monitoring This report is based on the outcomes of the Ozwater’13 Online Water Quality Monitoring Streaming TOC Sulphate Workshop presented by the AWA Water Quality current Monitoring and Analysis Specialist Network Conductivity Colour Disinfection by-products with the contribution of the Water Environment Coagulant residual (Fe/Al) Research Foundation ‘Compendium of Sensors PAH and Monitors and Their Use in the Global Water Industry’. We present the view from the water industry as end user, and with engineering consultancy companies and university research teams as service providers.

water APRIL 2014

DO Phosphate Note: Bold Text – directly used as TPIs.

water quality monitoring while the outputs of particle counters, particle charge analysers and streaming current detectors are considered as surrogates.

In the chemical category, apart from pH, online chorine, chloramine and ammonia analysers are at the top of the list for disinfection residual management and for chloraminated systems; monitoring of nitrite is important to provide early warning of nitrification and to allow rapid response to rectify the issue.

In treatment process control, total organic carbon (TOC) or UV absorbance is an important parameter, particularly if the UV spectrophotometer has a calibrated reading in mg/L of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), such as the s::can spectro::lyser. In addition, low concentration determination is always a challenge for future sensor development, but with the introduction of the new three– dimensional, fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (3D-FEEM) measurement, this was considered to offer good opportunities for further development into water quality monitoring applications.

Colour and coagulant residual (Al and Fe) measurements are important operational parameters and can be used as direct TPIs. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dissolved oxygen (DO) and phosphate are listed, with a comment that the phosphate analyser requires further development to have a non-colorimetric option and, ideally, with the availability of online measurement.

Chlorophyll-a and phycocyanin are listed as biological parameters without too much discussion; perhaps they are viewed as useful parameters but haven’t been widely used in the industry apart from some research/investigation applications. There are several manufacturers who supply sensors to detect chlorophyll (green algae) and phycocyanin (blue-green algae) ­- e.g. YSI (Yellow Springs Instrument) sensors.

In the novel category, various items were mentioned and earmarked for further investigation. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (FEEM) spectrophotometry were mentioned as new analytical techniques with potential. Coal seam gas related water monitoring is a new area that requires further development. In membrane process related areas, silica is an indicator of fouling and sulphate indicates membrane integrity. Important drinking water parameters (DBPs), were discussed and their on-line measurement as a major “wish list” item. There was also an encouraging call for new technologies for sensing based on nano-materials, enzyme (biochemical) and electrochemically based detection. Interestingly, there seemed to be a relationship between the development of new processes and expanded needs for new detection technologies to adequately monitor.

There are several key barriers to the uptake of these sensors/ instruments for indicators of treatment performance; some general examples were given such as maintenance issues, shock load situations, calibration, confidence in readings (drift), initial capital cost, replacement cost etc. From the discussion, the cultural barrier to implementation is high on the list. Therefore, leadership is required to set an example, but resistance to change at lower levels and resources not made available to adequately implement were common issues.

Cost effectiveness also needs to be demonstrated to build a successful business case. However, it is particularly difficult to get cost breakdowns of unit processes and true demonstration of cost savings. In general, cost is the main barrier for small systems, but some sensors today are more affordable and it is also possible to adapt existing technologies ­– for example, Ion Chromatography for high precision measurement.

In the operating environment, complexity of equipment vs. operator training (e.g. calibration) is an important factor for successful implementation. The use of online monitoring systems

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Feature Article is supposed to be an automated process and assist operations; however, operators feel they need continuous monitoring and maintenance to allow them to function correctly, therefore there was considerable discussion on instrument reliability.

It appears that reported unreliability might not be an instrumentation fault as instruments are sometimes used in the wrong situation; often the same instrument is reported as operating adequately in a different location. More effort should be made to obtain and share information on the most suitable instrument for a particular situation. The general concern over lack of confidence in data, especially at unmanned plants (remote), and unreliability of using instruments for TPIs, can be improved with the right level of operator training/experience that utilities require. Also, one key improvement identified was that suppliers who provide good support locally might help to overcome any operator issues.

Another key barrier is data management: appropriate utilisation of data, discovering data, quality versus quantity, and understanding of trigger values were mentioned.

To improve the use of online instrumentation, regulation and compliance could be used as drivers, e.g. using online TOC as a parameter for a Critical Control Point (CCP) approach. In fact, if there is a way of integrating instrument selection into the asset planning process by considering that the Asset Planner/Manager can use a driver, e.g. safety, regulations, response time (acute issue), this would be helpful. In addition, a decision-tree approach to consider pros/ cons and limitations of instruments as part of the selection process (with documented instrument specifications for each application) would greatly assist instrument selection and deployment.

To enable the installed online instruments to provide reliable service, location of the instrument, particularly in respect to safety and security, is important. In general, there is no safety concern over instruments themselves; however, some concerns regarding whether reagents used to validate and calibrate instruments are safe to handle, and their disposal, can be key factors for selection.

Finally, new technology was discussed – waiting for something new on the horizon, such as new principles used in novel instruments, when compared with settling for what is available today. A homely analogy in this sense would be deciding when to take the plunge and purchase an LCD or plasma TV. At what point does one maximise the investment? Emerging sensor types, energy requirements and new instruments on the market are important aspects to be considered. It is also important that endusers actively seek better ways to do their jobs; for example, online microbiological monitoring has constantly been on the wish list.

Driving forces for the future include environmental considerations, such as a move away from colorimetric estimation (a recent example is the uptake of UVabs (s::can), with the emphasis on reagent free operation). Other more site-specific requirements, such as lightning protection issues in remote locations, could be a good investment, as repair can cause significant delays in returning the monitoring point back to service. The discussion also captured new concerns over harmonic impacts of sensor stability, and it was agreed that there is little current knowledge on this issue. Other drivers include new guidelines, the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, Recycling Guidelines, new uses and reducing costs with big projects willing to try and/or demonstrate technologies – then others are more likely to follow.

2. Equipment Issues Equipment issues are inevitable with most sensors and online instrumentation, and maintenance schedules can be adjusted

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Feature Article to account for predicted issues to ensure data access, integrity, robustness and operability. When operating ‘off-the-shelf’ instrumentation, several key comments were captured, including that the “supplier just wants to sell the instrument and does not take into account the suitability for a specific application – location, environment, operating protocol”. Sensor/s selection based on supplier recommendation was raised as an issue; however, experience shows that some sensors are not sensitive enough or not suited to water quality and monitoring requirements.

To manage this situation, a short evaluation period before final purchase, or with an exchange/refund policy in place, is recommended. Buyers should specify performance outcomes required and the context of the applications. Suppliers should assess suitability of the instruments for the required application/ environment before proposing them and guarantee their performance. If suppliersupported diagnosis is required/available, data “security” issues may be required to develop a procedure prior to engaging the service.

Some suppliers do not provide access to software/algorithms within the instrument (black box). There is also a scenario that equipment issues may not relate to the instrument itself, but to the installation and/or maintenance. Examples given were: • Quick change of model, causing problems with spare parts and mismatch with the overall monitoring system (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition – SCADA, database etc); • Turbidity meter: installed far from the point of interest assuming no change in turbidity while covering that distance; • Particle counter, which is sensitive to vibration, mounted on walkway or location subject to vibration; • H2S gas sensor calibrated in moisture-free environment then installed in high humidity environment – off calibration instantly; • Hard water causes rapid fouling of instruments.

There is also quite a lot of effort put into the replication of sensor monitoring points (dual monitoring) using the same or different technologies for quality assurance purposes. There were also reports of on-line generated data (e.g. pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), chlorine and fluoride) suggesting water quality change, while laboratory tests show there was no change. This discrepancy raised questions about water quality as a function of retention time (with increasing distance from the source); the effect of distance from sample point to sensor can be subject to many external factors (e.g. temperature, light, materials, flow, biofouling) which are not really well understood. This potentially could lead to a loss in data integrity.

Additional monitoring (e.g. handheld and lab-based sampling) data can be used to mitigate risk, but only if readily available. In addition, field versus online versus laboratory-based testing of identical water can be difficult to interpret when results differ. This could be due to water quality change between sample collection and processing, or field equipment being not as sensitive as online sensors. Another crucial factor can be that the sensor is not constructed from material suitable for the application (e.g. PVC). There is a need to establish a user group/database such as a list of approved instruments and reference sites for users to obtain information.

When the instrument is installed and in service, the likelihood of instrument failure and consequence of failure can be summarised as more risky if it never quite works properly in the first place, and is considered less risky if it works with occasional failures – but the consequential risk would be higher if the wrong data are used for taking action such as process control or response. It would be good to have a systematic approach to identify and classify the risks

water APRIL 2014

water quality monitoring for different instruments for different applications. Maintenance, including stock/spare parts, needs to be identified. Suppliers usually carry low stock/spare parts causing delays (weeks and months) in responding to problems.

Instrument set-up, particularly scaling, may not be suitable for a specific application, causing sensitivity issues (limits/resolution) and alarm limits possibly too narrow or too broad. Typically, sensors without alarms require good operator experience with ViewX or Citect (SCADA software package) to detect sensor failure.

General maintenance frequency (e.g. validation/calibration) recommended by the supplier can be highly conservative, or too high. Some guidance from other users on this aspect is required. What supporting processes need to be in place for the adequate function of the equipment? This includes maintenance/service/calibration (particularly considering sensors in the field/remote location), record keeping, staff training and using trend analysis to detect instrument problems, e.g. false alarms, sensor fouling, drift and failures. Training needs for users to ensure correct operation and maintenance of the instrument can be varied. Some instruments only require basic skills/ training. However, some require special skills that the user may not have or is not capable of managing the task without knowing what the results mean. If there is technology for instruments that self-maintain or require low frequency of maintenance to minimise human error, this would certainly be welcomed by the operators.

To support new technology, operators are often required to be involved in testing prototypes. They need to compare and contrast commercial instruments with prototype instrumentation that might be the subject of a research project. In prototype testing, the involvement of both the supplier and user is high, with a lot more time and effort to make the instrument work and understand its limitation and possible failure.

This should not be the case with routinely used proven instruments.

Preferably instrumentation should only need calibration at reasonable intervals and/or occasional comparative testing. There are concerns with more sophisticated instruments such as s::can (UV-Vis spectroscopy) or ZAP (3D-FEEM spectroscopy). Partnership with suppliers may work, but this could be expensive unless there is economy of scale.

In summary: • Supplier/operator relationship is of paramount importance; • Different systems need to be able to talk to each other, e.g.

SCADA to others; • Maintenance robustness and adequate training are important.

Self-diagnosing instruments are desirable; • Training and commitment of the operators are crucial and operators need to understand the criticality of the instrument and take appropriate action; • Discrepancies between laboratory and field measurements need to be resolved.

3. Data Transfer and Management Data from sensors and instruments requires careful consideration and planning to ensure its usefulness. SCADA has been widely used throughout the industry but is being used at different levels, and we identified a training need in this area. A representative from one utility mentioned they have a highly centralised monitoring program for all their plants, with basic data, e.g., flow, turbidity and pH being recorded. The data was manually entered into the system by operations staff and data access was via a web-based system.

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water quality monitoring Another utility representative mentioned a more sophisticated system, with their data management system having different levels of access including: individual site level access for operations purpose (operators can access all online data locally or remotely via their laptop computers for plant control); and corporation level access (the plant SCADA system can also be connected to Wide Area Network) to allow wider data access for other staff, such as water quality managers, sub-contractors and so on, for other purposes including higher level management reporting such as integration with environmental compliance. The data management software, PI data storage – Microsoft Excel add-in for SCADA data extraction, was mentioned and is currently used by a number of water utilities.

This PI package is a simple solution for interfacing SCADA and a desktop computer. In addition, the application of a dashboard system can be viewed as the latest development in allowing wider and more effective use of online data for various purposes (such as data for model integration), but this approach requires additional data other than SCADA and data analysis capability to achieve the required level of reporting and modelling. At the moment, few service providers are available to provide system integration.

How to physically transfer data from remote locations, and whether this is more of an issue than short distances, requires some knowledge and understanding. Radio and GSM Network are available and successfully used. However, some remote locations can still be a problem and may involve expensive satellite use. Generally, it’s not a case of how close or far the location is, but whether or not it is remote. In addition, no matter whether it is a long or short distance away the system needs to take care of data security, as this could have a risk component involved.

One of the parameters in online monitoring is the frequency of measurement, and also the data storage period. This is another risk-related issue that depends on how data is being managed, but this risk could be minimised with the new event detection software that reduces monitoring frequency and data storage. Event-driven polling can ensure that the frequency of sampling reflects the dynamics of the system and not too much data has to be managed.

What the data is used for remains a key question. Some of the SCADA data is for operational/process control, so managing the database may require different considerations, as another point was raised about publicly available online data. Under the Freedom of Information Act, a member of the public can request access to raw online data; and the potential issue of accessing raw data that hasn’t been cleaned up – e.g. such as a single noise/spike in raw 10 minute interval data – can be interpreted as non-compliance while the reported daily average value does not exceed the limit value. On the other hand, an example of how freedom of information assisted operations was cited – e.g. no chlorine residual was picked up in part of the London distribution system; this indicated an associated tank hadn’t been cleaned for a long time, however, once it was picked up, corrective action was taken.

To manage a reliable data management system, utilities need to use existing systems to their full capability, with operators who have a good understanding of the system. When introducing new technology, change is also a risk. This would provide a good foundation for future developments such as automated process control and analytic software. One ‘back to basics’ requirement is that, even with a very sophisticated wireless/ cable connection, it is important to have a backup system. An example is a Telstra tower that was damaged in a bushfire: to continue communications, the system was switched to a more conventional radio transmission backup.

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Feature Article With modern instruments producing larger volumes of data, the communication component is required to handle the transfer of larger quantities of data. In addition, operators are facing difficulty in data processing that is beyond the capacity of common desktop computing packages, such as Excel, to handle. The data process issue also leads to the confirmation of long-term data storage and visualisation needs; however, storage requirements have to be determined with the function of the data in future.

It is preferred to connect instruments to SCADA and also to investigate new technology such as web-based packages, but it may be hard for water utilities to take up, as they would have existing systems that are incompatible. However, with data management systems and mechanisms already in place, it would be relatively easy to integrate new monitoring requirements, so system compatibility is the key.

4. Key challenges in implementation – drivers and benefits Some of the drivers for selecting and implementing online monitoring include: regulation, safety, event detection and response, process control, planning and asset protection. Different drivers have differing requirements for online monitoring, resulting in different values in terms of cost/benefit.

The use of online monitoring, especially in process control, involves significant change to work practice (culture). Resistance to such change often hinders adoption, despite the fact that the new way may well be technically proven. The benefits of rapid response are well documented – but there is a need to demonstrate that data quality is comparable to traditional methods. It can be used to provide potentially a surrogate measure of key water quality parameters, particularly early warnings of failures and rapid process control and diversion, and optimisation of processes, e.g. chemical addition control. This will add value if assurances can be given that regulatory requirements are being met.

The value aspects of instrumentation and process control were further explored – firstly a recognition that the value model used in the water industry was very different to the one used in wastewater.

Instrumentation value in control in drinking water-related processes was perceived to be relatively high and directly related to risk of non-compliance and possible associated health risks, while in wastewater there was little perceived value as long as current compliance requirements were generally being met.

Regulatory control was considered more comprehensive and demanding in the drinking water sphere, which raised the value of control, e.g., requirement for continuous real-time compliance with turbidity and other controlled variables. Regulatory control of wastewater is less comprehensive and related to composite and relatively low percentile compliance of controlled variables. The value model used in drinking water is far higher than in wastewater; however, this is beginning to change with the recognition that we may soon be drinking our treated wastewater.

There is a tendency for the value of measurement and control to be low, despite recognised risk, until significant actual costs are incurred, through events such as complete failure of water or wastewater treatment plants – e.g., microbiological contamination of a water system, significant pollution events, or failure to sell reuse water due to quality issues.

Asset life extension was a perceived value in some cases; however, only rarely and usually after substantial unexpected costs from failure events as opposed to pro-actively planned activity. Often these events work against advanced control, as the need to rapidly spend

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Feature article large amounts of money on infrastructure leaves insufficient time to properly identify optimal control options and integrate them into the modified asset. This is often seen in the apparent sudden complete overload of WWTPs, leading to rushed augmentation, when realtime data would have shown a gradual trend towards increased overload, allowing a planned approach to optimising the existing asset and augmenting in an orderly fashion.

The fact that there is little online monitoring of influent to WWTPs or of source waters is a barrier. Modelling of processes is common, however, typically using limited data sets based on composite and grab samples. The lack of use of real-time data in models reduces confidence in the predicted outcomes and the gains indicated as achievable by such modelling (approximately 70% failure of new WWTPs to meet consent on new plants was cited as an example).

The lack here is actually the availability of online data to drive the model. Such large data sets ensure the model is accurate and that the predicted outcomes are achievable and valid for developing a business case to implement the control.

There are very few examples of the gains achievable, which make a financial justification to implement advanced control difficult to produce. For example, pre- and post-advanced control data is not commonly available, as few plants have attempted to implement it.

The perception of a high cost to implement (as opposed to a factual cost/benefit cost) results in a lack of management motivation to attempt to implement. Applications for funding, therefore, end up in the lower tier of expenditure priorities. Factual data on gains on similar plants is needed to show the cost/benefit ratio is actually high.

The tendency for water and wastewater industries to look within their own boundaries for the path forward needs to change. A lack of comparison to the industrial process industries (which we are now supposedly emulating financially) for a fresh look at the potential for benefit is needed to re-align best practice with modern control options. A lack of regulatory drivers such as a requirement to comply with continuous discharge standards does not help the case. An example was given of the successful Danish model of charging per kg of each nutrient discharged rather than set compliance standards.

The Danish system provides a direct financial driver for all plants to continuously improve performance, as occurs in process industries.

Lack of management commitment to automated process control is currently a barrier. Perception of both process and political risk in automation overrides the financially perceived gains, primarily due to a lack of recognition that the process risk of such control is actually lower than for manual control; and the unrecognised level of financial and quality gain achievable. A definite lack of operator and instrument technician training on modern process control and instrumentation leads to unrealistic fears and poor sensor support on site.

The lack of commercially available proven control algorithms for wastewater, and to a lesser degree water, means a higher real risk in implementation.

Some of the other key barriers to implementation that are raised include: • Cost; • Availability; • Demonstrated reliability; • Working with suppliers more effectively to trial instrumentation; • Commissioning and ongoing technical support; • Interpretation of data in a meaningful and responsive way;

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water quality monitoring • Need to have systems that are similar to SCADA, i.e. an alarm is triggered when readings out of spec are taken. This amounts to the system largely interpreting its own data; • Sensors are not available for the things we want to measure, e.g.

Cryptosporidium; • Accuracy – there may be penalties that water utilities face for exceeding guidelines, so they need to know that the device is accurate; • There is a need to share and translate other people’s experiences to the Australian situation; • The water industry is traditionally conservative, resistant to change and requires much lobbying at senior levels; • There may be resistance to what could loosely be termed “automation” or robotics” that may impact on staffing levels; • The water scientists talk a different language to the electronics/IT experts required for successful product development. Also, some of the latest technology developments are kept closely guarded secrets for a considerable time, e.g. some of the technologies developed to detect deliberate contamination threats; • Research is often done in controlled environments and not under realistic conditions, e.g. researchers need educating on real-world practices so they can adapt their developments accordingly.

Sharing of successful implementation learnings is believed to be the way to go. Transparency in operational gains by water and WWTP operational entities is needed, whether they are contract companies or water authorities. This allows operations to be recognised and the public to be proud of their achievements.

That transparency can include making real-time data available to educational facilities and the public, as this raises public awareness and the perceived value aspect.

The EPA already has this relationship with, for example, SA Water Corporation, for the marine monitoring at the discharge of the Adelaide Desalination Plant. This has assisted in managing public perception of events like the fish death incident on the SA coastline, as factual data on the Adelaide Desalination Plant discharge over that time was available to the public via the EPA. Other media for consideration include case studies through workshops, online discussions, trade display dedicated to online monitoring (all companies interested could chip in) at the annual AWA Ozwater Conference & Exhibition, and trade and professional journals.

concLuSIon The round table interactive arrangement allowed us to capture a great variety of discussion. For example, the facilitator noted that at two separate tables considering the same topic the discussions were very different – which leads to the assumpton that people’s responses to this topic are based on their own experiences.

General discussion and commentary was focused on legislative demands around water quality monitoring, or lack thereof. Other aspects, such as asset management, should also be included in the discussion; i.e. how could sensor technologies help determine when accelerated asset deterioration and condition is linked directly to deterioration in water quality (e.g. LSI, alkalinity, free aggressive CO2, filtration, etc). From an industry perspective, significant financial and operational gains could be made here. Future technical development needs were identified, including real-time process optimisation and control, using online instruments and process model/control algorithms.

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We also considered as a final point what we saw as the driving forces now and into the future that will support the drive for increased and better online monitoring systems. These were: • Competition and commercial pressure on water companies will drive them to achieve efficiencies and/or reduce risks; • Counter-terrorism initiatives have already seen increased effort in R&D and application of real-time event detection and response using online instruments/devices (video cameras/explosive sniffers); • Extreme weather events have already caused greater variation of raw water quality, leading to the realisation that current manual responses (sampling, laboratory jar testing) are inadequate; • More incidents to further highlight the inadequacy of current practice without real time online instruments.

An interesting concluding comment is that there appeared to be no mechanism to adequately link the water industry, researchers and other industry professionals with interests and experience in this area. This, of course, is the ultimate reason for holding such a forum and engaging with other organisations that promote and support the science of online monitoring.

As the next step, we need to work through the workshop outcomes and recommend a number of initiatives to move forward, either by collaborative R&D through ARC, WERF etc, or networking/ communication/demonstration with those who have successful applications. AWA, WQM&A specialist network forums and associated workshops are also good mechanisms to support online monitoring. WJ

tHE AutHorS Chris Chow (email: Chris.Chow@sawater.com.au) is the Manager, Sensors, Technology and Assets Research, Research and Innovation, AWQC, SA Water. He holds an Adjunct Professor position at UniSA and is Leader of the Advanced Water Quality Sensing and Optimisation Group, SA Water Centre for Water Management & Reuse.

Chris Saint is Director, SA Water Centre for Water Management & Reuse, University of South Australia.

Luke Zappia is a Senior Water Treatment Microbiologist/ Process Specialist, Water Corporation of Western Australia.

Rita Henderson is Senior Lecturer, School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales.

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water quality research

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Feature Article

WATER QUALITY RESEARCH – REFLECTIONS ON THE PAST FORTY YEARS Keith Cadee, former General Manager, Water Technologies Division at Water Corporation gave the keynote address at the WaterRA AGM in October 2013 and kindly shares his talk here.

In this presentation I reflect on how particular water quality issues and research have shaped our understanding of water quality management and current water quality practices. This will not be a comprehensive review of all water quality research over the past 40 years, but I will focus on some issues that are most relevant to Australia. They are: • Disinfection By-Products • Algal Issues • Pathogens and Health-Based Research • Emerging Contaminants/Micro-pollutants I will finish with some thoughts on the future of drinking water quality regulation and management in Australia.

DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCTS It is appropriate to start this presentation with a discussion of disinfection by-products, as it is almost 40 years ago, in 1974, that Johannes Rook identified chlorinated disinfection by-products in drinking water in the Netherlands. Researchers in the USA also identified chlorinated disinfection by-products in drinking water at about the same time.

In response to Rook’s work, regulators in many countries had to manage these compounds in drinking water, and a significant research effort commenced that continues to this day.

The recently published book Disinfection By-Products and Human Health, edited by Steve Hrudey and Jeff Charrois, is an excellent summary of our current state of knowledge on this issue.

The good news is that all of the research effort over the past 40 years has not identified any compounds in drinking water at concentrations that are a credible risk to human health.

The bad news is that we have not been able to rule out the possible link between chlorinated drinking water and health effects, because we can’t – and may never be able to – rule out the presence of currently unidentified, extremely potent compounds that may be present in very low concentrations. While research in this area is continuing, I am one of those who believe that the benefits of properly disinfected drinking water far outweigh the yet unproven impact of disinfection by-products on human health at the concentrations present in drinking water when we apply good practice.

Overall I think that the disinfection by-product story reflects well on regulators and the water industry. Regulators acted quickly and adopted a precautionary approach that has been shown to have served communities well over time. This is a good example of an

adaptive approach to regulation and improved industry practice.

As new knowledge has been gained through research, it has been incorporated in regulation and improved industry practice.

The adaptive approach to regulation will need to be applied more widely in the future to a range of water quality challenges that are unlikely to involve a simple, clear-cut division between what is safe and what is not.

One of the important practical outcomes from disinfection byproduct research is that our knowledge of the chemical reactions between natural organic matter and coagulants such as alum and iron salts has significantly improved.

It is now recognised that there are considerable benefits from practising enhanced coagulation, or what is really broadly based optimal coagulation. These benefits include reduced disinfection by-product formation, better chlorine residual stability, better removal of algal cells and better overall removal of particles, including pathogens.

Better knowledge of the relationships between key raw water quality parameters and the coagulant dose rate for enhanced coagulation has enabled doses to be reliably predicted from raw water quality parameters, rather than laborious jar tests. John van Leeuwen’s work in South Australia has made a significant contribution to our understanding in this area.

More recently, the application of online instruments such as S::CAN enables raw water quality to be monitored continuously, so enhanced coagulation may be reliably automated. One example of this approach has been at the Mirrabooka Water Treatment Plant in Perth, where full automation of the coagulant dosing system has resulted in chemical savings of at least 5% compared to manual control. Water Corporation is now implementing automation at all its larger water treatment plants.

Another benefit that has resulted from a deeper understanding of the chemical reactions between natural organic matter and disinfectants, such as chlorine, has been the development and introduction of new water treatment processes.

Biological activated carbon, with and without the use of ozone, and the MIEX process have been introduced during the past 40 years as a result of disinfection by-product research. The water quality benefits that derive from these new processes go beyond simply reduction of disinfection by-product concentrations.

The MIEX process has been central on the control of swampy odours in Perth’s largest groundwater scheme, while biological activated carbon is also very effective in removing many taste and odour issues.

APRIL 2014 water

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Feature Article ALGAL ISSUES The holy grail of algal research has been to find a low-cost, magic bullet that is easy to apply and prevents the growth of harmful numbers of algal cells.

Unfortunately, we have not found a single magic bullet, but through research we now have a much greater understanding of the many factors that influence the proliferation of algae.

Through our increased knowledge of growth factors such as nutrients, temperature and solar radiation, better management techniques such as mixing/destratification and even floating covers for small storages have been developed. In some circumstances, these and other techniques can reduce the impact of algae, but in many cases the impact of blooms cannot be completely eliminated.

A far more positive story involves the removal of algal metabolites such as toxins and taste and odour compounds, where we have much greater capability than just a couple of decades ago.

Extensive research on the use of activated carbon, particularly powdered activated carbon in South Australia, has enabled this technology to be used effectively to remove toxins and taste and odour compounds during episodic events. However, the cost is relatively high if the events are of long duration.

In pursuit of more cost-effective methods of removing algal metabolites, we now have a much better understanding of the impact of various oxidants such as chlorine, ozone and UV/peroxide on algal toxins and taste and odour compounds; where these oxidants are most effective, and when they are not.

Recently, our understanding of biological filtration has developed such that both with and without ozone, it may be more confidently used as a cost-effective method to remove algal metabolites. While there are still some knowledge gaps, they will undoubtedly be filled through more research and wider application.

PATHOGENS AND HEALTH-BASED RESEARCH When we think of the long history of research on waterborne disease, it would be easy to imagine that there is little still to be learnt. However, it is sobering that a significant number of new issues have emerged over the past 40 years.

As the easiest group of pathogens to study, our knowledge of bacterial pathogens is quite good, but new waterborne pathogens recognised in recent times include Campylobacter, E. coli 0157:H7, Legionella pneumophila and Burkholderia pseudomalli (Meliodosis).

Fortunately our traditional disinfectants such as chlorine are effective against these new pathogens and little change to industry practice has been necessary. However, it is important to recognise that Legionella and Burkholderia are “environmental pathogens” and may contaminate drinking water in the distribution system.

These pathogens remind us of the importance of managing the safety of drinking water from source to the customer’s tap.

Fortunately for us, new viral diseases are not waterborne, but we should not be complacent as viruses have shown a great capacity to mutate. As significant advances have been made in the study of viruses, we have become much more aware of the role that waterborne viruses such as Norovirus and Rotavirus play in the chronic burden of disease in many communities.

water APRIL 2014

Some of the newer viral pathogens have been shown to be more resistant to traditional disinfectants such as chlorine, compared with the long recognised and studied bacterial and viral pathogens.

The industry has responded by placing increased emphasis on effective disinfection. Water Corporation, for example, has taken a precautionary approach by increasing the number of virus removal barriers and using higher CT values when contamination by human waste is likely to be present in source waters.

In some ways, protozoan pathogens such as Giardia, Cryptosporidium and Naegleria fowleri have had the greatest impact on the water industry over the past 40 years.

Giardia and Cryptosporidium are resistant to traditional disinfectants such as chlorine, and this has resulted in the industry having to re-think what constitutes safe drinking water.

Traditional granular media filtration is a good barrier to Giardia and Cryptosporidium when well designed and operated, however ultrafiltration membranes and UV disinfection are more effective barriers and have been more widely used over the past two decades.

While membrane technology is more effective, I believe that large water providers have much to gain by operating existing granular media filters in a more optimal way rather than replacing them with membranes. That said, membranes are becoming increasingly cost competitive for new facilities.

Naegleria fowleri is well recognised as a water quality challenge in much of Australia (WA, NT and SA). I am sure that it is already present in much of the remainder of Australia and, with climate change and warmer water temperatures, is likely to be an emerging issue for many water providers, particularly in small systems. I hope that the threat posed by Naegleria fowleri is more widely recognised before there are fatalities.

I will now reflect on a few key water quality incidents and the impact that they have had on the water industry. Major incidents are often a catalyst for change, and the three that I will discuss are: • Milwaukee (1993)* • Sydney (1998)* • Walkerton (2000)* The Milwaukee disaster was significant due to the scale – perhaps 400,000 people were affected – and the recognition in the USA of just how vulnerable many water treatment plants were to the threat of Cryptosporidium, if not well designed and operated.

While Milwaukee was not the first water quality incident involving Cryptosporidium, the warnings from earlier incidents had not been translated into regulation and better industry practice.

The Milwaukee incident was the catalyst for a significant amount of research, as well as regulation in the USA to reduce the risk posed by Cryptosporidium.

The Milwaukee incident resulted in the ‘Partnership for Safe Drinking Water’ in the USA, in recognition that regulation alone does not guarantee safe drinking water. This was one of the first attempts to take a more holistic approach to ensuring safe drinking water by translating good practice into water treatment operations.

Unfortunately, like the ‘Water Treatment Alliance’ in Australia, the adoption of best practice has been largely limited to progressive water utilities that were already striving to improve, rather than those water providers that most needed these programs.

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water quality research

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Feature Article The Sydney water quality incident was also significant, not because people became sick – probably nobody got sick – but because, just like Milwaukee five years before, there was a recognition by the water industry of just how vulnerable our large cities in Australia were to waterborne disease if our water treatment plants were not well designed and operated. It also demonstrated that the earlier lessons from Milwaukee and elsewhere regarding the threat posed by Cryptosporidium had been slow to be translated into Australian industry practice.

The lasting outcomes from the Sydney water quality incident have been the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines with their foundation in HAACCP principles, and the WHO Water Safety Plan approach to safe drinking water. It also stimulated important Australian water quality research based on health outcomes. One notable example of this research effort was the Melbourne water filter study.

The Walkerton disaster was a sobering example of what can go wrong with small, or even large, water providers that are largely unregulated and subject to little governance and oversight.

During the past decade, 1 micro-DALY has been promoted by WHO and widely accepted as the target for the tolerable burden of disease attributed to drinking water. Unfortunately, epidemiological studies such as the Melbourne water filter study do not have the sensitivity to discriminate down to 1 micro-DALY. As a result the emphasis has shifted to QMRA as the only practical tool to demonstrate the safety of drinking water supplies.

The concept of DALYs is sound as a public heath tool, but unfortunately I believe that it has been misapplied to some extent with regard to water quality management. The reality is that 1 microDALY is so small that it can’t be measured, and should be more appropriately regarded as a burden of disease so low that it may be regarded for practical purposes as zero, rather than as a measure that differentiates safe from unsafe.

A current focus of the Australian water industry is the introduction of ‘Health Based Targets’ and the need for water providers to demonstrate that drinking water does not contribute more than 1 micro-DALY to the burden of disease in the community.

I think that this has been made a lot more complex than it needs to be. It is reasonably straightforward to apply QMRA to retrospectively estimate the burden of disease from drinking water, but we don’t need to re-invent the wheel in Australia.

Management failure can have a profound effect on communities, both financially and socially.

Returning to the Melbourne water filter study, this was a significant piece of Australian water quality research at the time, clearly demonstrating that the burden of disease in Melbourne caused by drinking water was small, possibly even zero. However, this type of epidemiological study was quickly overtaken by a focus on Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment (QMRA).

The methodologies and assumptions embodied in US Regulation may be readily applied without much adaptation in Australia. There are a lot of assumptions involved, resulting in low precision, but how much precision do you really need with such a small number as 1 micro-DALY?

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Feature Article If the US Regulations are good enough for 300 million Americans, surely this is an adequate starting point for Australia. That is not to say that more research to better validate the assumptions is not worthwhile. It is, but we should remember that 1 micro-DALY is a very small burden of disease and research should focus on those areas that may have a large impact on the estimated burden of disease, rather than small refinements to the estimate such as ever more sophisticated statistical techniques.

Of far more interest to me is the need to prospectively protect consumers from rare, but credible, events that may only occur a few times during a lifetime, but can have disastrous consequences if effective treatment barriers are not in place.

This is a topic that has not received much research attention for a very long time. The water industry relies on an empirical approach and a strong measure of experience and judgement. At its core it relies on the precautionary approach that if events occur elsewhere in similar circumstances, then we should design our water treatment plants to cope with similar events.

This approach, however, is not consistently applied, and there is significant need for sound science and good research to be applied to this area of industry practice.

EMERGING CONTAMINANTS AND MICRO-POLLUTANTS We live in a society that benefits enormously from advances in science, and particularly chemistry. A vast number of chemicals that we use find their way back into the water cycle. Of particular concern are emerging contaminants or micro-pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides and the constituents of many consumer products.

These micro-pollutants are commonly present as mixtures and at very low concentrations. The good news is that very few of these compounds are present in Australian drinking water supplies.

Also, there is no evidence of human health impacts where these compounds are present in overseas water supplies. While these compounds seem to be more of an environmental concern than a human health issue, developments such as water recycling in South Eastern Queensland and groundwater replenishment in Western Australia have elevated interest in these compounds.

As interest in micro-pollutants has emerged over the past couple of decades, regulators and the water industry have drawn from toxicological research to take a precautionary approach by using the concept of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern to regulate many micro-pollutants in the absence of research data on specific compounds. Bioassays are also an important research tool in understanding micro-pollutants, particularly when they are present in mixtures.

As with disinfection by-products, we may never know with certainty what concentrations of micro-pollutants are absolutely safe, particularly in complex mixtures. However, an adaptive but precautionary approach is our only real way forward. As new knowledge is gained from ongoing research, this may be incorporated into regulation and industry best practice over time.

THE FUTURE OF DRINKING WATER REGULATION IN AUSTRALIA The cost of providing safe drinking water is small compared to the consequence of supplying unsafe drinking water. As a result, a precautionary approach should always be taken in the provision of drinking water.

wAter APRIL 2014

water quality research In some areas, such as disinfection by-products and micropollutants, we may never be able to establish with absolute certainty what concentrations are absolutely safe. These, and other water quality issues including pathogens, are areas of drinking water quality management where we will need to take an adaptive approach.

Ongoing research is a critical part of an adaptive management approach. As we better understand the true risks, this knowledge can be incorporated into regulation and industry best practice. I hope that regulators and industry leaders continue to understand and recognise the pivotal role that research plays in the way we manage some key water quality issues – and remain committed to funding long-term research.

In the absence of ongoing research, it has been my experience that regulators are likely, with some justification, to take an ever more precautionary approach with higher costs for consumers.

Finally, complacency is the biggest risk faced by the water industry. Water quality incidents are, fortunately, rare for most water providers. Improvements in water quality are therefore often seen as a cost rather than an investment in the health of the community.

Effective regulation of the water industry will be critical in the years to come. Self-regulation by enlightened water providers is the best form of regulation, but I fear that this will be increasingly difficult to sustain in the future, as providers are faced with increased pressures to reduce costs.

The Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and Water Safety Plans are a solid foundation on which to build effective regulation.

We can, perhaps, learn from the oil and gas industry and their use of the “Safety Case” approach following the Piper Alpha disaster in the North Sea. In this approach the onus of proof would be reversed, with the water provider needing to demonstrate to the regulator and its customers that they are capable and competent to be entrusted to supply safe drinking water, rather than simply complying with regulations.

This needs to be a much more transparent approach to industry regulation than is currently the case, but in the longer term I believe that transparency and the increased involvement of informed customers in the management of safe drinking water will serve the industry well. * For more information about the three water quality incidents mentioned, see past issues of the WaterRA publication, Health Stream (www.waterra.com.au/publications/health-stream) WJ

THE AUTHOR Keith Cadee (email: keith.cadee@ curtin.edu.au) is former General Manager, Water Technologies Division at Water Corporation WA. He retired recently after a career that spanned 40 years in the water industry. Keith’s association with WaterRA, and its predecessors (WQRA and the CRC for Water Quality and Treatment) dates back to 1995 and he has been a staunch advocate for water industry-focused research.

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WHY WATER QUALITY RESEARCH REMAINS A VITAL PRIORITY IN AUSTRALIA TODAY Jodieann Dawe, CEO and Executive Director of WaterRA, and Jan Bowman, Principal of Janette Bowman Consultancy, provide an overview of the results that water quality research has delivered from the days of the CRCWQT through its transition to WQRA and then to the current WaterRA. Introduction Have you ever wondered what keeps CEOs and regulators awake at night? As well as how to fix leaky pipes, it’s the possibility of a water quality incident.

transition to WQRA and response to the continued challenges and changes in investment priorities, the organisation has enabled a much broader research remit than just water quality.

Direct costs of a major incident, although significant, are only part of the price borne by the community, which includes the costs of loss of life and injury as well as the costs to the community of behaviours associated with a loss in confidence in their water utility and its ability to provide safe water.

Water quality, access, safety and reliability of supply are among the ongoing challenges for the Australian water industry, and we should be reminded that safe, clean water takes effort and investment and should not be taken for granted. Therefore, by necessity, water quality research is an ongoing core business activity for water suppliers across Australia, enabling them to respond to known issues and address ways in which to deal with new challenges.

Focused research is considered industry-wide to provide an “insurance policy”, mitigating risk of water quality incidents and building stakeholder trust. Avoidance of one water quality incident is estimated as saving $100 million, while improvements in community trust have been estimated as avoiding $300 million in unnecessary expenditure.

In the beginning In 2008, Water Quality Research Australia Limited – a national, notfor-profit, member-funded organisation, was opened for operation as the successor to the Co-operative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment (CRCWQT). Funding of WQRA was designed not to be reliant upon Federal and State funding, avoiding the timelimited nature inherent in many other research centres.

As a member-based organisation, viability of WQRA in the long term is dependent on its ability to facilitate and deliver directed research to address evolving industry needs. On July 1 2013, in response to the changing requirements of the membership and the shifting R&D landscape, WQRA changed its name to WaterRA. This evolution will enable WaterRA to broaden its scope of investigative expertise in order to ensure its members, the greater Australian water industry and the wider community continue to be delivered valuable and holistic research outcomes in a time when we are seeing the completion of the time-limited research centres.

This article provides an overview of the impact that water quality research has delivered during the days of the CRCWQT. With its

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The transition from CRCWQT to the present-day WaterRA.

The Early Years in Water Quality Research The Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment (CRCWQT) was formed under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres program in 1995. Each of the 17 participants was represented on the Board of Management chaired by independent chair Emeritus Professor Nancy Millis AC MBE. The Director of the CRCWQT, Professor Don Bursill, reported to the Board of Management. A major strength of this model was bringing water researchers and health researchers together to understand the impact of water supplies on community health.

The mandate of the CRCWQT was to help the Australian water industry produce high-quality water at an affordable price. This task was to be accomplished by furthering the understanding of water quality and treatment issues by conducting industry- and Government-supported research, developing education and training programs and commercialising expertise and related products.

It also aimed to provide advice to Government regarding water supply policy and regulatory issues.

The Sydney Water incident in July–September 1998 had brought worldwide attention to the public health aspects of water supplies and the CRCWQT already had a well-established research program on the health effects of Cryptosporidium. It was, therefore, able to contribute in a proactive way and to provide a reasonable perspective to some of the more sensational aspects of media coverage.

Around this time, Don Bursill was asked to chair the coordinating group for the rolling review of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG) under the auspices of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The importance of the linkage between the CRCWQT and the review of the ADWG was to become one of the major strengths of the ADWG. CRCWQT was able to

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water quality research work with the NHMRC to bring together overseas and local experts, researchers and health regulators to develop the first guidelines in the world to include this risk management approach. Involvement of research participants in the rolling review of the ADWG in the areas of Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Cyanobacterial toxins resulted in significant improvement in knowledge of these areas.

During the fifth year of operations, the Board recognised the ongoing need to provide high-quality scientific evidence for the industry to make informed decisions, and applied and was granted a second round of Government funding. However, the Board was already looking beyond the short-term funding to determine how to continue to provide informed R&D into the future. The concept of an independent Water Quality Research Centre after the completion of the CRCWQT Mark II in 2008 was born. The idea was based on a new funding model, unencumbered by time-limited Government funding, but instead fully funded by its members who would continue to invest in perpetuity as long as the organisation remained relevant and delivered research of value to its members.

During 2003 the CRCWQT achieved several strategic objects that added significant value to a changing industry. The first was the establishment of an MOU with international agencies in the USA, the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa to enable a greater level of access to cutting edge R&D through international collaborations.

International links were further strengthened with the CRCWQT becoming one of 12 founding members of the Global Water Research Coalition.

Due to widespread impacts of drought across many parts of the country, alternative sources of water were being investigated to supplement ‘traditional’ sources. Recycled wastewater became a major priority to many of the members of the CRCWQT, but many realised that there was an immediate need for informed evidence relating to water quality and health risks associated with recycled water. Thus, the second significant achievement in 2003 was the development of an adjunct research portfolio, the Wastewater Program, fully funded by industry with initial projects focusing on assessing health risks from the beneficial use of biosolids and recycled water, and on assessing environmental risks from micro-pollutants.

In June 2005,the CRCWQT Board confirmed that there would not be a bid for a third round of Commonwealth funding, but it still recognised that with the continued impact of extreme climate events, and the introduction of new and alternative water sources and the adoption of an integrated water management approach, there was an ongoing need for high-quality science to continue to inform decision-making processes.

Over an 18-month period the CRCWQT, in collaboration with Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), invested significant time and energy into determining and developing a national centre that would build on the success of the CRCWQT and its associated Wastewater Program. Water Quality Research Australia Limited (WQRA) was established in July 2007 as a public company, limited by guarantee. Transition from the existing CRCWQT involved transfer of copyright to facilitate the continuing availability of the full suite of CRCWQT publications, including research reports.

The collaborative program of research undertaken by the CRCWQT over 13 years had a large and positive impact on the management of drinking water quality in Australia and placed Australia at the forefront of worldwide developments in this area. These innovations have added significant value to the water industry and enabled optimisation of systems from catchments to taps.

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By July 2008 the CRCWQT total output of documents included nine Occasional Papers, eight Technical Fact Sheets, 64 Research Reports, numerous papers in peer review journals, and posters and presentations at conferences – well exceeding the targets set over the life of the centre.

In all, $153 million worth of research was undertaken, incorporating not only research outputs, but also skills development and knowledge transfer. Savings produced by this research have been estimated in a report by the CRC Association to be in excess of $26 million per year in direct treatment and operational costs alone.

However, the biggest savings to the community are in the avoidance of unnecessary capital expenditure, possible water quality incidents and improved levels of trust in the community.

A study on economic benefits of the Centre’s research work has estimated the avoidance of one significant water quality incident saves the Australian community in excess of $100 million, while improved levels of community trust can easily avert $300 million of unnecessary expenditure.

the ForMatIon oF Water QualIty research australIa At its inception, Water Quality Research Australia had 42 founding members from across the Australian water sector including public utilities, health regulators, research organisations and private sector companies. However, despite the level of interest, the initial cash budget of WQRA was small when compared to that of the CRCWQT due to the absence of Commonwealth funding.

The appointment of Professor Michael Moore as the independent Chair was approved by the members and he commenced in July 2008. Ms Jodieann Dawe was appointed as the inaugural CEO/ Executive Director and Company Secretary in June 2008 and was charged with overseeing the transition from the CRC model to a self-funded, public company. Ms. Dawe brought with her significant executive experience in research management in a wide range of industry and expertise in all facets of strategic company set-up and establishing corporate operations for a public company.

WQRA’s initial research program covered the public health and acceptability aspects of Drinking Water, Wastewater and Recycled Water as well as the Regional and Rural Water Supplies Program and the Education Program.

During its first full year of operation in 2008–09, WQRA was formally launched with a new brand and logo to distinguish itself as a new entity and to differentiate itself from the CRCWQT. Its new focus as a membership organisation without ongoing government funding or formal affiliation to any government policy initiatives meant that it had to maintain direction from within the organisation. With its broad and diverse membership, key to the success of the organisation during the early years was building links between members and external agencies with similar interests and facilitating collaborative projects.

Collaboration with international research organisations including KWR (Netherlands), Water Research Foundation, WERF and PUB also ensured that WQRA was able to deliver a global context within the development of the research priorities and projects. In June 2008, WQRA was admitted to the Global Water Research Coalition, with Ms Dawe participating as Board Director.

The initial major focus of WQRA was on determining research priorities through industry workshops and a member voting process.

Each project was vetted for scientific rigour by a Project Review Team before final approval by the Board. During 2009 all the projects approved as the foundation research portfolio were underway.

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At the time the AWRDC was formed, it was recognised that the research landscape was likely to undergo future rationalisation as the investment in capital projects, such as desalination plants, reduced pressure for large-scale water reuse projects and the funding cycles for the Government-funded entities came to an end. Thus the AWRDC was also seen as a potential avenue for determining how to capture the knowledge and research outcomes from time-limited research organisations.

The logo for the Australian Water r&D Coalition.

Attendees at the workshop to develop the research Blueprint.

an eVolVIng research landscaPe By 2009–10 the urban water research landscape had changed significantly from the early CRCWQT days, due to the complexity of the issues facing the water industry from the effects of climate change and increasing population. A number of new entities were established to undertake priority research and development focused on these emerging challenges. Each of the entities was time-limited and reliant on significant Government funding.

Three national Centres of Excellence were established in 2009 and 2010: 1.

The Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence (AWRCoE);

2.

The National Centre for Groundwater Research;

3.

The National Centre of Excellence for Desalination.

State Government-supported research brokers were also established in Queensland, SA and Victoria to address specific needs for their respective states: 1.

2.

3.

The Smart Water Fund was a joint venture between the Victorian Government, Melbourne Water, Yarra Valley Water, City West Water and South East Water.

The Urban Water Security Research Alliance (UWSRA) was a $50 million partnership over five years between the Queensland Government, CSIRO and the University of Queensland.

The Goyder Institute for Water was established as a collaborative venture between the South Australian Government, CSIRO and three South Australian Universities.

the IMPleMentatIon oF the strategIc research bluePrInt Key to WQRA’s contribution to the AWRDC and its role as a national provider of water quality research was WQRA’s ability to understand and articulate what the short-term research priorities were, as well as the emerging issues that could impact the industry and the wider community.

To ensure that the WQRA facilitated efficient and effective research that could address industry needs and requirements, following an extensive consultation process with both WQRA members and stakeholders WQRA released its Three Year Research Blueprint in 2011. This document represented a key building block for the directed future research activities of WQRA. At the time of the release of the Research Blueprint, the main focus was on water quality and public health. Research topics were divided into two categories: Pathogens and Chemical Contaminants, under the following key focus areas: 1.

Characterise and evaluate water quality public health risk scenarios;

2.

Develop water quality monitoring tools and processes;

3.

Improve business operations;

4.

Facilitate knowledge adoption and long-term community impact.

In conjunction with the Research Blueprint and through an annual Request for Proposal process, WQRA has developed and is delivering a portfolio of research that is highly valued by the industry.

In addition to WQRA, the other major national players that help to inform urban water research and promote research adoption are Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), the National Water Commission and the Australian Water Association (AWA).

The strategic challenge for the water industry, government and research organisations is to make the best use of R&D funding by minimising overheads, reducing duplication of effort, and ensuring research outcomes are effectively implemented. In 2011, WQRA, with the CEOs of these research organisations, saw a need for a more co-ordinated and informed approach to R&D within the urban water sector and formed the Australian Water R&D Coalition (AWRDC). This forum fostered an environment of collaboration to enable a more constructive and targeted approach to providing the Australian water sector with research and innovation.

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The WQrA Three-Year research Blueprint.

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water quality research hIghlIghts oF WQra research and InnoVatIon The multi-barrier, catchment-to-tap, risk-based approach that supports water quality regulation in Australia is recognised worldwide as one of the most robust and enviable approaches to water quality management. It has led to the avoidance of more prescriptive, costly and rigid regulations that can be seen in other parts of the world. The relationship between the water industry and regulators in Australia is built on evidence-based guidelines and regulations. Underpinning this is good science rigour, which enables transparency and cost effectiveness of decision-making as well as clarity on the best practice of dealing with incidents.

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Feature article Appropriate Technology, along with other partners, builds on the work of the NHMRC with funding from the National Water Commission. The Field Guide incorporates the principles of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and applies the risk management approach to water supplies outlined in the framework for management of drinking water quality. It is generic and can be adapted to almost any type of water supply, but is particularly appropriate for remote indigenous communities. The outcomes of this project were presented in a range of forms including posters with targeted and pictorial messages for users, a national roadshow and presentations to health authorities and water regulators.

Issue 72

Public Health Bulletin of Water Research Australia

Cryptosporidium Outbreak in Oregon 8th International Conference on Legionella Update on BMAA News Items From The Literature Web Bonus Articles Arsenic* Biofilms * Community Attitudes * Cyanobacteria Dental Exposures Disinfection Byproducts Endemic Gastroenteritis Fluoride Household Interventions * Indicator Viruses Lead * Manganese Outbreaks * Perfluorinated Compounds * Rainwater * Water Quality *

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By 2013 the research portfolio had grown significantly and represented a value of more than $50 million from sources including WQRA funds, external funds and in-kind support from members and other key stakeholders. Many of the projects from the foundation research portfolio had been completed and benefits to the water industry from this research are being achieved through knowledge transfer and adoption of research outcomes.

While WQRA had a wide scope within its portfolio and some highlight areas for WQRA research that has added value to its members include: - Australian health-based targets - Risk Management Manual for drinking water catchments and sources - Predictive tools for membrane ageing - Investigations into Cryptosporidium - Pathogens in activated sludge - Greywater use in domestic settings - National validation framework for water reuse (with the AWRCoE) - Management and treatment of Cyanobacteria - Assessing exposure risks to ingested recycled water - Optimal management of corrosion and odour problems in sewer systems - Disinfection by-products - Nanoparticles in wastewater

KnoWledge transFer and adoPtIon Knowledge transfer of research outcomes to regulators, operators and industry partners enables informed managed of operations and incidents. It was established as a key focus of WQRA and is an ongoing process that occurs through a range of activities. These include topic-specific workshops, conference presentations, faceto-face meetings with members and key stakeholders, research symposium and road-shows, publishing in journals, participation in national forums, publishing project reports, fact sheets and the Health Stream publication.

The town of Baker City, Oregon has suffered a Cryptosporidium outbreak believed to be due to contamination of the public drinking water supply.

The outbreak was recognised in late July this year, but subsequent investigations suggest that water contamination had been ongoing for several weeks before an increase in laboratory-confirmed cases alerted health authorities to the situation. Interviews with cases failed to establish any common exposure to recreational water, animal contact or other likely sources, and the decision was made to issue a precautionary boil water advisory notice on 31 July.

Water samples taken on 31 July from the raw water supply and from treated tap water were reported positive for Cryptosporidium oocysts on the evening of 2 August, and the advisory notice was then upgraded to the status of a boil water order. The boil water order was lifted on 20 August after flushing of the distribution system and repeated negative tests on raw water.

Editor Martha Sinclair Assistant Editor Pam Hayes

* Summaries of web bonus articles on these topics are contained in the PDF version of Health Stream on the WaterRA website.

www.waterra.com.au

Through investing in research that supports decision-making, WQRA provided the water industry with management tools and analytical techniques to support business operations. This in turn is providing a return on the investment through reduction in business risk and improved infrastructure design and operations.

HEALTH STREAM

January 2014

Cryptosporidium Outbreak in Oregon

In this Issue:

A door to door survey of 199 households with 493 residents was conducted from 18-22 August, and the results indicated that 25% of residents had experienced gastrointestinal illness since the beginning of July. There was a positive doseresponse relationship between the risk of illness and the volume of tap water consumed with 35% of those who drank more than 10 or more glasses a day becoming ill, compared to 23% of those who drank less than 10 glasses per day. Younger people were more likely to report illness (31% of those under 18 years) compared to the elderly (15% of those aged 65 years or older). Extrapolation of the 25% attack rate to the whole population of Baker City (approximately

JANUARY 2014

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- The National Water Commission tasked WQRA to deliver several projects under its ‘Raising National Water Standards Program’.

These include development and validation of bioassay and chemical testing methodologies for assessing the toxicity and concentration of a wide range of chemicals in water. One of the knowledge transfer highlights of 2011–12 was the roadshow ‘A National Approach to Risk Assessment, Risk Communication, and the Management of Chemical Hazards for Recycled Water’. This represents the ‘state-of-the-art’ in science for detecting chemicals in water and provided needed information to regulators, policy makers and managers of recycled water on the health risk assessment of recycled water using bioanalytical techniques.

- The WQRA project ‘Public Perception of Source Protection and its Relationship to Recreation and Water Treatment’ developed a nationally applicable methodology to assist in the formulation of defensible policy that provides for drinking water source protection while accounting for recreational needs in surface water catchments in Australia. This project was used by Water Corporation in its submission to the WA Parliamentary Inquiry into recreational access to drinking water catchments and is applicable in other jurisdictions. As the impacts of climate change and population growth put further pressure on maintaining protected catchments, this publication provides a useful tool to facilitate discussion between agencies with opposing viewpoints.

- The International Guidance Manual for the Management of Toxic Cyanobacteria, which reinforces Australia as a knowledge leader in this area and captures the best available knowledge on management of Cyanobacteria.

- The Guidance Manual for the Minimisation of NDMA & Other Nitrosamines in RW and DW, and its adjunct report, Generic

Key successes in knowledge adoption and impact include: - The Community Water Planner Field Guide developed by WQRA through one of its existing research members, the Centre for

April 2014 water

water quality research

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Feature article

and knowledge transfer, and scientific excellence of its predecessors.

This will enable WaterRA to deliver its vision of Water for the Wellbeing of all Australians.

Management Plans for Nitrosamines in Drinking Water, provides insight through the research analysis of operating data from utilities.

More than 500 publications are now available for download on the WQRA website from both the research of CRCWQT and WQRA.

Future-ProoFIng Water research and InnoVatIon The establishment of WQRA marked the successful transition from a CRC model to an industry-funded company – a major achievement in itself. Furthermore it provided evidence of commitment by the water industry and its research partners to continue to address the needs of the Australian water industry through its facilitation of excellence and collaboration in national water R&D projects.

After five years, the partners in WQRA had many runs on the board – a diverse and stimulating portfolio of projects, a loyal and engaged membership, a group of bright post-graduate students and new initiatives designed to improve business effectiveness and implementation of the research outcomes. All of this was achieved by leveraging off contributions by the membership.

acKnoWledgeMents WaterRA is reliant upon its members for its continued success and the Authors would like to acknowledge the continued support of all WaterRA Members, particularly the Board and the Advisory Groups who give their time and intellectual support to ensure that WaterRA continues to provide high-quality research in priority areas to its members, and ensure that WaterRA is a leader in facilitating and providing research and innovation for the industry.

We would also like to acknowledge the financial support for projects from key stakeholders, in particular the Australian Research Council, National Water Commission and the Australian Recycled Water Centre of Excellence. WJ

the authors

It was clear, however, that there is potential for a bigger role in the Australian water industry landscape. On July 1 2013, with the agreement of members, the company’s name changed to Water Research Australia Limited, to reflect an expanded remit to encompass a broader scope of research. WaterRA will continue to build on its core strengths and values, including its collaborative philosophy, national focus, flexibility and responsiveness, strong research links, global relationships, excellence in project delivery

Jodieann Dawe (email: Jodieanndawe@hotmail. com) is the CEO and Executive Director of WaterRA and a Director of AWA. She holds a Grad Dip Corp Law, MBA and MAppSc (Chemistry) and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jan Bowman (email: janbowman2010@hotmail. com) is the Principal of Janette Bowman Consultancy. She holds a MAppSc (Applied Toxicology) and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

“Everyone working tog ether in partnership for the one aim of creating employmen t and training opportuniti es for Aboriginal Australians ha s been the key to our suc cess.”

Scott Dowsett, Directo r – NUDJ Plumbing

Visit the online toolkit at www.reconciliation.org.au/workplace

water April 2014

The Workplace Ready Program is funded by the Australian Government.

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Courses are taught by leading industry practitioners and designed to keep busy professionals abreast of the latest trends, technologies and practices.

IWES is the training provider of choice with several large organisations, and we strive to continue to innovate in our course offerings and delivery. We have recently introduced several new courses such as ‘Energy Efficient Wastewater Treatment’, ‘Design and Operation of Membrane Systems in Municipal, Mining and Industrial Applications’ and ‘Landfills: Planning, Design and Management’.

Visit our web site www.iwes.com.au for up to date information and registration details.

Some of the courses on offer: • Principles of Wastewater Treatment • Drinking Water Treatment Principle, Practice and Applications • Design and Operation of Membrane Systems • Management Framework for Recycled Water Quality and Use • Coal Seam Gas Water Treatment • Contaminated Site Assessment and Remediation • Water and Wastewater Chemistry For detailed course information go to

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Feature Article

LESSONS LEARNED IN UNCONVENTIONAL GAS MINING WATER MANAGEMENT Devesh Mittal discusses the interplay of infrastructure, regulation and technology in better managing the unconventional natural gas wastewaters in Marcellus Shale.

The development of unconventional natural gas resources is in the news. In the United States shale gas dominates, whereas in Australia it is coal seam gas – commonly referred to as CSG. Whether we are talking about shale gas or CSG, the benefits of tapping such a valuable energy source are often overshadowed by public concerns about hydraulic fracturing and the disposal of water resulting from natural gas well development and production.

Water issues pertaining to the various types of unconventional gas are common and share many similarities. Solving this part of the waterenergy nexus is the key to success in this segment of the upstream energy sector in the US, Australia, China and any other part of the world.

A lot has been accomplished, yet much remains to be done. Areas of impact include water management infrastructure, government regulation and water treatment technology solutions.

Even though CSG is the current focus in Australia, shale gas is also gaining interest. A simple comparison between shale gas and CSG will help explain the differences in wastewater management approaches.

First, the shale wastewater volumes are significantly lower than those produced in a CSG operation. Hydraulic fracturing of shale requires approximately 15 megalitres of water per well, with 10% to 15% coming back to the surface after completion of fracturing.

In addition, shale gas generates wastewater for a shorter duration – one time per well from drilling and hydraulic fracturing.

In comparison, CSG has insignificant volumes during drilling, but peak volumes last months as the well is put into gas production.

A typical CSG well may generate up to 300ML of wastewater over 18 months.

Thus, in essence, shale gas fracturing is a water-negative operation compared to CSG, which is a net water producer.

THE THREE ‘R’S (OR AT LEAST TWO) All differences aside, the basics of water treatment and its management don’t change. We were taught the value of the “Three Rs” in school; when it comes to unconventional gas water treatment, the Three Rs stand for Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.

Figure 1. 2011 PADEP data.

It is not surprising that gas producers and water treatment service providers have made significant progress in managing the water and acquiring a good understanding of the issues that have an actual or perceived impact on the industry, regulatory agencies, academia and the general public. Sizeable research dollars are being directed at finding better treatment methods, and the industry has become more proactive in reaching out to various stakeholders.

As a result of all this activity, the unconventional water treatment industry is itself in the limelight. Media events and unconventional water treatment conferences are plentiful, and seemingly limitless related content can be found on the Internet (although one must be careful about the accuracy of online sources).

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“Reducing” is often more challenging than the other two Rs. As a rule, Recycle/Reuse remains the cheapest – and by far the most effective – form of water management in the unconventional gas industry. The approach benefits several gas well development cost accounts and is environmentally beneficial. Since shale gas is waternegative, recycle/reuse at a multi-well pad or another nearby well pad, by moving water via piped network to reduce trucking is a costeffective, environmentally conscious and public-friendly approach to solving the waste disposal. The data points to industry making efforts to maximise reuse and save cost.

On a standalone basis, it sounds like a bottom-line driven effort.

However, it is not that simple.

Recycle/reuse takes a conscious effort and requires development costs in creating the appropriate infrastructure and setting relevant goals for the operating team. On the upside, recycle/reuse reduces the cost of sourcing water for well development and for disposing of the water.

unconventional gas mining Home to the Marcellus Shale, Pennsylvania is blessed with abundant water, and most watersheds in the Commonwealth allow the gas industry to withdraw water for oil and gas development at minimal cost. However, as with any unconventional gas play, transportation costs overshadow the easy availability of source water because of the Figure 2. 2012 PADEP data.

far and wide geographic spread of the well pads.

In Pennsylvania, trucking source and wastewater accounts for over 70% of the water management costs per gas well. While trucking cannot be eliminated completely, the truck runs can be shortened and/or reduced, cutting transportation costs by as much as 50%.

Today, most gas producers in Pennsylvania have set goals for monitoring the water volumes that are recycled. Regulation also requires that they collect and record this operating data. As a result, the effort to account for water and its associated costs has allowed gas producers to quantify the efforts being undertaken to achieve better management of their operations in this critical area.

REGULATION Each gas well and water treatment facility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania operates under an authorised operating permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), the state regulatory agency. Included here is water management

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Feature Article data from unconventional well operations in the Commonwealth.

The PADEP collects operating data from the gas producers and makes it available to the public through its website.

As part of the water manifesting, each gallon of water is accounted for through a rigorous manifesting program, and a chain of custody for the water volumes is established. The charts for 2011 and 2012 Data from PADEP (Figure 1 and Figure 2) have been developed from this data. Data for 2013 will be available soon and will most likely show further increase in reuse volumes.

It is clear from comparing the two diagrams that within the course of just one year the mix of water management practices underwent a rapid change. Key reasons for this are the significant regulatory steps PADEP took in the latter part of 2010 and first half of 2011. These included limiting the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the surface discharge of treated water from the unconventional gas industry and providing regulatory means to beneficially recycle/reuse the wastewaters.

As a result of this regulatory action, the water volumes processed through the central waste treatment facilities dropped by a hefty 39%. The reduction was both in percentage and the total volume.

The reduction is quite dramatic since the regulatory change was applicable for seven months in 2012. As a result of the discharge restrictions, the volumes disposed through deep disposal wells doubled in percentage terms, but more than doubled in real volumes.

While it may have abundant water resources, Pennsylvania has very limited disposal well capacity, and the waste was trucked off to the neighbouring states of Ohio and West Virginia. From some locations in Pennsylvania, that represents a minimum five-hour drive one way and an expensive truck ride back and forth. The most important gain was a 30% increase in the reuse segment. It should be noted that the reuse activity got a boost from an extremely active drilling program, allowing water to be reused from one well to the other.

Development of mobile water treatment units such as Aquatech’s MoVap™ (shown here) is a game-changer for the unconventional natural gas industry, providing gas producers with the ability to treat and manage the water locally.

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Feature Article INFRASTRUCTURE A development of the size and shape associated with tapping unconventional gas requires a significant investment to extract the energy out of the earth and get it to the consumer. How unproductive would a gas well be if it were not connected to a gas pipeline?

The infrastructure in exploration and production (upstream), gathering and transportation (midstream), and conversion to petrochemicals or electric energy (downstream) develops in phases as the gas program progresses, and as solutions to regulatory and technology requirements are put in place by gas producers and companies servicing the gas industry.

In Pennsylvania, a good example is the growth of wastewater reservoirs, a network of clean water and wastewater pipelines, wastewater treatment facilities, disposal wells and the trucking companies hauling water in the Marcellus region resulting from the regulatory changes brought in by the PADEP in 2011.

The reuse approach adopted in shale gas involves storing the generated wastewater to the maximum extent and disposing of it through reuse in the next hydraulic fracturing operation. Since the cycle is water negative, if the timing of waste generation and storage volumes can be managed, the waste disposal can be quite cost effective. In addition to investing capital dollars in hard assets, the gas producers have spent resources in developing dedicated teams of experts dealing with water and wastewater management, with performance goals tied to percentage of wastewater reused.

In comparison, CSG, which is a water-positive operation, requires significant infrastructure to process large quantities of produced water. Sizeable capital investment has been made in developing reverse osmosis and evaporator-based central water treatment facilities to generate low total dissolved salts water that can be beneficially reused for irrigation and/or farming.

Whether for shale gas or CSG, the infrastructure is expensive to build, and investment timing is always a risky walk for those making these decisions.

TECHNOLOGY Fortunately, the treatment technology exists to solve the water treatment and management requirements of the unconventional oil and gas industry.

In the past, water treatment has revolved around setting up large facilities that trucked or piped the water into a central location with membrane and evaporative water treatment processes to treat the wastewater. Significant capital has already been invested to set up and operate these facilities, and more will be required to keep pace with the growth in the number of wells and the location of these in the widespread acreage across the continent.

However, the distance between gas wells, regulatory challenges, public concerns and capital budgeting are factors that every gas producer is dealing with. Health, safety and environmental programs are integral parts of any natural gas well development plan, each requiring additional dollars.

Significant progress has been made by water technology providers such as Aquatech in converting the capabilities offered at a large central facility into a mobile or movable set of water treatment process units.

These process units can get close to the well pad and, more importantly, match exactly the capabilities of the large central facilities. The units provide gas producers with the ability to treat

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unconventional gas mining and manage the water locally. As a result, trucking and wastewater handling costs are minimised and water reuse is maximised.

Mobility of the process units, coupled with the capability to get within proximity to the natural gas wells, is a game-changer for the unconventional natural gas industry. These mobile evaporators, coupled with modular crystallisation units, can provide the next level of solution required in the CSG market in Australia as a final solution to the reverse osmosis concentrate stored in ponds.

STRIKING A BALANCE Just as the three Rs have a synergistic effect, it is necessary to have a healthy balance and interplay between regulation, infrastructure and technology. Over-regulation will inhibit the development of unconventional gas. As proof, consider how the ban on hydraulic fracturing in New York has stopped all activities related to development of shale gas in that state. This is an extreme situation, and it is particularly ironic since the Marcellus Shale extends into and is named after the village of Marcellus, New York.

Most often, public concerns are the driving force behind regulation. Further regulatory requirements often prompt development of infrastructure and technology to overcome these constraints, as is evident from the growth of recycle/reuse, and the use of fixed and mobile evaporator units in the Marcellus to achieve sub 500 mg/L Total Dissolved Solids in treated water discharge from shale gas.

The development of judicious regulation pairs the public interest with best available technology to resolve issues. Mobile evaporator technology can provide this balance and the necessary solution to allay the fears of the public resulting from the presence of CSG wastewater in ponds across Australia.

A THREE-LEGGED RACE Whether we are dealing with shale gas in the US or CSG in Australia, as water industry professionals we know the importance of finding the right solutions and striking a balance. Regulation without technology to achieve the requirements is meaningless. On one hand, we take government regulation and convert it into solutions for the gas industry. On the other hand, by developing better technology, we make improved regulation possible through science.

This sounds like walking one step in front of the other. In reality, it is probably one scenario where you can’t run fast. In that sense, it is really more like a three-legged race: at any given time, only two legs move in tandem one after the other.

If we are diligent, we won’t be dissuaded by the challenges we face in moving forward. Instead, armed with clear goals and equipped with the shared insights of lessons learned by colleagues who face similar challenges, we will continue to advance and play our part in the water-energy nexus that shapes our future. WJ

THE AUTHOR Devesh Mittal (email: mittald@aquatech. com) is Vice President and General Manager of Aquatech Energy Services, a Division of Aquatech International Corporation focused on water treatment solutions for the unconventional oil and gas industry. He is based in Canonsburg, PA, US.

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Water Quality & Monitoring Development Of Online Surrogate Parameters Using UV-VIS Spectroscopy For WTP Optimisation

technical papers

A study to explore the suitability of multiple wavelength UV absorption spectroscopy for online monitoring

Intelligent System For Remotely Monitoring Manganese Concentrations In Water Reservoirs

A Byrne et al.

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E Bertone et al.

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P Fiske

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D Cook et al.

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I Mouilleron et al.

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J Ostrowski et al.

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D du Plooy et al.

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P Free & M Christison

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A case study of a water quality monitoring program at Advancetown Lake in South-East Queensland

How Mixing Improves Disinfectant Retention And Stabilises Water Quality

A case study involving a Central Highlands Water water treatment plant in Ballarat

Impact Of Water Quality Change In The River Murray On Monochloramine Decay

An investigation into product waters from four WTPs following floods in the Murray-Darling Basin

Wastewater Treatment Start-Up Of A Demonstration-Scale Deammonification Reactor At Bolivar WWTP

Results of a demonstration trial at a wastewater treatment plant in South Australia

Changing The Mindset

Applying a drinking water approach to tertiary treatment at a water recycling plant in NSW

Cultivation And Enrichment Of Anammox Culture In A Submerged Membrane Bioreactor

Results of a research project comparing membrane fouling rates of PVDF to PTFE membranes

Extreme Weather & Disaster Management Keep Calm And Carry On, Christchurch

Operational observations of water utilities’ disaster recovery response after the Christchurch earthquake

Lessons From A Decade Of Extreme Weather Events For Australian Drinking Water Suppliers

A review of 10 case studies from five Australian states

SK Fitzgerald et al.

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B Kelly

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BS McIntosh et al.

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I White

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K Eldridge et al.

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E Sawade et al.

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S Kenway et al.

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Design Options For Backflow Prevention Devices In Levee Stormwater Outlets

Key learnings from Australian case studies

Water Education This icon means the paper has been refereed

Leadership In Learning: Collaborative Approaches To Building The Water Sector Of The Future

Embracing a time of change and challenge

Water Law & Policy Rainwater Tanks – Reign No More?

An explanation of the Queensland Government’s role in the ascendancy and decline of rainwater tanks

Automation & Remote Monitoring Automating Tertiary Treatment At Eastern Treatment Plant

Development and implementation of an award-winning water treatment upgrade project in Melbourne

Disinfection Operational Strategy For Disinfection By-Product Management

Can simple changes to conventional treatment plant operation and disinfection reduce DBP formation?

Energy & Water Understanding And Managing Water-Related Energy Use In Australian Households

Preliminary results of a research project by The University of Queensland and the Smart Water Fund

NEXT ISSUE: MAY

2014

• GREEN CITIES & WSUD • ENERGY & WATER EFFICIENCY • CARBON FOOTPRINT & GHG • RURAL WATER & IRRIGATION • WATER RESOURCES

151 Tilting LayFlat gates featuring collapsible handrails to reduce infrastructure damage during flood events.

MANAGEMENT • GRANULAR SLUDGE SYSTEMS: AEROBIC & ANAEROBIC

WATER QUALITY & MONITORING

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Technical Papers

DEVELOPMENT OF ONLINE SURROGATE PARAMETERS USING UV-VIS SPECTROSCOPY FOR WATER TREATMENT PLANT OPTIMISATION A study to explore the suitability of multiple wavelength UV absorption spectroscopy for online monitoring and process control AJ Byrne, T Brisset, CWK Chow, J Lucas, GV Korshin

ABSTRACT This study explored the suitability of multiple wavelength UV absorption spectroscopy as a tool for online monitoring and process control at water treatment plants. It included examination of variable water quality conditions created by the introduction of desalinated water into a conventional supply system.

Absorbance data collected from an online UV absorption spectrophotometer was used to develop surrogate parameters for treatment process monitoring, control and optimisation.

Surrogate parameters were developed via data analysis of collected online data as well as by targeted selection from previous research knowledge. These parameters were validated in the field using the same online spectrophotometer to gauge their response to events caused by operational changes, such as high chlorine demand and changes in natural organic matter (NOM). The response of the absorbance at 254 nm (A254) parameter to several operational events impacting water quality and optimal treatment (i.e. increases and decreases in chlorine demand) suggests that this parameter should be more widely adopted as an online monitoring tool.

It was also found that novel parameters, such as the derivative of absorbance at 290 nm (A290) and the second derivative of absorbance at 310 nm (A310), appear to provide additional information to the standard A254, and may be useful for early detection of water quality changes and potentially useful tools for control of operational treatment processes. This study has demonstrated that chlorine control via

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online UV spectroscopic parameters may be a viable way to achieve this.

Keywords: water treatment, UV spectroscopy, disinfection, chlorination, source blending.

INTRODUCTION With the identification of emerging contaminants and water quality issues in drinking water treatment, the development of improved water quality monitoring programs is becoming a high priority in many Australian water utilities.

Online monitoring is often a popular component of these programs, due to the advantage of providing real-time water quality information not generated by traditional routine monitoring techniques. However, the key limitation of online monitoring currently is that only a limited number of water quality parameters can be measured this way.

While turbidity and pH meters/probes have been in operation for a number of years, it is only recently that more advanced equipment has emerged that allows the measurement of a more detailed subset of water quality parameters, in the form of surrogates (Storey et al., 2011). Among these are water quality characteristics that are usually the most time consuming to measure due to the requirement of laboratory analysis (e.g. dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total organic carbon (TOC), nitrate etc). Many of these instruments utilise online UV absorbance spectroscopy for the derivation of these surrogate parameters.

Despite the availability of more advanced instruments and more detailed water quality information, UV absorbance at a single wavelength (A254) is still a preferred measurement

in many monitoring programs. This parameter is only occasionally exploited as an online monitoring parameter, despite previous research demonstrating its link with a number of different water quality characteristics, including natural organic matter (NOM) concentration, chlorine demand and disinfection by product (DBP) formation (Fitzgerald et al., 2006; Korshin et al., 1997; Chow et al., 2007). Similarly, in addition to the surrogate water quality parameters generated by commercial multiple wavelength online spectroscopic instruments, there is an opportunity to exploit these same techniques to develop surrogate parameters specifically tailored to water treatment facilities and local water quality issues (Vaillant et al., 2002).

Control of disinfectant residual in the distribution network is a challenging task for operators. Chlorine demand may change markedly within a short time period due to variations in water quality, and the chlorine dose must be adjusted accordingly to ensure that corresponding chlorine residual fluctuations in the network do not occur.

If either single or multiple wavelength UV absorbance parameters can be directly linked with, or provide an indication of the NOM character and/ or the chlorine demand of water, they could be implemented as a feed-forward control measure for chlorine dosing.

Recently, the introduction of desalinated water into the Adelaide metropolitan water supply system has made the development of parameters that predict changes in chlorine dose required with different ratios of desalinated water highly desirable.

This research work involved an online trial focusing on several novel UV absorbance parameters that utilise different regions of the UV absorbance spectrum. The study collected and processed two years of water treatment plant (WTP) online spectral data and developed alternative surrogate parameters to assist plant operations.

The key advantage of this installation was that online UV absorbance change could be correlated to known water quality events in real-time, and accessed remotely via a wireless broadband network. This not only allowed UV absorbance data to be readily available, but ensured that developed parameters were directly related to operational and environmental processes. The approach was to observe the response/behaviour of these parameters under normal operational conditions, and when known changes in water quality occurred.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY SITE

The online trial was carried out at Happy Valley WTP (HV WTP), in Adelaide, South Australia. HV WTP is South Australia’s largest water treatment facility and

supplies water to most of metropolitan Adelaide. The plant treats source water from the Mount Lofty Ranges catchment area, and River Murray water, supplied upstream of the Happy Valley Reservoir via the Murray Bridge-Onkaparinga pipeline. In addition, since October 2011, desalinated water has been supplied continuously to the plant in different quantities as part of the commissioning process for the Adelaide Desalination Plant (ADP). The treatment process employed at HV WTP is coagulation with alum, flocculation, sedimentation, media filtration (anthracite/sand) and disinfection with chlorine.

ONLINE DATA COLLECTION

DATA PROCESSING

Online UV absorbance data was collected for a period of two years using a Spectro::lyser (s::can Messtechnik GmbH Austria) with an optical path length of 100mm. The instrument measured absorbance in the range between 200–750 nm every two minutes.

Data was recorded in a fingerprint file (fp) stored in the instrument computer (con::stat), and was later available for remote download via telemetry.

Due to the large volume of data collected over the two-year period of the project (high-data resolution every two minutes), hourly averaging was carried out to more easily observe long-term data trends. This was achieved using free downloadable ‘R’ software (R Core Team, 2012). Known short-term water quality events were trended without data averaging to utilise the high resolution of the data. The parameters were calculated from the raw fingerprint file using R software. Prior to this the raw fingerprint file had been compensated for suspended solids using the spectro::lyser instrument software (ana::pro, s::can Messtechnik GmbH, Austria). Differential absorbance before and after water quality changes was calculated by the subtraction of full spectrum fp data from readings at the peak of a water quality event, to the fingerprint data prior to the water quality change.

Table 1. Surrogate water quality parameters trialled.

Parameter

A254 / A202

Previous Interpretation Standard UV absorbance parameter Ratio of absorbance at 254 and 202 nm; a measure of activation of NOM (can be affected by the presence of nitrate)

A254 / A202

dA290 d

First derivative of absorbance at 290 nm; sensitive to the concentration of chlorine and NOM properties

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

d 2 ln A290 d 2

Second derivative of the logarithm at 290nm; sensitive to chlorine concentrations

d 2 A310 d 2

Second derivative of absorbance at 310 nm; a potential measure of chlorine concentration

ln A350

Logarithm of absorbance at 350 nm; sensitive to NOM concentration and activity

d ln A330 370 d

Slope of logarithms of absorbance in the 330–370 nm region; expected to be a measure of the molecular weight of NOM and its activity

ASI

(A ASI = 0.56 254 (A220

The instrument was located to receive water directly after filtration, following the point where desalinated water was blended, but prior to the main disinfection dose. Due to the application of multiple chlorine dosing points at HV WTP, at this point in the treatment process the water had received one chlorine dose prior to filtration, leaving a 0.5-1.0 mg/L chlorine residual in the water. Due to the potential impact of chlorine on UV absorbance measurement (O’Doherty, 2011), a residual chlorine analyser, chlori::lyser (s::can Messtechnik GmbH Austria), was subsequently installed at the same location so that this impact could be accounted for.

A272 ) A230 )

Absorbance slope index; expected to be a measure of the molecular weight of NOM and its activity

DATA PROCESSING

An ongoing challenge for online monitoring application is the difficulty of handling large volumes of online data.

The use of programming software to conduct averaging of data and generate long-term trends has been explored recently (Byrne et al., 2012). However, R software used in this work provided much faster data processing and greater flexibility for trending data than has been achieved previously. The free availability of this software also made this a lowcost option to achieve the complex data analysis required as part of this project.

The primary limitation posed by using programming software to process online data is the lack of expertise of most water scientists/engineers in using

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Technical Papers these programs. However, if appropriate expertise can be found within an organisation to write the necessary script for data processing, use of the software by untrained staff is relatively easy.

PARAMETER SELECTION AND CALCULATION

Novel UV absorbance parameters were calculated using the raw wavelength data provided in the fp files after solid compensation. Novel UV absorbance parameters were selected based on previous research (Korshin et al., 1997b; Korshin et al., 2007; Helms et al., 2008; Korshin et al., 2007; Korshin et al., 2009), as well as by preliminary analysis of online s::can spectral data during high chlorine demand events. The alternative wavelength parameters trialled are shown in Table 1.

The standard UV absorbance parameter is included in the analysis for comparison with novel parameters.

The novel parameters consist of either single or multiple wavelengths with mathematical functions applied to extract different types of information from the UV spectrum. The parameters selected for this study were those that had been identified via previous research as demonstrating some relationship with NOM concentration and properties.

These parameters were not linked directly to chlorine demand in original research, and the NOM properties attributed to each may or may not relate to this water quality parameter.

The A254/A202 ratio is the ratio of absorbance at 254 (where NOM is known to absorb, A254) to the UV absorbance of the sample at 202 nm (A202). Because previous work has shown that nitrate can strongly influence absorbance at low wavelengths (<250nm), results from this parameter should be treated with caution (Wang and Hsieh, 2001). Sample absorbance at 290 nm (A290) is related to several water quality components.

The maximum absorbance of free chlorine occurs at approximately 290nm (Cooper et al., 2007), and because in treated water chlorine demand is directly related to the chlorine concentration of the water, it is reasonable to expect a change in this parameter when the chlorine residual decreases or increases. Taking the first derivative of the absorbance of this wavelength is sufficient to observe changes.

Further processing of the data showed that the values of the second derivatives

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Figure 1. Online trend of three trialled parameters for one-year period. of the absorbance spectrum at 310 nm (A310) are also sensitive measures of chlorine concentration. This is because the derivatisation of the spectra allows for removal of absorbance unrelated to the chlorine band, and the maximum of the second derivative of the band associated only with dissolved chlorine is observed at 310 nm. The wavelength of 350 nm lies largely outside of the absorbance band of chlorine and, as such, is deemed to reflect primarily the presence of NOM. The introduction of the ln A350 was suggested based on empirical observations of close relationships between the latter parameter and NOM levels. The slope of logarithms of absorbance in the 330-370 nm region is similar to the spectral slope introduced to characterise NOM in prior research (Del Vecchio and Blough, 2004). The selection of the 330 to 370 nm range reflects the virtual absence of chlorine absorbance in that region and the existence of high enough absorbance allowing the use of the logarithm function without considerable errors.

The absorbance slope index (ASI) has, via a previous study, been shown to relate to the apparent molecular weight of NOM (Korshin et al., 2009). This parameter is calculated using absorbance at four wavelengths, 254, 272, 220 and 230 nm. These parameters were trialled online; however, it should be noted that absorbance features are often unique to the water matrix measured; as HV WTP filtered water was of significantly

different composition to the waters in which each parameter was tested, it may be unsurprising if they do not exhibit similar responses in this work.

LONG TERM TRENDING OF SURROGATE PARAMETERS

Data averaging made it possible to observe long-term trends of surrogate parameters. Although the general shape of online parameter trends appeared similar over a long time period (one year of data represented in Figure 1), it was evident that individual features, and shorter-term signal responses, differed among parameters (Figure 1). For instance, a higher variability in parameter signal is evident from the ASI parameter during the period Julyâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;November 2011 than others. Based on previous interpretation of the ASI parameter, water quality changes (in terms of absorbable compound composition) are occurring during this period that are not being detected by absorbance at a single wavelength.

The long term-trends of water quality parameters in filtered water did not appear to directly relate to changes in source water quality (data not shown).

This is unsurprising, as water at this point has already undergone several treatment processes (coagulation/sedimentation/ filtration/chlorine dosing). It is, therefore, evident that UV absorbance measured at this point in the treatment process will be a measure of the optimisation of treatment processes only, rather than providing an indication of changes in source water. However, observation of

the UV spectral region (Korshin et al., 2007). This is further demonstrated by the negative spikes occurring in each parameter signal during increases in chlorine residual concentration (Figure 3).

Figure 2. Trend of two online parameters: a) A254 and b) LnA350, demonstrating spiking related to chlorine demand change. Red = A254nm, Blue = LnA350, Purple = chlorine residual this data with historical raw water quality information may provide some value for operators in identifying water quality periods where treatment optimisation for removing NOM species is lower.

RESPONSE OF PARAMETERS TO OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS

The key part of this study involved the selection of water quality variations caused by treatment plant operational changes. Water quality events detected in the long-term trending of data warranted further investigation of these

time periods at a higher data resolution.

Three types of water quality events were detected by online parameters on a routine basis. The first was the change in chlorine demand created by alterations in the chlorine dose rate. During periods when the pre-filtration chlorine dose was reduced, many of the parameters spiked (Figure 2).

This behaviour is typically expected in UV absorbance parameters, as generally oxidation of organic material in water via chlorination reduces absorbance in

Another change in water quality observable from online data was the direct removal of NOM from the water during powdered activated carbon (PAC) dosing at the head of the plant (Figure 4). PAC dosing was administered at the plant in response to release of additional organic components (taste and odour compounds) associated with treatment of algal blooms in the Happy Valley Reservoir.

Prior to PAC dosing, some absorbance parameters such as the A254 and the -dA290 increased, possibly due to increased organic content caused by release of algal-derived compounds in the water (higher total algal counts were recorded during this period, data not shown). Conversely, the ASI decreased.

The ASI parameter represents the ratio of absorbance in regions thought to be predominantly activated aromatic groups (>250nm), to absorbance from regions

Figure 3. Response of surrogate parameters to decrease in chlorine demand created by increased chlorine dose. High chlorine dose period is shown in boxed area.

Figure 4. Trend of three online parameters: a) A254, b) ASI and c) first derivative A290, prior to and following PAC dosing at the water treatment plant. The time of PAC dosing is indicated with arrows.

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Figure 5. Change in UV absorbance parameters with influx of desalinated water, early May 2012. where both carboxylic and aromatic groups are known to absorb (Korshin et al., 2009). As a result it is thought to provide an indication of the reactivity of NOM groups in the water matrix. This in turn may also be related to the apparent molecular weight (AMW) of the species present. Hence, the decrease in this parameter may represent a change in the reactivity or molecular weight of organic species in the water during this period.

THE RESPONSE OF PARAMETERS TO DESALINATED WATER ADDITION

Response of the selected parameters to known changes in chlorine demand gave the research team confidence in trialling the use of parameters for events where water quality changes were less clearly understood. In May 2012, desalinated water began to flow into the Happy Valley WTP as part of the commissioning process of the ADP (Figure 5). Water was injected upstream of the monitoring point into the filtered water duct. It is generally expected that this would create a noticeable reduction in chlorine demand that would be detectable from the UV parameters; generally this was the case, although some parameters (particularly those utilising 290 nm as an observation wavelength), appeared to display a less smooth trend during desalination influx.

It was hypothesised that the parameters using the 290 nm observation wavelength may be impacted by the absorbance of chlorine, which increased in concentration during desalinated water addition due to residual present in the ADP water (prior to influx residual = 0.4 mg/L, compared with 1 mg/L during blending). To test whether increase in chlorine concentration could impact absorbance trends, differential absorbance was calculated based on the

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previously known increase in chlorine concentration shown in Figure 2 (Figure 6). The differential profile revealed a noticeable increase in A290 with chlorine addition, which may account for the more variable trend observed during the desalinated water addition. Although A290 is known to be an absorbance region of free chlorine (Li et al., 2000), this parameter has not been exploited for this purpose before, and it is recommended that further investigation be made into the use of this parameter in chlorine concentration indication.

Figure 6. Differential absorbance during an increase in chlorine dose. X axis represents spectral wavelength (nm).

As well as the addition of desalinated water in May 2012, HV WTP was continually supplied with desalinated water inflow in varying amounts during the remainder of 2012. To investigate how the novel parameters introduced above responded to changes in the amount of desalinated water supplied (% blend), one monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth of online data was averaged and trended during periods of known change (Figure 7).

During periods where the plant was switched off (HV WTP raw water flow stopped) and only desalinated water was present, major dips in UV absorbance occurred (Figure 7). Desalinated water was not moving forward through the plant in these periods; the purpose of this operational condition was to provide

water into the filtered water duct to support operation (including filter backwashing) on plant restart.

The differences in signal drop in parameters between these occasions are likely to be related to the chlorine residual present in the water. During the first two 100% desalinated water periods shown in Figure 7a, the drop in absorbance was moderate and the chlorine residual was also low (<0.4mg/L). On 15 September 2012, the drop in UV absorbance was larger, but the chlorine residual was higher and, hence, resulted in more oxidation of organic species in the stagnant water.

When correlated directly with proportion of desalinated water per cent, most parameters display only a moderateweak correlation (generally R2<0.5, data not shown). This is probably due to the complex water quality changes taking place with different operational conditions at the plant; for instance, with no desalinated water present (0% blend), UV absorbance can vary markedly based on source water quality and treatment optimisation (as demonstrated in the Figure 1 plots).

However, despite this, several parameters respond strongly to changes in the per cent blend in real-time, and are useful indicators of how per cent blend conditions (and other operational processes) are influencing the quality of the water (Figure 7). The exception is the ASI parameter, which displays an unusual response in this circumstance; except that during periods where there is a higher chlorine residual > 0.4mg/L in the water the parameter remains constant.

This is associated with the sensitivity of the ASI parameter to the reactivity of NOM, but not its concentration. Given that the provenance of NOM remained largely constant throughout the study, the relative stability of the ASI values is not surprising.

parameters, the authors believe that the use of this parameter online could provide highly useful water quality information to operators.

dA290 d

Figure 7. Online UV absorbance parameters during September 2012.

RELATIONSHIP OF ONLINE PARAMETERS TO CHLORINE DEMAND

The key part of this study involved the selection of water quality variations caused by treatment plant operational changes. High chlorine demand events in water were identified by operational periods where the post-filtration chlorine residual dropped dramatically, or reached zero. A loss of post-filtration chlorine residual is indicative of either higher demand source water consuming the amount of chlorine usually dosed, or a cessation of pre-filtration chlorine dosing. Over the course of the study, more than 20 periods of high chlorine demand were identified.

The resulting trends of different parameters to chlorine dose showed a relatively strong relationship, considering chlorine dose was a daily average (Figure 8). The strong trend of A254 to chlorine dose corresponding to previous research (Fitzgerald et al., 2006), indicates that this parameter alone may be useful in trending the chlorine demand of water and perhaps should be more

widely utilised for this purpose. Some parameters (e.g. the ASI) showed a weaker relationship to chlorine dose/ demand, suggesting that they are less representative of chlorine consuming organic groups and provide different water quality information.

CONCLUSION All parameters trialled were useful in detecting changes in absorbance characteristics of treated water; differences in output signal occurred as different UV absorbance/water quality information was represented. In general, the examined parameters tended to respond immediately to changes in water quality associated with increase/decrease in chlorine demand and activation of NOM (caused by changes in pre-filtration chlorine dosing, desalinated water addition etc).

It is believed that even the standard absorbance parameter A254 is useful in representing chlorine demand changes (further supported by relationship to chlorine dose), and pending further validation and investigation of novel

Several of the parameters utilising 290 nm as a wavelength appeared to be impacted by chlorine residual in the water. While this sensitivity is expected, based on the properties of absorbance of chlorine, further study will be required to confirm this relationship, and to determine how they could be further exploited for absorbance parameter development.

This study provided insight into how existing and novel UV absorbance parameters might perform online in a field setting. Although further development of algorithms and validation with grab sampling/ laboratory analysis will be necessary to fully interpret findings, the approach used here is a starting point for more development in this area.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Authors would like to thank Water Research Australia, SA Water Centre for Water Management and Reuse â&#x20AC;&#x201C; University of South Australia and Water Corporation Western Australia for partial funding and support for this project. Gregory Korshin acknowledges support from the Australian International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management (ICE WaRM), which contributed to his work on the concepts presented in this paper.

Figure 8. Online water quality parameters vs daily chlorine dose. Green line = daily chlorine dose, Red line = A254,Cyan = -dA290, Royal blue =ASI.

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REFERENCES

Amanda Byrne (email: Amanda.Mussared@sawater. com.au) is a Research Scientist in the Water Treatment and Distribution Research Team at SA Water.

She completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) at the University of Adelaide and commenced work at SA Water in 2009.

Amanda has been involved in a variety of research work in water treatment-related areas, including network modelling, online monitoring and distribution system water quality investigations.

Byrne A, Botmi D, Cruaux L, Fabris R, Chow C, Adams, K, Mosisch T & Dexter R (2012): Five-Year Experience in Using On-Line UV-Vis Spectrolyser for River Water Quality Monitoring.

Ozwater’12, Sydney, May 10 2012.

Thomas Brisset (email: thomas.brisset02@gmail. com) is a French student who graduated in 2013 from Chemistry, Biology and Physics Graduate School (ENSCBP) of Bordeaux (France). He was involved in the online monitoring project during a five-month internship at SA Water.

Dr Chris Chow (email: Chris.Chow@sawater. com.au) is the Manager – Sensors, Technology and Assets Research, SA Water, Australian Water Quality Centre. He also holds an Adjunct Professor position at UniSA and is the Leader of the Advanced Water Quality Sensing and Optimisation group, SA Water Centre for Water Management and Reuse.

Dr Jeremy Lucas (email: Jeremy.Lucas@sawater.com. au) is the Senior Manager – Water Quality and Treatment Strategy for SA Water. He has a Masters of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a PhD in Science (Chemistry). He has over 18 years of experience in the water industry, ranging from trade waste and R&D to water quality, water and wastewater treatment and recycled water.

Prof. Gregory Korshin (email: korshin@u. washington.edu) works at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Washington, Seattle, US. He has been involved in studies of water quality monitoring, modelling of formation of disinfection by-products, characterisation of natural organic matter, heavy metals and emerging contaminants.

He has held visiting positions in Australian Water Quality Centre, UniSA and other universities in Europe and China.

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Chow C, Dexter R, Sutherland-Stacey L, Fitzgerald F, Fabris R, Drikas M, Holmes M & Kaeding U (2007): Multi-Wavelength UV/Vis Spectrometry in Drinking Water Quality Management. Water Journal, 34, 4, pp 63–66.

Cooper WJ, Jones AC, Whitehead RF & Zika RG (2007): Sunlight-Induced Photochemical Decay of Oxidants in Natural Waters: Implications in Ballast Water Treatment. Environmental Science and Technology, 41, pp 3728–3733.

Deborde M & von Gunten U (2008): Reactions of Chlorine with Inorganic and Organic Compounds During Water Treatment: A Critical Review. Water Research, 42, pp 13–51.

Del Vecchio R & Blough NV (2004): On the Origin of Optical Properties of Humic Substances.

Environmental Science and Technology, 38, pp 3885–3891.

Fitzgerald F, Chow CWK & Holmes M (2006): Disinfectant Demand Prediction Using Surrogate Parameters – A Tool to Improve Disinfection Control. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology – AQUA, 55, 6, pp 391–400.

Helms JR, Stubbins A, Ritchie JD, Minor EC, Kieber DJ & Mopper K (2008): Absorption Spectral Slopes and Slope Ratios as Indicators of Molecular Weight, Source, and Photobleaching of Chlromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter.

Limnology and Oceanography, 53, 3, pp 955–969.

Her N, Amy G, Sohn J & Gunten U (2008): UV Absorbance Ratio Index With Size Exclusion Chromatography (URI-SEC) as an NOM Property Indicator. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology – AQUA, 57, 1, pp 35–44.

Korshin G, Chow CWK, Fabris R & Drikas M (2009): Absorbance Spectroscopy-Based Examination of Effects of Coagulation on the Reactivity of Fractions of Natural Organic Matter With Varying Apparent Molecular Weights. Water Research, 43, pp 1541–1548.

Korshin GV, Chow CWK & Drikas M (2008): Real Time Monitoring of Disinfection By-Products Using Differential UV Absorption Spectroscopy.

Water Journal, 35, 3, pp 83–87.

Korshin GV, Benjamin MM, Chang H & Gallard H (2007): Examination of NOM Chlorination Reactions by Conventional and Stop-Flow Differential Absorbance Spectroscopy.

Environmental Science and Technology, 41, pp 2776–2781.

Korshin GV, Li C & Benjamin MM (1997a): Monitoring of the Properties of Organic Matter Through UV Absorbance: A Consistent Theory.

Water Research, 31, 7, pp 1787–1795.

Korshin GV, Benjamin MM & Sletten S (1997b): Adsorption of Natural Organic Matter (NOM) on Iron Oxide: Effects of NOM Composition and Formation of Organo-Halide Compounds During Chlorination. Water Research, 31, 7, pp 1643–1650.

Li Chi-Wang, Benjamin MM & Korshin GV (2000): Use of UV Spectroscopy to Characterise the Reaction Between NOM and Free Chlorine.

Environmental Science and Technology, 34, pp 2570–2575.

O’Doherty RG (2011): Water Quality Management of THMs and HAAs in Drinking Water Supplies.

Industry Research Project Report, University of Adelaide.

R Core Team (2012): R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing.

R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0. www.

R-project.org Storey MV, van der Gaag B & Burns BP (2011): Advances in On-Line Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Early Warning Systems.

Water Research, 45, pp 741–747.

Vaillant S, Pouet, MF & Thomas O (2002): Basic Handling of UV Spectra for Urban Water Quality Monitoring. Urban Water, 4, pp 273–281.

Wang G & Hsieh S (2001): Monitoring Organic Matter in Water With Scanning Spectrophotometer. Environmental International, 26, pp 205–212.

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INTELLIGENT SYSTEM FOR REMOTELY MONITORING MANGANESE CONCENTRATIONS IN WATER RESERVOIRS A case study of a water quality-monitoring program at Advancetown Lake in South-East Queensland E Bertone, RA Stewart, H Zhang, K O’Halloran, C Veal

ABSTRACT Continuously monitoring and managing manganese (Mn) concentrations in drinking water reservoirs is of paramount importance for water suppliers, as high soluble Mn levels can lead to the discoloration of potable water.

Traditional Mn management involves regular manual water sampling and laboratory analyses. In cases where critical Mn concentration thresholds are exceeded, appropriate treatment procedures are adopted. Despite the Mn level currently being manually sampled throughout the year, in many subtropical monomictic lakes – such as Advancetown Lake on the Gold Coast – Mn concentrations in the epilimnion, where the water is drawn for potable use, are usually only elevated during winter, with the onset of partial or full lake destratification.

future Mn concentrations up to seven days ahead with correlation coefficients higher than 0.83 for an independent test dataset. Importantly, the peak concentrations in the epilimnion during lake destratification were predicted with correlation coefficients of greater than 0.90. The models also display the probabilities of the Mn to exceed critical thresholds, thus assisting operators in Mn treatment decision-making.

Such a tool is highly beneficial for water suppliers, as the cost and time spent monitoring Mn concentrations can be significantly reduced and more proactive forecasting and planning for elevated levels of Mn can be enabled.

Keywords: Vertical profiler systems, automation, remote monitoring, manganese, prediction, lake destratification.

INTRODUCTION

Vertical profiling systems (VPS) have been installed in Seqwater’s stored water reservoirs to continuously collect physical parameters such as: water temperature; specific conductivity; turbidity; pH; REDOX; chlorophyll-a, blue-green algae; and dissolved oxygen. These may be used to accurately determine the transport processes of Mn within the lake system.

Therefore, a historical database of VPS and Mn laboratory testing data provides the opportunity to develop a data-driven prediction model that can autonomously forecast seven days in advance the Mn concentrations at the drawn-off depth for water treatment plants.

Elevated manganese (Mn) levels in drinking water supply reservoirs are a water quality issue faced by many water utilities.

Mn concentration in lakes or reservoirs is determined by a range of chemical, physical and biogeochemical processes.

In the case of productive lakes, usually high Mn concentrations are evident in the anoxic hypolimnion, which is the deepest layer of the lake, and low concentrations in the well-oxygenated epilimnion or top layer (Kohl and Medlar, 2007).

In this study, a VPS was employed alongside physically collected water quality data, and analysed to deliver data-driven predictive models associated with the real-time VPS data collection.

These models were able to forecast

As a consequence for Mn management, the raw water is usually drawn from the epilimnion rather than from the nutrient and metal-rich hypolimnion, since the dissolved Mn level is usually well below critical thresholds

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MANGANESE AND WATER TREATMENT

in this layer. However, many reservoirs located in subtropical climates are prone to particular conditions that cause partial or full destratification and a short-term elevation in the concentration level of Mn in the epilimnion (i.e. > 0.02mg/L).

While elevated Mn periods may only occur during a short two- to four-week period in winter, manual weekly sampling and laboratory testing of soluble Mn concentrations is often completed all year round as a precautionary measure by treatment plant operators in order to meet monitoring requirements. In these short-term periods of elevated manganese, treatment plant operators often treat the raw water using prefiltration chlorination for moderate levels, while for higher concentrations permanganate dosing is employed.

If the raw water was not treated to a required standard, the Mn-rich water would be distributed to customers, leading to discoloration and issues that may diminish the confidence of the customers in the water supplier.

Hence, understanding the Mn cycle and predicting critical events is of major interest for water treatment managers.

ADVANCETOWN LAKE

This case study focuses on Advancetown Lake, bounded by Hinze Dam (153.28°E, 28.06°S), which is a subtropical monomictic reservoir located in SouthEast Queensland (SEQ) (Figure 1). It is the largest water supply reservoir servicing the Gold Coast region, which has a population greater than 500,000.

Moreover, it is connected to the SEQ Water Grid, a water supply scheme for the whole of SEQ, in order to respond to drought seasons by redirecting water from regions with an oversupply to regions that are lacking.

Figure 3. YSI 6600v2 water quality sonde.

• Data transfer for both water quality and weather station information occurs through telemetered 4G GSM data modems to a central remote systems computer for automated database storage and quasi real-time web-based information display.

Figure 1. Advancetown Lake map; the green “A” represents VPS location.

Its current reservoir capacity is 310,730ML, after a recent upgrade (Stage 3, 2011) that doubled the previous volume. The average depth is 32 metres and the surface area is 9.72km2, while the catchment area covers 207km2 of terrain, which is mostly national park. The two main inflows are the Nerang River and Little Nerang Creek, coming from another smaller reservoir named Little Nerang Dam. Water is drawn from the most convenient depth (typically around 3–6 metres below the surface) through an intake tower located close to the dam wall, and is distributed to Molendinar Water Treatment Plant located 10km north-east. The State Governmentowned entity, Seqwater, is the bulk water supplier for the most of the SEQ region and owns and operates Advancetown Lake and its associated potable water treatment plants.

provide enough charge to operate data logging systems and power a mechanical winch that raises and lowers the water quality instrumentation through the water column, with the maximum depth determined by onboard depth-sounding equipment to ensure the sonde never touches the bottom (Figure 2).

MANGANESE PREDICTION MODEL DEVELOPMENT DATA COLLECTION

REMOTE AUTONOMOUS VERTICAL PROFILING SYSTEMS

In 2008, a remote autonomous Vertical Profiling System (VPS) was installed in Advancetown Lake close to the Hinze Dam intake tower. Vertical profilers are automatic recording systems that provide a fast, direct and reliable means for monitoring a range of physiochemical parameters in the reservoir. The YSI VPS consists of: • One or more monitoring stations used to constantly monitor the weather and the vertical variations of the chemical– physical parameters of the reservoir. The VPS currently installed in Advancetown Lake is an automatic water qualitymonitoring station, comprising a fourpoint moored floating platform with on-board batteries and data loggers housed in waterproof cases. The system is powered by solar panels, which

While the VPS can remotely provide treatment plant operators with a range of water quality parameters every three hours (the time taken to profile the entire reservoir depth at 1m intervals, allowing appropriate probe settling time at each depth), the device is not able to directly measure soluble Mn concentrations in the reservoir. However, a number of the VPS measured parameters, such as water temperature and dissolved oxygen, have been reported in the literature as being highly correlated with Mn (Calmano et al., 1993; Kohl and Medlar, 2007). Such relationships provided the opportunity for the creation of an intelligent tool that could utilise the existing VPS data to predict future Mn concentrations (up to seven days). Such a tool could significantly reduce costly Mn sampling and laboratory testing requirements and improve Mn treatment decision-making.

Figure 2. Schematic of a YSI automatic Vertical Profiling System for water quality monitoring, complete with automated weather station.

• The YSI Water Quality Sonde Instrumentation (YSI 6600v2) (Figure 3), consists of a central instrument body with a range of water quality probes that are mounted into the end of the bulkhead to collect water quality information on the following parameters: specific conductivity (salinity); turbidity; dissolved oxygen; REDOX potential; water depth; water temperature; chlorophyll-a; and blue-green algae. Probes with optical windows have mechanical wipers to ensure that sensing windows are clean, facilitating long-term accurate sonde deployments on the VPS.

Seqwater, the industry partner of the project, provided a comprehensive historical dataset for the project: 13 years (2000–2013) of laboratory testing data from weekly manual water samplings performed next to the dam wall from a depth of zero to 24m in three-metre intervals. This dataset included: water temperature; pH; conductivity; dissolved oxygen; REDOX potential; turbidity; colour; and soluble and particulate Mn. VPS data was collected at a time interval of three hours with a vertical spatial interval of 1m. The collected parameters include: water temperature; conductivity; pH; dissolved oxygen; turbidity; REDOX potential; chlorophyll-a; and blue-green algae. Weather data was collected from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) (www.bom.gov.au). For the purpose of this study, only data after 2008 has been used for analysis, due to the alignment of both the VPS and laboratory testing data sets.

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Technical Papers in the epilimnion using the VPS data was confirmed to be ideal for development of a data-driven Mn future prediction model.

MODEL PARTS

Once the statistical analysis was completed and the features and correlations of the data assessed, it was possible to derive the most appropriate model and its key input parameters (see Figure 5). As no variable was found to have the capacity to affect the Mn concentration one week ahead, it was decided to focus first on the water temperature prediction seven days ahead and, secondly, on Mn prediction by taking advantage of the strong non-linear correlation between Mn and ∆Tw.

Figure 4. Time series soluble epilimnetic Mn and water temperature at different depths for Advancetown Lake between 2008–2012.

After careful assessment, the model required three data processing modules or parts to be created to ensure an acceptable, accurate and reliable Mn prediction.

• Model Part 1: Completes analysis of the current water column temperature difference and the forecasted moving average air temperature up to one week ahead (collected from the BoM), and outputs the water column temperature difference one week ahead.

• Model Part 2: Takes the output of part 1 (i.e. ∆Tw(t+7)) and, by using the hyperbolic correlation between Mn and ∆Tw, it will yield a prediction of the soluble Mn in the epilimnion seven days ahead.

Figure 5. Model structure and core analysis parts.

DATA ANALYSIS

In order to assess the relationships between soluble Mn and its possible predictors, exploratory analysis was firstly conducted to reveal significant linear or non-linear correlations between paired sets of model predictor variables, as well as with the independent variable Mn. Despite the presence of nonlinearities and weak linear correlations, a strong non-linear, hyperbolic relationship was noticed between soluble epilimnetic Mn and water temperature differential between the top and bottom of the reservoir (∆Tw).

Water temperature and, more specifically, the temperature gradient of the water column (∆Tw), was determined to be the most important predictor

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of soluble Mn concentrations in the epilimnion. In the case of the subtropical Advancetown Lake, spikes in Mn in the epilimnion are almost solely linked to the lake circulation process in winter (Figure 4), where the surface waters cool down and sink downwards into the hypolimnion, allowing Mn-rich bottom waters to reach the epilimnion and enter the intake tower. It was also found that the amount of Mn going from the hypolimnion to the epilimnion during the circulation process is proportional to the reservoir water temperature at the beginning of the turnover event, since processes such as turbulent diffusion are enhanced with higher temperatures.

Based on this exploratory statistical analysis, the prediction of elevated Mn

• Model Part 3: Where Part 2 predicts the beginning of the lake turnover event, the future peak Mn value will be corrected using the amount of Mn stored in the hypolimnion at the beginning of the turnover event, measured through a single manual water sampling that would be collected by the dam operator. This additional step is not mandatory but improves the accuracy of the peak prediction.

Part 1 of the model explored the use of both deterministic physical models and data-driven statistical models. The use of deterministic models provides a comprehensive study of the system, but the application of the physical equations associated with them (e.g. net heat flux) requires considerable input variables (e.g. saturated vapour pressure, airwater vapour pressure, air temperature, wind velocity, atmospheric pressure, cloud cover, boundary conditions etc.).

Moreover, deterministic physical models

tended to compound prediction errors when using future predicttions of the many input variables. Therefore, a simpler data-driven statistical model with a reduced number of inputs was considered to be the best option.

In particular, a seven-day predicted air-temperature moving average was found to provide the best correlation with the epilimnetic water temperature, as well as with the whole water column temperature differential. Smoothed solar radiation provided good correlations too, but it was assessed to be a redundant latent variable of air temperature so was not required.

Wind, rainfall and river inflow proved to have only short-term effects; high rainfall and inflow events are typically recorded during the wet season in summer, thus not affecting the winter turnover event and elevated Mn concentration in the epilimnion.

In conclusion, a data-driven Mn prediction model correlated only with the seven-day predicted moving average air temperature forecast proved to have the potential for good performance, since air temperature is one of the easiest meteorological variables to forecast, and a one-day error can be greatly reduced in importance by smoothing the whole week of forecasts.

As a consequence, because of the hysteresis cycles between air and water temperature due to different heat capacities, a threshold seasonal autoregressive model (TSAM) was created.

For Part 2 of the model, a statistical non-linear regression model was selected. This model applied the hyperbolic correlation Mn - ∆Tw to yield a good estimate of the soluble Mn in the epilimnion by making use of Equation 2, where the predicted water column temperature of TSAM is considered as an input.

(2) where: •

is the value of soluble Mn in the epilimnion at time t+7 [mg/L]

•

is the maximum value of soluble Mn in the epilimnion within the historical set [mg/L]

•

is the minimum value of soluble Mn in the epilimnion within the historical set [mg/L].

Where in cases that Part 2 of the model predicts the onset of a critical Mn event (i.e. Mn prediction above 0.02mg/L), then Part 3 of the model (i.e. a linear regression model) will produce a correction coefficient that is applied to the output of Part 2.

Equation (1) presented below describes the TSAM: (1) where: •

is the predicted water column temperature difference seven days ahead in °C

•

is the current water column temperature difference in °C

•

is the mean predicted air temperature (collected from the BoM) from one to seven days ahead in °C

•

is the current water temperature in the epilimnion in °C

• Ai and Bi are coefficients calculated by linear regression analysis, which change according to the season.

By calculating the difference in temperature between the surface waters and the surrounding air for the next seven days, the model can interpret historical data and the seasonal characteristics in order to simulate the degree of heat exchange and predict the water column temperature with high accuracy. The correlation coefficient for the independent test set was 0.97.

MANGANESE PREDICTION MODEL VALIDATION All prediction models need to be validated. In most time-series forecasting studies, this is usually achieved by dividing the dataset into a training set where the model is built, and a test set where the performance is assessed. In this way, problems such as “overfitting” (i.e. where a model has very high accuracy for the training set, but making predictions with new data is very poor) are avoided. This type of validation has been completed in this study.

Additionally, a second form of validation has been performed in this study, where the already-tested operative model was also used to predict the lake turnover event in 2013, and the prediction accuracy examined.

Using the independent validation set of data, the model with the incorporated Part 3 correction was able to predict all the main features of the 2012 turnover event (i.e. beginning and end of the event, presence of multiple peaks, and peak concentration) with R=0.86.

These results indicated that the model is remarkably robust, since the historical data set used for training only had one main peak per turnover event recorded since 2008.

The prediction of this unique event is a robust validation of the model since it was able to adapt to the evolving physical environment of the reservoir (Figure 7). Also, despite ignoring a small early peak, the same model was able to predict the 2013 turnover event with good accuracy, both in terms of the timing of the event and in the peak concentration estimation.

The correlation coefficient R decreased to 0.76 for the 2013 prediction. This is due to the reservoir reaching its new full capacity for the first time since the 2011 upgrade, resulting in a change in its internal mixing processes. As a consequence, the model will be recalibrated after collecting further postupgrade data, enabling better future predictions. A key feature of the model is that its accuracy improves over time as more data becomes available.

The model can also display outputs for reservoir operator decision-making purposes. Presently, a simple soluble Mn threshold warning system has been created, but in the future a userfriendly graphical user interface (GUI) will be developed and utilised by water treatment plant operators. It will have a range of cost- and time-saving benefits for the water supplier, including a much less costly and time-consuming weekly in situ Mn sampling and associated laboratory analysis, and more reliable operator decision-making.

BIG DATA IMPLICATIONS FOR WATER TREATMENT Understanding and monitoring water supply reservoirs’ physical and chemical parameters is of paramount importance for dam and potable water treatment plant operators. The recent advent of remote monitoring sensor technologies, providing extensive datasets on a range of water quality and environmental parameters, not only creates opportunities to reduce some costly and time-consuming traditional

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Technical Papers Kelvin O’Halloran (email: Kelvin.O’Halloran@seqwater. com.au) is Principal, Scientific Services & Data Systems at Seqwater. He holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Queensland (UQ).

Cameron Veal (email: cameron.veal@seqwater. com.au) is a Technical Scientist in Seqwater’s Catchment Water Quality Division. He holds a PhD in Marine Science from UQ. Figure 6. Model prediction of soluble epilimnetic Mn for winter 2012.

REFERENCES Calmano W, Hong J & Förstner U (1993): Binding and Mobilization of Heavy Metals in Contaminated Sediments Affected by pH and Redox Potential. Water Science and Technology, 28, pp 223–235.

Kohl P & Medlar S (2007): Occurrence of Manganese in Drinking Water and Manganese Control. IWA Publishing, 460pp.

NHMRC, NRMMC (2011): Australian Drinking Water Guidelines Paper 6 National Water Quality Management Strategy. National Health & Medical Research Council, National Resource Management Ministerial Council, Canberra.

®

Figure 7. Model prediction of soluble epilimnetic Mn for winter 2013. manual samplings and laboratory analyses, but also enables the creation of a suite of new data-driven models to predict a range of critical lake parameters (e.g. Mn in this study).

Such data-driven algorithms provide the foundations for user-friendly software tools that can be used by treatment plant operators for proactive water treatment decision-making (i.e. plan for an increase in chlorination dosing since Mn in expected to be elevated in three days).

Reductions in precautionary manual sampling and laboratory testing regimes for some parameters could be significantly reduced if such data-driven approaches using already available real-time datasets can be adequately harnessed. Such reductions in water quality testing can result in significant cost savings for the water supply sector.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Authors are grateful to Griffith University for its support of Mr Edoardo Bertone and to Seqwater for its technical and financial support to this collaborative project.

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THE AUTHORS Edoardo Bertone (email: edoardo.bertone@ griffithuni.edu.au) holds a Bachelor and a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Griffith School of Engineering, Gold Coast Campus.

Queensland.

Rodney Stewart (email: r.stewart@griffith. edu.au) is an Associate Professor in the Griffith School of Engineering.

His research focuses on the role of intelligent water monitoring technologies and information management systems.

Hong Zhang (email: h.zhang@griffith.edu.au) is an Associate Professor in the Griffith School of Engineering with a focus on computational methods applied to water resources and coastal engineering.

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HOW MIXING IMPROVES DISINFECTANT RETENTION AND STABILISES WATER QUALITY A case study involving a Central Highlands Water water treatment plant in Ballarat P Fiske

INTRODUCTION Maintaining disinfectant residual levels in drinking water reticulation systems is a challenge, even under normal conditions. Water must travel through several kilometres of pipes and is often stored in water tanks and basins before reaching customers.

However, when the distance between the treatment plant and customer is extensive, maintaining adequate disinfectant levels becomes even harder.

Further challenges become apparent during times of low water usage as the age of the water within the water reticulation system increases.

Central Highlands Water, west of Melbourne, faced this issue to an extreme. To service the southernmost part of the system, water produced at one of the main treatment plants in Ballarat is pumped and then gravity-fed 68km through a single water main to the town of Rokewood (Figure 1).

Figure 2. The 2.3ML Enfield Basin.

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At a distance of 42km from the treatment plant, the water passes through the 2.3 ML Enfield Basin, a below-ground, rectangular tank with inlet and outlet at opposite ends.

Maintaining adequate disinfectant residual levels has always been Figure 1. Ballarat’s water supply network. a priority for Central Highlands.

DISCUSSION However, years A common technique for improving of drought and substantial decreases disinfectant residual levels at the end in water use, as a result of changed of a reticulation system is to flush water. customer behaviour, made it difficult to But while flushing is widely practised, keep chlorine residuals at the right level and in some utilities is seen as the at the end of the system. “price” for maintaining water quality, operators at Central Highlands Water sought ways to improve water quality without the need to regularly flush.

Central Highlands Water started by conducting a dual process that involved high-velocity flushing and air-scouring of the watermain feeding this part of the reticulation system.

This approach uses the high velocity of water and the action of air to dislodge sediment and biofilm that accumulate naturally in water pipes.

length and width of the basin in addition to top-to-bottom mixing. PAX Water Technologies provided a horizontally-mounted version of the mixer (Figure 3) that was well-suited to achieve this goal.

Figure 3. The PAX Water Mixer (PWM-VAM).

The presence of sediment and biofilm can cause accelerated disinfectant loss.

Central Highlands Water then conducted a thorough denitrification program for the reticulation system to further eliminate biofilm and nitrifying bacteria that can cause water quality degradation.

Part of the effort to improve water quality focused on the 2.3 ML Enfield Basin (Figure 2). Operators normally kept this water reservoir as low as possible to minimise retention time. However, the basin has a separate inlet and outlet, and operators suspected that water could “short-circuit” – travelling directly across the reservoir without mixing with the water on either side, causing some water to remain trapped in the storage basin.

In 2011, engineers designed and installed an automated dosing system into the Enfield Basin in order to allow operators to boost disinfectant levels and enhance water quality. Shortly after this system was installed, the water operators saw a problem. Although they were

dosing adequate amounts near the inlet, they still saw low residual levels leaving the basin. A portable dosing system in a trailer that included a jet pump was used on a trial basis to mix the storage basin when dosing chlorine. This resulted in an immediate improvement in water quality, but once the pump stopped, the improvement was lost.

Realising that the hydraulics of the basin itself may be the source of the problem, operators began researching options and learned about the PAX Water Mixer, a lightweight mixer that can be installed in potable water storage tanks and reservoirs to provide constant mixing. Research in the United States has shown that active mixing not only eliminates short-circuiting in water storage tanks, but also significantly improves chlorine residual levels (Grayman et al., 2004).

The Enfield Basin is relatively long and shallow and operators knew they needed to promote horizontal mixing across the

The mixer was installed in December 2012, using divers so that the basin would not have to be taken out of service.

Once the mixer was running, operators saw an immediate change. Whereas before, residual levels within the basin had a high degree of variability, after installation, residual levels rose and stabilised (Figure 4).

After just two months, residual levels rose to more than 1.0 mg/l. More dramatically, the increase in residuals as a result of mixing allowed operators to turn off the automated dosing system in the basin, and it has remained off for the last 12 months. Operators were also pleased to see disinfectant residual levels rise at the end of the system in Rokewood. Regular flushing of the mains has not been necessary since the installation of the mixer.

The combination of high-velocity flushing; air-scouring and cleaning; system denitrification; a change in basin turnover levels; and active mixing in the Enfield Basin have worked together to significantly improve the disinfection residual levels, therefore enhancing the water quality and reliability for this part of the Central Highlands Water system.

REFERENCES Grayman WW, Rossman LA, Deininger RA, Smith CD, Arnold CN & Smith JF (2004): Mixing and Aging of Water in Distribution System Storage Facilities. Journal of American Water Works Association, 96, 9, pp 70–80.

THE AUTHOR

Figure 4. Total chlorine levels in the Enfield Basin before and after the introduction of mixing.

Dr Peter S Fiske (email: pfiske@paxwater.com) is the CEO of PAX Water Technologies, Inc. PAX Water specialises in energyefficient technologies to improve water quality in reticulation systems. Dr Fiske received his PhD from Stanford University and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

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IMPACT OF WATER QUALITY CHANGE IN THE RIVER MURRAY ON MONOCHLORAMINE DECAY An investigation into product waters from four water treatment plants (WTPs) treating River Murray water following floods in the Murray-Darling Basin D Cook, J Morran, W Mobius, M Drikas

ABSTRACT Monochloramine decay behaviour was investigated in product waters from four water treatment plants (WTPs) treating River Murray water during a period of significant water quality change resulting from floods in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Influx of natural organic matter (NOM) from the catchment into the River Murray caused an increase in WTPtreated water dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration. The increase in DOC concentration resulted in a greater monochloramine decay rate, reducing monochloramine residuals in the network and occurrence of nitrification in the outer extremities of distribution systems.

Accelerated monochloramine decay, above that attributable solely to DOC, was also identified in three of the four WTP product waters and was determined to be microbiological in nature.

Accelerated monochloramine decay was absent from WTP settled water but present after media filtration, indicating that contact between the water and the media filter was responsible for the accelerated monochloramine decay. Interestingly, the accelerated monochloramine decay was absent from Morgan WTP product water, the only WTP not to backwash filters with chloraminated water. The significance of filter backwash strategy on monochloramine stability is currently under investigation. Chlorine addition prior to ammonia was found to improve monochloramine stability, with the extent related to free chlorine contact time.

INTRODUCTION The River Murray is the major water source for regional South Australia.

This study focused on four conventional WTPs utilising this source. Three WTPs

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â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Summit, Swan Reach and Tailem Bend â&#x20AC;&#x201C; have identical designs, consisting of a powdered activated carbon (PAC) contact tank, two-stage coagulation, twostage flocculation, clarification with tube settlers and dual media rapid gravity filtration. Disinfection consists of UV and chloramination with ammonia added prior to chlorine. The WTP capacities are: 71, 90 and 28ML/d for Summit, Swan Reach and Tailem Bend WTPs respectively (Palmer and de Groot, 1998).

The Morgan WTP (capacity 200ML/d) process is coagulation, two-stage rapid mixing, three-stage flocculation, sedimentation, dual media rapid gravity filtration and chloramination. At Morgan WTP, chlorine is added before ammonia, with a typical free chlorine contact time of three to five minutes.

Treated water is transferred in above-ground pipes to consumers, often located in excess of 100km from the WTP. To satisfy disinfection requirements, chloramination is practised as it offers greater stability than chlorine for the long residence times and high temperatures that are encountered.

The major threat to chloramination is nitrification that results in the rapid degradation of monochloramine residual. Remedial action required to recover sections of the distribution system affected by nitrification involves chlorination and mains flushing, as well as additional water quality monitoring.

Nitrification events coincide with rapid degradation of chloramines (Wolfe et al., 1988; Cunliffe, 1991), but the mechanism by which this occurs has not been established. It is suggested by Wolfe et al. (1988) that, for accelerated degradation of monochloramine, ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB) may be capable of shifting the

monochloramine equilibrium in such a way that as free ammonia is metabolised the monochloramine molecule is hydrolysed.

Nitrite, a product of nitrification, can increase monochloramine decay rate (Vikesland et al., 2001). However, Woolschlager et al. (2001) found that the rate of chloramine loss occurring in a nitrifying distribution system could not be explained by the reaction with nitrite alone and suggested direct cometabolism of chloramines by AOB. They were able to accurately model chloramine behaviour in a distribution system when considering a direct cometabolism mechanism, but concluded that further work is required to prove that chloramines are co-metabolised by nitrifying bacteria.

The role of AOB and recently identified ammonia oxidising archaea (AOA) in enhanced monochloramine decay may become clearer with utilisation of molecular-based enumeration techniques such as those described by Hoefel et al. (2005) and de Vet et al. (2009), particularly during the period of accelerated monochloramine decay where traditional indicators of nitrification are absent.

In chloraminated drinking water systems, monochloramine decay is due to chemical and microbiological reactions (Sathasivan et al., 2005). Chemical factors affecting monochloramine decay include: dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration; pH; nitrite; organic nitrogen compounds; chlorine to ammonia ratio; and temperature. In addition, the presence of dead microbial cells and abiotic particles in water may also affect monochloramine decay (Sathasivan et al., 2005).

DOC was measured with a portable organic carbon analyser NH2Cl target Cl2 dose NH3-N dose Order of Cl2:NH3-N Temperature pH (Sievers 820, USA). Prior to (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) dosing Ratio (oC) analysis, samples were passed Ammonia through 0.45 μm cellulose nitrate 5.0 5.0 1.25 4:1 22 ± 2 8.6 ± 0.1 + Chlorine membrane filters (Schleicher and Schuell, Germany).

In 2010 drought-breaking rains in the Murray-Darling Basin resulted in a significant water quality change in the River Murray Bacterial enumeration was conducted using a flow cytometer (FACSCalibur, Becton Dickinson, USA) as described by Hoefel in South Australia. Corresponding with this, significant changes et al. (2003). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for in monochloramine residuals were observed in chloraminated detection of AOA and AOB, as described by Hoefel et al., 2011. distribution systems.

Table 1. Chloramination conditions for decay tests.

The aims of the investigation described in this paper were to determine the reason(s) for rapid monochloramine decay and to determine treatment strategies to mitigate this decay.

METHODOLOGY/PROCESS

Monochloramine decay was measured in WTP product water samples chloraminated at the WTP and compared with product water samples that were chloraminated in the laboratory.

Chloramination of samples in the laboratory allows comparisons to be made under uniform disinfection conditions such as those described in Table 1.

For WTP chloraminated product water, monochloramine decay was determined in samples taken after disinfection, prior to storage. Samples (1.25L) were then transferred to the Australian Water Quality Centre (AWQC) for residual monitoring. Samples chloraminated in the laboratory were taken from product water prior to chloramination and from within the WTP. Laboratory chloramine decay tests were completed under conditions shown in Table 1. Free chlorine stock water (≈ 3,000 –4,000 mg/L as Cl2) was prepared by the addition of gaseous chlorine to ultra pure water. Analytical grade liquid ammonia (700mg/L as N) was used. Free and combined chlorine were determined using N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD) – in the ferrous ammonium sulphate (FAS) titrimetric procedure described in Standard Methods (APHA 1998). Ammonia concentration was determined using the ammonia-selective electrode method described in Standard Methods (APHA, 1998).

Distribution system water quality data was collected by SA Water Corporation as part of its routine water qualitymonitoring program. Analysis was completed at the AWQC, which is accredited by the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The DOC concentration in the River Murray during the first decade of the 21st century reflected the prevailing climatic conditions in Eastern Australia. During drought conditions, particularly between 2003 and 2010, DOC concentrations were relatively constant (3.7 ± 0.8 mg/L), which is indicative of minimal run-off and influx of organic matter from the catchment (Figure 1). In August 2010, floodwaters from Queensland (Darling River) arrived, quickly followed by floodwaters from Victoria (upstream River Murray), and later from NSW (Murrumbidgee River). Floodwaters carried natural organic matter (NOM) flushed from catchments, resulting in a rapid increase in DOC concentration with two peaks of 20 and 15mg/L respectively (Figure 1).

As a result of the flood, DOC concentration increased in treated waters from all WTPs (Figure 2). Generally, DOC removal improved when treating flood-affected waters, as shown for Morgan WTP (Figure 3); however, due to the high influent DOC concentration, an increase in treated water DOC could not be avoided.

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Figure 1. DOC concentration in the River Murray at Morgan (January 2000– October 2013).

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Figure 2. Treated water DOC concentration (January 2009– October 2013).

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In response to the change in monochloramine residual profiles in distribution systems, monochloramine decay was assessed in WTP product water. Monochloramine decay profiles were determined in WTP product water samples taken immediately after disinfection by monitoring monochloramine residual over seven days, as shown in Figure 5. The greater stability of monochloramine in Morgan WTP product water can be clearly seen, with the average three-day monochloramine demand being 1.5mg/L lower than the other WTP product waters (Table 2).

c)

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The impact of DOC concentration increase on distribution system water quality was immediate. The water quality profile shown in Figure 4 for Karoonda, located 60km from the Tailem Bend WTP, was typical for locations in the outer regions of chloraminated distribution systems. As treated water DOC concentration increased (Figure 4a), monochloramine residual decreased (Figure 4b) at Karoonda, in spite of an increase in WTP product monochloramine concentration. Reduction of monochloramine residual resulted in nitrification (Figure 4c), as indicated by the corresponding increase in oxidised nitrogen (nitrite and nitrate) and decrease in free ammonia.

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Figure 3. Morgan WTP inlet and product DOC concentration and percent DOC removal.

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DOC DOC (WTP outlet)

6

DOC (mg/L)

50

8 7

60

16

1/ 01 /2 00 9

a)

70

18

NO 2 + NO 3 (mg/L as N )

River Murray, Morgan Morgan WTP product water

% DOC Removal

20

DOC concentration (mg/L)

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Figure 4. Water quality at Karoonda (full data points) and Tailem Bend WTP product water (open data points): a) DOC concentration; b) monochloramine residual; and c) free ammonia and oxidised nitrogen.

A puzzling feature of the decay profiles in Figure 5 was the greater stability of monochloramine in Morgan WTP product water. All the WTPs have similar treatment processes (coagulation/flocculation/sedimentation/media filtration) and utilise the same source. At Morgan WTP, chlorine is added prior to ammonia, compared with the other WTPs where ammonia is added before chlorine. To determine if the chloramination strategy at Morgan WTP could account for differences in monochloramine decay (Figure 5), WTP product

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waters were chloraminated using uniform conditions (Table 1).

In the laboratory the same trend (Figure 6a) was determined as described above, meaning that free chlorine contact prior to ammonia addition at Morgan WTP is not responsible for differences in monochloramine decay measured (Figure 5).

Table 2. Average three-day monochloramine decay in product waters from Morgan, Tailem Bend, Summit and Swan Reach WTPs – January/February 2011.

WTP product water

Three-day monochloramine demand (mg/L)

Morgan

1.0 ± 0.3

Summit

2.5 ± 0.3

Swan Reach

2.4 ± 0.2

Tailem Bend

2.5 ± 0.5

6

10-01-11 17-01-11 31-01-11 07-02-11 14-02-11 21-02-11 28-02-11

Morgan

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

5 4 3 2

b) 6

1

0

c)

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

Time (d)

Swan Reach

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

3 2

0

7

4

0

1

d)

10-01-11 17-01-11 31-01-11 07-02-11 14-02-11 21-02-11 28-02-11

5

3 2

6

2

3

4

5

6

Time (d)

Tailem Bend

7

10-01-11 17-01-11 31-01-11 07-02-11 14-02-11 21-02-11 28-02-11

5

1 0

4

For the Tailem Bend WTP product water, dissolved components related to the presence of soluble microbial products (SMPs) could be responsible for the greater monochloramine decay rate observed, even after 0.2 µm membrane filtration. Bal Krishna and Sathasivan (2010) showed that the chemical decay rate of monochloramine was significantly (14 times) greater in severely nitrified samples, compared with mildly nitrified samples.

1

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

0

decay was most likely microbiological in nature and could be captured on a 0.2 µm membrane filter.

10-01-11 17-01-11 31-01-11 07-02-11 14-02-11 21-02-11 28-02-11

Summit

5

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

a)

4

Bal Krishna et al. (2012) further investigated the role of SMPs through the generation of severe nitrification conditions in a model water in the absence of NOM. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that SMPs comprised proteins, amines, polysaccharides and carbohydrates.

Repeated re-chlorination and stoichiometric calculations showed that the action of SMPs on chloramine decay rate was catalytic, and expedited both auto-decomposition and nitrite oxidation.

3 2 1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0

7

0

1

2

3

Time (d)

4

5

6

7

Time (d)

Figure 5. Monochloramine decay in WTP product waters at 22 ± 2 oC: a) Morgan; b) Summit; and c) Swan Reach and Tailem Bend. b)

5

5

4

4

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

a)

3

2 Morgan WTP product water Summit WTP product water Swan Reach WTP product water Tailem Bend WTP product water

1

0

0

1

2

3

4

5

(DOC = 5.3 mg/L) (DOC = 6.3 mg/L) (DOC = 5.6 mg/L) (DOC = 6.7 mg/L)

6

7

Time (d)

3

2

1

0

After 0.2 m membrane filtration Morgan WTP product water Summit WTP product water Swan Reach WTP product water Tailem Bend WTP product water

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Time (d)

Figure 6. Comparison of monochloramine decay in Morgan, Summit, Swan Reach and Tailem Bend WTP product waters: a) as received; and b) after 0.2 µm membrane filtration.

Monochloramine decay was further investigated by examining samples after 0.2 µm membrane filtration (Figure 6b) and comparing decay with unfiltered samples (Figure 6a). Filtration through a 0.2 µm filter removes the effect of microbiological agents, including nitrifying bacteria, and the effect of abiotic particles on monochloramine decay (Sathasivan et al., 2005). Flow cytometry analysis showed that 0.2 µm membrane filtration removed 99% of active bacteria from the Tailem Bend product water. In the 0.2 µm membrane

filtered sample, monochloramine decay would be due only to dissolved constituents such as DOC. Figure 6 shows that monochloramine decay could be decreased through the removal of microbiological activity in both Summit and Swan Reach WTP product waters, resulting in decay similar to that from Morgan WTP, although greater monochloramine decay was still observed for Tailem Bend WTP product water. This suggested that the

Subsequent tests were conducted to determine if the material responsible for this rapid monochloramine decay could be isolated. Tailem Bend WTP product water was filtered through a 0.2 µm membrane filter and the filtered material then washed from the filter paper. This isolated material was then added to 0.2 µm membrane filtered Tailem Bend WTP product water and to Morgan WTP product water.

Figure 7 shows that the addition of isolated material resulted in similar monochloramine decay behaviour in both waters when added to 0.2 µm membrane filtered Tailem Bend WTP product water, and caused microbiological decay behaviour in Morgan WTP product water where originally it was found not to occur. The presence of AOB and AOA was found in isolated material.

To further confirm the bacterial nature of rapid monochloramine decay, isolated material was sterilised (autoclaved at 120oC for 15 minutes) and inoculated back into Tailem Bend WTP filtered water.

Monochloramine decay (Figure 7a) in water spiked with sterilised inoculated material was similar to that after 0.2 µm membrane filtration.

To develop a strategy to improve monochloramine stability in WTP product water it is important to determine if

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a) 4.5 4.0

Tailem Bend WTP Product water WTP Product water (0.2 m membrane filtered) WTP Product water + inocculum WTP Product water + inocculum (autoclaved) 5

3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5

was significantly less stable after media filtration compared to Morgan WTP (Figure 8). Apart from subtle differences in chemical dose rates and filtration rate, the difference in filter operation between the plants is that Morgan WTP is the only WTP not to backwash the filters with chloraminated water.

Morgan WTP Product water WTP Product water + inocculum

b)

4

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

3.5

3

To test this hypothesis further, laboratory monochloramine decay tests were completed on product water from Murray Bridge WTP, located 30km upstream of Tailem Bend WTP. Murray Bridge WTP is identical to Tailem Bend WTP, except that the product water is chlorinated, and therefore the filters are backwashed with chlorinated water.

The measured monochloramine decay was similar to that observed for Morgan WTP product water (Figure 9).

2

1.0

1

0.5 0.0

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0

7

0

1

2

3

Time (d)

4

5

6

7

Time (d)

Figure 7. Impact of isolated material on monochloramine decay: a) Tailem Bend WTP product water; and b) in Morgan WTP filtered water.

5

4 3 2

Settled water Filtered water

1 0

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

3 2

6

7

0

8

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

3 2 1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Time (d)

8

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Time (d)

Swan Reach

3 2

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Time (d)

Figure 8. Comparison of monochloramine decay in WTP settled and product waters: a) Morgan; b) Tailem Bend; c) Summit; and d) Swan Reach. material causing rapid monochloramine decay can be isolated to a part of the WTP process. Initial tests focused on the media filters and monochloramine decay tests were completed on samples taken prior to filtration (settled water) from each WTP. Monochloramine decay in

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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Time (d)

4

0

2

0

1

0

3

1

d) 5

WTP Product water WTP Product water (0.2 m membrane filtered)

4

1

4

0

5

4

Time (d)

c) Summit

b) Tailem Bend NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

a) Morgan

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

5

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

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a product water sample taken at the same time was also measured.

Comparison of monochloramine decay in settled and product waters from Summit, Swan Reach and Tailem Bend WTPs showed that monochloramine

Figure 9. Comparison of monochloramine decay in Murray Bridge WTP product water before and after 0.2 Âľm membrane filtration.

Wilczak et al. (2003) observed rapid chloramine decay in the effluent from an old biologically active granular activated carbon (GAC)/sand filter that was backwashed by chloraminated water. Similarly, Skadsen (1993) reported nitrification in the Ann Arbor distribution system after installation of GAC filters.

It was concluded that the application of large amounts of free ammonia to the GAC filter from disinfection of river water entering the WTP promoted nitrification.

An important factor in the above instances was the contact of ammonia with the filter media.

Based on results obtained in this study it is hypothesised that backwashing with chloraminated water results in exposure of the filter media to ammonia. Ammonia is present in the chloraminated backwash water and would also form from the breakdown of monochloramine during the backwash cycle.

1.0

Free chlorine Ct and contact time 0 9.3 min.mg/L (2 minutes) 22 min.mg/L (5 minutes) 42 min.mg/L (10 minutes) 116 min.mg/L (30 minutes) 217 min.mg/L (60 minutes) 744 min.mg/L (240 minutes)

b)

1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0

0.8

-1

First order decay rate (d )

NH 2Cl concentration - normalised (C t/C 0)

a)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 10 11 12 13 14

Time (d)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

decay changed. Results obtained in this study suggest that the occurrence of microbiological monochloramine decay was related to the presence of chloramines in backwash water.

However, other factors such as backwash frequency, WTP inlet water quality (including DOC concentration and character) and bacteriological composition may also be important.

Further research is required to determine the importance of each factor.

Ct value (mg/L.minute)

4.0

Figure 10. Impact of chlorine addition prior to ammonia on monochloramine decay in Tailem Bend WTP product water: a) normalised monochloramine decay; and b) monochloramine decay rate.

Results confirm that microbial organisms or degradation products arising from microbial organisms in the filter are responsible for the accelerated monochloramine decay observed and that their presence is possibly related to backwashing filters with chloraminated water. It is uncertain if the microbiological monochloramine decay behaviour observed was present prior to the flood events, as monitoring of WTP product water monochloramine decay commenced only when nitrification became an issue in the distribution systems. The combined effects of higher WTP product water DOC concentration and microbiological impacted monochloramine decay was enough to result in nitrification in the outer parts of distribution systems such as the example shown in Figure 3.

It is important to mitigate microbiological monochloramine decay to improve monochloramine stability and reduce the risk of nitrification.

Based on results obtained, a possible solution would be modification of the filter backwash water strategy where filters would be backwashed with

non-disinfected water, such as at Morgan WTP, or with chlorine as is the case at Murray Bridge WTP. At the WTPs studied this option would require re-design of the filter backwash system and new infrastructure, so another option was investigated.

Chlorination prior to ammonia addition was identified as a potential method to overcome the rapid chloramine decay, as chlorine would have the potential to inactivate problematic or causative bacteria and oxidise any SMPs. Laboratory tests were conducted, simulating chlorine contact between two and 240 minutes before ammonia. The effectiveness of free chlorine contact time in improving monochloramine decay rates was proportional to the free chlorine contact time and Ct. Numerical Ct values were calculated from the free chlorine decay profile (concentration verses time) prior to ammonia addition (data not shown).

Free chlorine Ct values of 217 to 743 minute.mg/L were found to result in the most stable monochloramine formation (Figure 10) for Tailem Bend WTP filtered water. Similar tests on Summit WTP filtered water determined that a Ct value of 42 minute.mg/L (data not shown) was required. The need for a higher Ct for Tailem Bend WTP product water could be related to a greater concentration of specific bacteria such as AOA and AOB and SMPs that were not quantified.

Monochloramine decay tests completed in Tailem Bend WTP product water showed the microbiological monochloramine decay component was present in May 2012 but was absent in June 2013 (Figure 11). This result means that those factors impacting on microbiological monochloramine

3.2

NH 2Cl (mg/L as Cl 2)

The presence of free ammonia encourages the growth of nitrifying bacteria and, perhaps, other bacteria that result in microbiological monochloramine decay. Pilot-scale trials are currently underway to validate this hypothesis. The presence of AOB and AOA was confirmed in the filter media from Morgan, Summit and Tailem Bend WTPs. Quantification of AOA and AOB would be required to determine their significance, which was not possible at the time the samples were taken.

Filter media from Swan Reach WTP was not examined.

3.6

2.8 2.4 2.0 1.6 1.2 0.8 0.4 0.0

Tailem Bend WTP Product water May 2012 May 2012 (0.2 m membrane filtered) June 2013 June 2013 (0.2 m membrane filtered) Morgan product August 2013 August 2013 (0.2 m membrane filtered)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Time (d)

Figure 11. Comparison of monochloramine decay in Morgan and Tailem Bend WTP product waters as received and after 0.2 Âľm membrane filtration.

CONCLUSION This investigation found that monochloramine decay behaviour in the network was not only due to water quality change (increase in DOC concentration), but also due to microbiological processes occurring in the media filters at three WTPs. Differentiation of the cause of rapid monochloramine decay can be readily determined by comparing monochloramine decay in 0.2 Âľm membrane filtered and unfiltered samples. Rapid monochloramine decay was determined to be microbiological in nature and possibly related to backwashing of filters with chloraminated water.

Further research is required to identify the factors that result in accelerated decay such as the use of chloraminated backwash water, filter backwash frequency and bacterial concentration and/or type.

Mitigation of rapid monochloramine decay in WTP product water is important to minimise the risk of nitrification in the distribution system with chlorination prior to ammonia identified as a successful treatment strategy.

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Technical Papers ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Authors would like to thank Martin Harris, Edith Kozlik, Miriam Nedic and Emma Sawade for completion of laboratory decay tests.

THE AUTHORS David Cook (email: david.cook@sawater.com. au) is a Senior Research Scientist in the Water Treatment and Distribution Team at the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water Corporation. In his role at the AWQC, David has been investigating water quality issues associated with drinking water treatment processes and distribution systems since 1997.

Jim Morran has recently retired after 30 years of research in water treatment processes and distribution systems at the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water Corporation.

Werner Mobius (email: werner.mobius@sawater. com.au) has 24 years’ experience in water treatment and water quality management with SA Water.

His current position is Manager – Water Treatment Performance & Optimisation at SA Water Corporation.

Mary Drikas (email: mary. drikas@sawater.com.au) is the Manager of Water Treatment and Distribution Research at the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA

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Water Corporation. She has been leading research in water treatment processes for over 20 years.

REFERENCES American Public Health Association (1998): Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. 20th Edn, ed.

Greenberg AE, Clesceri LS & Eaton AD, Washington DC. APHA; AWWA; WEF (1998): Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 20th ed; American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association and Water Environment Federation: Washington, DC, 1998.

Bal Krishna KC, Sathasivan A & Sarker DC (2012): Evidence of Soluble Microbial Products Accelerating Chloramine Decay in Nitrifying Bulk Water Samples. Water Research, 46, 13, pp 3977–3988.

Bal Krishna KC & Sathasivan A (2010): Does An Unknown Mechanism Accelerate Chemical Chloramine Decay in Nitrifying Waters?

Journal of American Water Works Association, 102, 10, pp 82–90.

Cunliffe DA (1991): Bacterial Nitrification in Chloraminated Water Supplies. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 57, 11, pp 3399–3402. de Vet WWJM, Dinkla IJT, Muyzer G, Rietveld LC & van Loosdrecht MCM (2009): Molecular Characterization of Microbial Populations in Groundwater Sources and Sand Filters for Drinking Water Production. Water Research, 43, 1, pp 182–194.

Hoefel D, Phillips R, O’Reilly L, Kovac S, Lucas J & Monis PT (2011): Culture-Independent Microbiological Approaches to Investigate an Unstable Chloraminated Drinking Water System. Auatralian Water Association, Ozwater’11 Conference, May 8–10, Adelaide.

Hoefel D, Monis PT, Grooby WL, Andrews S & Saint CP (2005): Culture-Independent

Techniques for Rapid Detection of Bacteria Associated with Loss of Chloramine Residual in a Drinking Water System. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 71, 11, pp 6479–6488.

Hoefel D, Grooby WL, Monis P, Andrews S & Saint CP (2003): Enumeration of Waterborne Bacteria Using Viability Assays and Flow Cytometry: A Comparison to Culture-Based Techniques. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 55, 3, pp 585–597.

Palmer N & de Groot P (1998): The Riverland Project – 10 New Water Treatment Plants in South Australia. 61st Annual Water Industry Engineers and Operators Conference, Civic Centre Shepparton, 2–3 September 1998.

Sathasivan A, Fisher I & Kastl G (2005): Simple Method for Quantifying Microbiologically Assisted Chloramine Decay in Drinking Water.

Environmental Science and Technology, 39, 4, pp 5407–5413.

Skadsen J (1993): Nitrification in a Distribution System. Journal of American Water Works Association, 85, 7, pp 95–103.

Vikseland PJ, Ozekin K & Valantine RJ (2001): Monochloramine Decay in Model Distribution System Waters. Water Research, 35, 7, pp 1766–1776.

Wilczak A, Hoover LL & Lai H (2003): Effects of Treatment Changes on Chloramine Demand and Decay. Journal of American Water Works Association, 95, 7, pp 94–106.

Wolfe RL, Means EG, Davis MK & Barrett SE (1988): Biological Nitrification in Covered Reservoirs Containing Chloraminated Water.

Journal of American Water Works Association, 80, 9, pp 109–114.

Woolschlager JE, Rittmann B, Piriou P & Schwartz B (2001): Using a Comprehensive Model to Identify the Major Mechanisms of Chloramine Decay in Distribution Systems.

Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, 1, 4, pp 103–110.

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Results of a demonstration trial at a wastewater treatment plant in South Australia I Mouilleron, K Hyde, K Reid, A Keegan, S Rinck-Pfeiffer, J Krampe, B van den Akker

ABSTRACT Sludge dewatering effluent (SDE) is a small waste stream from sludge dewatering and digester processing in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) that is very high in ammonia and low in bioavailable carbon. SDE is commonly returned back into the activated sludge (AS) process, resulting in higher operational (aeration) costs and an unfavourable carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio for denitrification. Ideally, SDE should be treated separately and, of the processes available, deammonification is considered to be one of the most sustainable and cost-effective.

• Ensuring that the five WWTPs have sufficient capacity to manage inflows from an increasing population, and changes in wet weather flows due to changes in climatic patterns; • Treating the effluent to a level that reduces negative environmental impacts on marine ecosystems and enables appropriate reuse where possible; • Ensuring that the WWTPs are operated in an efficient and prudent manner while facing increasing energy and chemical costs, and the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In collaboration with its Alliance partner, Allwater, SA Water investigated the efficacy of the deammonification process for removing nitrogen from SDE, as an alternative to AS treatment.

A demonstration-scale reactor was constructed at Bolivar WWTP in South Australia in 2012, based on Degrémont’s Cleargreen™ technology. One of the key challenges of the treatment process is the long start-up time, owning to the extremely slow growth rate of anaerobic ammonium oxidising (Anammox) bacteria, and so this paper reports on the process start-up phase. Under real conditions, results showed that Anammox bacteria were successfully enriched without seeding and stable deammonification was achieved within 280 days of start-up.

In order to meet these challenges, SA Water is reviewing the capacity and capability of its WWTPs and developing strategic plans that involve short-term optimisation, research activities and longer-term capital planning. This process has highlighted a number of contradicting drivers that need to be balanced, such as:

INTRODUCTION

Possible solutions identified during this process included treatment of sidestream waste from digester effluent using deammonification (Krampe and Leak, 2012). This paper outlines how deammonification fits into SA Water’s strategy, describes some key economic considerations, and how SA Water assessed this technology through the use of a demonstration-scale

The Adelaide Services Alliance (SA Water and Allwater Joint Venture) oversees the operation and maintenance of Adelaide’s metropolitan water and wastewater systems for 1.1 million people. There are numerous challenges and opportunities facing the Alliance with regards to wastewater management in the Adelaide metropolitan area, which include:

• The reduction of nitrogen discharge loads into Gulf St Vincent as recommended by the Adelaide Coastal Waters Study (ACWS); • The reduction of energy consumption and GHG emissions as a part of SA Water’s commitment to making energy efficiency improvements and meeting Australian Government Climate Change obligations.

deammonification reactor – a first for Australian water utilities.

The Problem Side waste streams from anaerobic digester effluents are highly concentrated in ammonia and low in bioavailable carbon. Sludge dewatering effluent may represent only a small percentage of the total flow for a WWTP but can contribute a significant proportion of the total nitrogen load when it is returned to the biological treatment stage. For example, at SA Water’s largest WWTP at Bolivar (Figure 1), the SDE represents only 0.4% of the total flow, but contributes more than 6% of the total nitrogen load and has the potential to double in the future if the sludge drying lagoons are taken offline (Figure 1, overleaf).

This results in higher operational (aeration) costs of the activated sludge process and, owing to the lack of bioavailable carbon, reduces the C/N ratio needed for denitrification, thereby providing an additional challenge to achieving further reductions in total nitrogen discharge loads.

Possible Solution One of the solutions identified to reduce energy consumption and improve nitrogen removal is the novel deammonification process involving both nitritation and Anammox, which can be utilised as a side-stream treatment process to treat SDE (see Figure 1). In practice, the process involves two reactions that can be achieved in a single vessel such as a sequencing batch reactor (SBR).

The first step involves the addition of small amounts of air to achieve partial nitrification (nitritation), where half of the ammonia is oxidised to nitrite by ammonia-oxidising organisms. In the second step, the accumulated nitrite is reduced to N2 by Anammox bacteria, which oxidise the remaining ammonia

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START-UP OF A DEMONSTRATIONSCALE DEAMMONIFICATION REACTOR AT BOLIVAR WWTP

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Sedimentation

Clarifier

Activated Sludge

Lagoon

DAFF

Anaerobic digester

Anammox

Centrate / SDE

Centrifuge

Sludge drying

Biosolids

Figure 1. Simplified schematic of Bolivar WWTP showing where the deammonification (Anammox) process fits into the treatment process. in the absence of oxygen, effectively “short-circuiting” the nitrogen cycle by eliminating the need for denitrification prior to N2 production (Van Dongen et al., 2001).

deammonification will free up denitrification capacity in the existing AS reactors and, hence, negate the need for increasing anoxic volume for denitrification, carbon dosing, or installation of post-treatment technologies, such as denitrifying filters, that would otherwise be required to meet tightening total nitrogen discharge loads.

Trialling the Deammonification Process The economic benefits, together with the high removal efficiency at extremely high nitrogen loading rates, make the deammonification process ideal for the side-stream treatment of SDE. Therefore, SA Water decided to build and operate a demonstration scale reactor to develop a suitable Anammox inoculum, gain operational experience and develop the design basis for a full-scale application.

SA Water partnered with Allwater to conduct a pilot Anammox trial at Bolivar WWTP, which is based on Degrémont’s existing and proven Cleargreen™ (Cyclic Low Energy Ammonia Removal) Anammox technology. The overall aims of the trial were to: (i) characterise the startup time and identify critical operational parameters under local conditions; (ii) establish the process’s upper loading limits; and (iii) understand the system’s carbon footprint, including GHG emissions and specific energy demand.

METHODS Field-scale trials using the Cleargreen™ technology commenced in January 2013 at Bolivar WWTP. The pilot plant (Figure 2a) consists of a 22m3 storage and sedimentation tank, a 12m3 balancing tank, a 4m3 SBR with aeration and mixing, followed by a small effluent storage tank.

The SBR operates in six-hourly cycles

In practice there are several full-scale Anammox applications in Europe and the US, but so far there are no fullscale applications in Australia. Based on European experience, the expected benefits in applying deammonification for the biological treatment of SDE are lower nitrogen discharge loads, 65% reduction in oxygen demand and almost 100% reduction in carbon demand for denitrification, resulting in less biomass production (Fux and Siegrist, 2004; Kartal et al., 2010). These benefits can reduce the operational cost of treating SDE from $3.70 per kg N to approximately $0.40 per kg N (Rosenwinkel et al., 2011). In addition, deammonification may increase the feasibility of sludge co-digestion, which also increases the internal nitrogen load and is currently being considered by SA Water to increase onsite energy production. Finally, the Figure 2 (a). Demonstration-scale Anammox pilot plant located at Bolivar WWTP; successful application of (b) Process cycle phases.

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700

NH4-N

mg/L

500 400 300 200 100

0 250

Treated effluent

200

NH4-N

NO2-N NO3-N

mg/L

150 100 50

0 0

20

40

60

80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360

Days of operation

Figure 3. Changes in inorganic nitrogen species during start-up of the Anammox reactor. that consist of four sub-cycles comprised of feeding with centrate, aeration (for nitritation), and anoxic mixing (for Anammox). The four sub-cycles are followed by a settling and decant phase (Figure 2b). The process control system of the pilot plant regulates the aeration phase of the SBR against online ammonium and dissolved oxygen (DO) measurements. Other online parameters include nitrate, redox potential, pH, airflow and temperature. The SBR is equipped with an internal water jacket for temperature control. The maximum design hydraulic load of the SBR is 7m3 d-1, which can provide treatment of an ammonia-N load of 1.3 kg NH4-N m-3 d-1.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Start-up of the pilot plant was characterised by closely monitoring changes in inorganic nitrogen species (NH4-N, NO2-N and NO3-N) within the centrate and treated effluent. These results are presented in Figure 3.

The first step involved seeding the SBR with waste-activated sludge (WAS) from the neighbouring AS plant to provide a nitrifying inoculum to establish the nitrate shunt phase. During this phase, the airflow rate and aeration time of the SBR were tightly controlled to achieve partial nitritation and, hence, the accumulation of NO2 and inhibition of NO3 production, which is required for the enrichment of Anammox bacteria. Results showed that

the ammonia oxidising microorganisms adjusted quickly, with the onset of nitrification observed within one week following the WAS addition.

Characteristic removal of influent NH4-N was observed (between 50 and 60%), which coincided with a steady increase in both NO2-N and NO3-N concentrations. With fine modifications made to the air supply, the nitrate shunt was completed within four weeks at a loading rate of 0.1 kgNH4-N/m3/d. This was characterised by a 50% conversion of NH4-N to NO2-N and a decline in NO3-N from 80 to below 5 mgN/L. The final ratio of NH4-N/NO2-N/ NO3-N was 1.0/0.8/0.02. These conditions were maintained for the following six months to enrich the native Anammox community, which requires equal proportions of NH4-N and NO2-N substrates. During this time, significant daily variations in NH4-N and NO2-N concentrations were observed in the decanted effluent; however, this was merely due to the pilot plant experiencing a number of operational and mechanical interruptions that caused the reactor to run in standby mode (causing starvation and uneven loading), as well as due to modifications made to the aeration control system.

Red microbial granules – characteristic of Anammox bacteria – started to develop within four months of start-

The detection of deammonification activity was first observed the following month (month eight), which was defined by a simultaneous decrease in both NH4-N and NO2-N substrates to 54 and 10 mgN/L respectively (Figure 3).

NO3-N concentration also increased slightly from 2 to 25mgN/L, which was a further indication of Anammox activity, given that Anammox bacteria also anaerobically oxidise small quantities of NO2-N to NO3-N in order to reduce CO2 into biomass.

Stable deammonification activity was achieved by the end of month eight, at a volumetric load of 0.18 kgNH4-N/ m3/d. Here, the NH4-N and total nitrogen removal efficiency was 71% and 60% respectively. Once deammonification had stabilised, the NH4-N volumetric load was increased to 0.55 kgNH4-N/m3/d and NH4-N removal had increased to an average of 84%. Further optimisation of aeration led to improvements in reactor performance, where 94% of NH4-N and 85% of total nitrogen were removed.

These results confirmed that, under real conditions, stable deammonification was achieved within 280 days of start-up.

Furthermore, our results suggest that there were sufficient background levels of native Anammox bacteria present in the centrate and/or WAS to seed the reactor without the addition of an external inoculum.

A closer look at online concentration profiles of NH4-N and NO3-N observed during one complete Cleargreen™ cycle is presented in Figure 5 to illustrate the phases when nitritation and deammonification reactions occur.

During each of the four aeration phases (which occur immediately after feeding) the NH4-N concentrations decrease, while NO3 remains largely unchanged.

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Centrate

600

up (see Figure 4a, overleaf); however, there were no chemical signs of deammonification activity, as the profile of inorganic nitrogen species in the treated water remained characteristic of partial nitritation (Figure 3). The presence of hydrazine synthase subunit-A gene – a unique biomarker for Anammox spp.

– was detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which confirmed the early development of Anammox bacteria.

Further molecular analysis conducted at month seven (using an Anammox DNA Microarray chip developed by CSIRO in Hobart) identified the presence of a number of common Anammox species (Figure 4b).

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This provides a clear indication that partial nitritation (NO2 accumulation) has occurred. During the following anoxic phases, NH4-N concentrations continued to decrease as the Anammox bacteria convert NH4 into N2 using the NO2 as the electron acceptor. This demonstrates that, with the assistance of Cleargreen™ automated control of alternating aerobic and anoxic phases, sequential nitration and deammonification reactions can be achieved using only a single reactor.

hzsA-031

hzsA-029

hzsA-030

Scalindua subgroup 2

hzsA-027

hzsA-028

Scalindua subgroup 1

hzsA-026

hzsA-025

hzsA-024

Kuenenia

hzsA-023

hzsA-022

hzsA-021

hzsA-020

hzsA-019

Jettenia

hzsA-018

hzsA-016

hzsA-017

Jettenia / B. anammoxidans

hzsA-014

hzsA-015

B. fulgida subgroup 4

hzsA-013

hzsA-012

hzsA-011

B. fulgida B. fulgida

B. fulgida subgroup 2

hzsA-010

hzsA-009

hzsA-008

hzsA-006

hzsA-007

B. anammoxidans

hzsA-005

hzsA-004

hzsA-003

N-DAMO clade

hzsA-002

hzsA-001

B. fulgida subgroup 1

16S-B2

16S-A1

16S-A1

16S-B2

16S-B1

16S-B1

hyaBP60

Controls

hyaBP60

Probe name

Mixed liquor

CONCLUSIONS

Isolated granules 0

100

Figure 4 (a). Anammox bacteria granules seen at day 180 at 10x magnification; (b) DNA microarray heat-map showing relative abundance of dominant Anammox bacterial species detected within the mixed liquor and red granules isolated from the mixed liquor. Colour gradient (blue–yellow–red) depicts relative abundance on log scale (0–0.1–1.0 respectively). Molecular analysis was conducted by CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship, Hobart.

60

2500

Sub cycle 1 50

Sub cycle 2

Sub cycle 3

Sub cycle 4

Nitritation

40

2000

Deammonification 1500 SBR level

NH4-N, NO3-N & Air flow

To the authors’ knowledge, the Anammox bacteria enriched at Bolivar WWTP are the first reported in Australia at the field-scale, demonstrating the suitability of this technology under local conditions. The next steps will involve increasing the ammonia loading of the SBR to its capacity of 1.3 kgNH4-N/ m3/d to identify the upper loading limits, as well as determining the effects that centrate starvation (for periods when centrifuges are offline) and temperature may have on the deammonification activity and process recovery. Finally, this project will characterise the system’s carbon footprint, including greenhouse gas emissions (i.e N2O) and specific energy demand.

30 1000 20 NH4-N (mg/L) NO3-N (mg/L)

10

Air flow (L/min)

500

SBR level (mm)

0 6:00:00 AM

7:12:00 AM

8:24:00 AM

9:36:00 AM

10:48:00 AM

12:00:00 PM

0 1:12:00 PM

Figure 5. Typical Cleargreen® profile of one completed cycle, showing changes in NH4-N, NO3-N, airflow and SBR level.

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Deammonification is widely regarded as one of the most promising future technologies in wastewater treatment, as it can be integrated into existing WWTPs while delivering significant benefits with regards to nutrient reduction and energy efficiency and, therefore, has high potential to meet SA Water’s strategic priorities. Due to the limited experience with deammonification in South Australia, a staged approach for implementation of the technology was chosen, starting with a demonstration trial.

Results showed that Anammox bacteria were successfully enriched without seeding and stable deammonification, capable of high ammonia removal, was achieved within 280 days of start-up. Outcomes from this project are expected to lead to full-scale implementation, which would deliver significant savings in aeration requirements, an increase in denitrification capacity of the existing AS process, lower nitrogen loads discharged into the ocean and a reduction in fugitive greenhouse gas emissions.

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THE AUTHORS Irina Mouilleron (email: Irina.Mouilleron@ allwater.net.au) is a Research Engineer at Allwater JV. Kylie Hyde (email: Kylie.Hyde@allwater. net.au) is Technology Transfer Manager at Allwater JV. Katherine Reid (email: Katherine.Reid@sawater. com.au) is a Graduate Scientist at South Australian Water Corporation.

Stephanie Rinck-Pfeiffer (email: Stephanie.RinckPfeiffer@sawater.com.au) is Manager of Source Water and Environment Research at the South Australian Water Corporation.

Joerg Krampe (email: jkrampe@iwag.tuwien. ac.at) is Professor of Water Quality at the Institute for Water Quality, Resources and Waste Management, Vienna University of Technology.

Ben van den Akker (email: Ben.vandenAkker@ sawater.com.au) is a Senior Research Scientist (Wastewater Microbiology) at South Australian Water Corporation.

REFERENCES Fux C & Siegrist H (2004): Nitrogen Removal From Sludge Digester Liquids

by Nitrification/Denitrification or Partial Nitritation/Anammox: Environmental and Economical Considerations. Water Science and Technology, 50, 10, pp 19–26.

Kartal B, Kuenen JG & Van Loosdrecht MCM (2010): Sewage Treatment With Anammox, Science, 328, 5979, pp 702–703.

Krampe J & Leak M (2012): Strategic Planning Approach for Optimising Investment at WWTPs. Water Practice and Technology, 7, 2, pp 1–10. doi:10.2166/wpt.2012.030 Rosenwinkel KH, Beier M & Hartwig P (2011): Low-Energy Plants – The Next Generation of Wastewater Treatment Plants? Some Examples and Future Prospects, 11th IWA Specialised Conference on Design, Operation and Economics of Large Wastewater Treatment Plants, September 2011, Budapest, Hungary.

Van Dongen LGJM, Jetten MSM & van Loosdrecht MCM (2001): The Combined Sharon/Anammox Process: A Sustainable Method for N-removal from Sludge Water. IWA Publishing, London. p 63.

Australasia’s most experienced supplier/constructor of quality high-end Bolted Steel Tanks PMT Water Engineering manufacture & facilitate prefabricated tanks, packaged water filtration & treatment and other related products and services.

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PMT Water Engineering Ph: +61 7 3373 2600 Email: Marketing@ waterengineering.biz Web: www.watereng.com.au

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The Authors are grateful for the contributions of Degrémont and Suez Environment to the design of the pilot plant at Bolivar WWTP, and the ongoing technical input during its operation. We also thank Dr Guy Abell from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and Wealth, from Oceans National Research Flagship, Hobart, Tasmania, for the molecular characterisation of the Anammox bacteria.

Alexandra Keegan (email: Alex.Keegan@sawater. com.au) is Manager of Wastewater Research at South Australian Water Corporation.

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Applying a drinking water approach to tertiary treatment at a water recycling plant in NSW J Ostrowski, G Kennedy, P Duker

ABSTRACT A recent optimisation investigation at Rouse Hill Water Recycling Plant was undertaken through a different approach of combining experience from both the water and wastewater treatment sides of the business. It is through this collaborative approach that the investigation yielded a tertiary process that is more effective (lower turbidity), more reliable (less variation in recycled water quality), and more efficient ($169k in chemical savings and $300k in deferred capital works in the last financial year). The combination of different perspectives has been a positive experience for all involved, as not only has it challenged engineer and operator mindsets about coagulation and filter performance, but it has also paved the way for future business gains at other water recycling plants (WRPs).

INTRODUCTION Sydney Water is a corporation that continues to increase efficiency and commercial competitiveness. One of the focuses within treatment facilities is that of minimising chemical usage to reduce operating costs without sacrificing quality or significantly increasing operational and public health risk.

This paper looks at the Rouse Hill WRP tertiary treatment optimisation project, and outlines how the steps employed facilitated the achievement

of an improved tertiary process train at a lower cost. Additionally, this investigation has expanded tertiary treatment performance understanding and contributed to the business’s body of knowledge.

BACKGROUND Historically, wastewater and drinking water treatment have developed independently of each other within Sydney Water, primarily due to the way the influent product flow can or can not be controlled. This is not seen as a negative, but a natural development due to the different regulatory and business drivers, operating targets, processes and potential risks to performance.

The fundamental focus of water filtration plants (WFPs) is on coagulation (i.e. charge neutralisation of particles) to achieve a low turbidity (<0.1 NTU) by particle removal through filters. Nutrient removal is not normally considered as a parameter of concern as it does not pose a significant microbiological growth threat in the distribution system, due to the presence of residual disinfectant.

As shown in Figure 1, coagulant dose responses at WFPs are relatively narrow and susceptible to factors that influence the charge and surface chemistry of particles (eg. pH, flow, raw water quality, etc). Due to the more sensitive and dynamic nature of this response,

coagulation and particle removal is a closely monitored process with a strong focus on instantaneous performance.

In contrast to WFPs, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have a strong focus on removing nutrients in order to meet their discharge licences. In order to achieve compliance, WWTPs operate their tertiary treatment to precipitate/ polish residual phosphorus from the secondary effluent and, in the case of Rouse Hill, reduce the turbidity to acceptable levels for recycled water production. Often the need to control turbidity has meant that chemicals are dosed in excess to ensure coagulation is achieved. This results in dose response monitoring that is primarily oriented towards turbidity control.

METHOD In an attempt to bring the application of drinking water treatment knowledge to the specific case at Rouse Hill WRP, a five-pronged approach was used to deliver the project goals, as listed below: 1.

Process Analysis – Assessing physical process characteristics, dosing/sample points, etc;

2.

Jar Testing – Here the coagulation/ flocculation, clarification processes were emulated on a six-paddle gang stirrer in 2L jars, with filtration represented by gravity filtration through Whatman No 1 filter paper.

3.

Development of plant trials to apply the findings of Step 2 at an operational level. Visual observations were recorded during plant trials.

4.

Application of trial results to the plant process stream and undertaking longer-term SCADA trend analysis and visual observations under a variety of flow conditions (e.g. wet weather events).

5.

Updating of operational documents to lock in new operational parameters.

Differing dose response for coagulation 0.4 Filtered Turbidity (NTU)

0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 0

10

20

30 WFP using ferric

40

50 Dose (mg/L)

60

70

80

90

100

WWTP using alum

Figure 1. An example of coagulation dose response between WFPs and WWTPs.

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CHANGING THE MINDSET

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Head of works BNR x 2

pH correction: Traditionally in water treatment, pH is corrected with a base such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to tightly control coagulation conditions.

Wastewater treatment, on the other hand, uses pH correction with NaOH for a variety of reasons, such as alkalinity for biological processes, pH correction for receiving waters and, at Rouse Hill, to assist in flocculation. The pH correction for floculation was undertaken just before the flocculator trains of Stage 1 and at the inlet of the tertiary clarifier of Stage 2, as demonstrated in Figure 2.

Laboratory jar testing showed that pH control of the secondary effluent was not as critical to flocculation as previous work indicated, and that a broader range in operational pH was possible. Further jar testing indicated improved coagulation would be possible at pH levels below 6.7.

This new range allowed for minimal or no NaOH dosing at the rapid mix tank. A trial was then developed to test this idea on a plant scale, using the Stage 1 rapid mix tank. The performance criterion for flocculation was ascertained and the risks to the licence performance assessed.

Contingency plans were developed that included monitoring the plant effluent pH by SCADA to ensure licence compliance (pH must not drop below 6.5). Jar testing and visual observations were selected as the means to monitor performance. SCADA monitoring of the dual media filters, as well as plant pH at the rapid mix tank and effluent diversion chamber, also took place to validate plant performance. After developing a plan to control the risks to the plant, the trial of ceasing NaOH addition at the rapid mix tank commenced.

IDAL x 4

Secondary clarifiers x 3 NaOH

x x x

x x x

1

2

5 3

4

9 7

8

10

Alum

11

12 STAGE 2

Polymer

UV x 3 Super chlorination

Chlorine Contact Tank

Recycled water scheme Rapid mixer

x

Plant effluent to creek

STAGE 1

NaOH Absorptive Clarifier

Effluent Diversion Chamber

Tertiary Effluent Pumping Station Polymer

6

NaOH

Shallow Bed Filters

Sedimentation Clarifier

Equalisation Basin

Dual Media Filters

Alum

Flocculator pH monitoring point

Figure 2. Simplified process flow diagram of Rouse Hill WRP.

Filter 4 Turbidity Frequency 0.5 0.45 Filter 4 Turbidity (NTU)

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RESULTS RH Stage 1 (BNR, rapid mix coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation clarifier, shallow bed filters and dual media filters)

0.4 0.35 0.3

0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Stage 1 pH Correction On

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Stage 2 pH Correction Off

Visual observations showed that the floc size had increased and the water clarity in the flocculators and clarifier had improved. SCADA trends for the dual media filters and recycled water stream confirmed that ceasing NaOH addition at this point yielded an improvement to filtered water quality without breaching pH limits (Figure 3). The ceasing of NaOH dosing at this point was the first in a number of phases of chemical optimisation at Rouse Hill WRP. Coagulant dose: Initial jar tests indicated that the alum dosing at

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Figure 3. Reduction of filtered water turbidity and pH by ceasing NaOH dosing at the rapid mix.

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100 90 80

Alum Dose (mg/L)

70

RH Stage 2 (4 x IDALS, adsorptive clarifier, dual media filters)

60

Target alum dose 85 mg/L ± 3 mg/L

Underdosing 50

Instantaneous coagulant dose and hydraulic flow control: When the daily total for the amount of alum added, volume treated and residual phosphorus in the discharge were taken into consideration, the numbers ‘averaged out’ at the target alum dose (i.e. 85mg/L) and the process was naturally seen to perform.

40 30 20 10 0

0%

10%

20%

30%

40% 50% 60% Cumulative Frequency

70%

80%

90%

100%

Figure 4. Stage 2 instantaneous alum dosing.

Tapered flocculation mix speed: According to jar tests and general water treatment experience, it was expected that a lower tapered mixing energy (G value) would increase the generated floc size and improve filtered turbidity. When this was employed on the plant, average G values were reduced from 185, 180, 160 s-1, to 140, 100, 75 s-1 (where 75 s-1 was the achievable minimum). From the visual observation of the larger floc produced in-situ, and improved clarifier clarity, it was apparent that this change had improved the effectiveness of coagulation.

Rapid mix speed: It was determined that the rapid mixers had an average G value 1

of approximately 360s-1. According to jar test results and general water treatment experience, it was expected that an increase from this value to an achievable maximum of approximately 480 s-1 would improve coagulation, particularly when G values of 1000 s-1 are targeted at WFPs. However, visual observation and SCADA trending showed no improvement. This implied that not only was adequate mixing already achieved, but also highlighted the difference in the flash mixing nature between secondary effluent and raw surface water.

Polymer addition: Often in water treatment, coagulation is supplemented by the addition of polymer as a coagulant

Another project1 looking into EB flow smoothing was run parallel to this investigation. Success of the flow smoothing project enabled the tertiary treatment optimisation investigation to continue, as a stable coagulation regime could now be established.

Filtered Turbidity 1.8 1.6 Filtered Turbidity (NTU)

Stage 1’s rapid mix tank was approximately optimal. However, followup testing and re-evaluation work several months later revealed a significant alum reduction (from 85mg/L to 55mg/L as Al2(SO4)3.14H2O dry weight) to the process without significant impact to performance. The reason for this change in required dose will be the subject of future follow-up work. This change to the secondary effluent’s coagulant demand is a prime example of the dynamic nature of wastewater treatment and where jar testing has proved to be a vital tool for evaluating performance in differing wastewater conditions.

However, an examination of the instantaneous dose response showed that a consistent dose was not maintained at all flow rates due to the limited capacity of the alum pumps.

The investigation showed clearly that the alum pumps were causing significant periods of underdosing (<75mg/L for 51% of the time), and some overdosing (>95mg/L for 14% of the time) as shown in Figure 4. It is due to this, and the erratic nature of the flow from the Equalisation Basin (EB), that chemical and hydraulic dynamic rates of change were imposed on the clarifier, thereby preventing the establishment of a stable coagulation regime with consistent filtered water quality.

1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 Alum Dose (mg/L) Plant Polymer 0 mg/L

Plant Polymer 0.175 mg/L

Plant Polymer 0.7 mg/L

Plant Polymer 2.33 mg/L

Figure 5. Stage 2 dose response curves at varying amounts of alum and plant polymer.

Algis Kapocius (SWC), Andre Chaccal (Serck), and Greg Kennedy (SWC): Modifying the EB Level Control Logic to Prioritise Flow Smoothing.

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aid. However, due to the presence of the shallow bed filters downstream of Stage 1 clarifier, dosing of polymer in the rapid mix or clarifier was considered unfeasible, owing to the unacceptable risk of clogging. Therefore the anionic polymer is dosed downstream on the flow split to the dual media filters.

Instantaneous Alum Dose Frequency

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Technical Papers Alum and Caustic Reduction Plant Trial NaOH dosing offline

0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6

80

0.5 60

0.4 0.3

40

Filter 9 Turbidity (NTU)

100

1

Alum dose Alum dose reduced from 77 reduced from 66 to 55 mg/L to 66 mg/L

EB control change commenced & alum dose reduced from 85 to 77 mg/L

120

Alum dose (mg/L)

0.2 20 0 30/07/2012

0.1 0 9/08/2012

19/08/2012

29/08/2012

8/09/2012

Alum Dose

Filter 9 Turbidity

18/09/2012

28/09/2012

Figure 6. Stage 2 plant trial – stepwise reduction of alum dose and cessation of NaOH addition.

Jar tests indicated an optimum dosing regime for lowest filtered turbidity between 60 and 100mg/L of alum, a halved polymer dose of 0.175mg/L, and no NaOH addition (see Figure 5). However, particle removal performance remained acceptable at alum doses as low as 35–40mg/L for meeting recycled water requirements (<0.5 NTU).

Plant trials on Stage 2 were developed to apply the optimisations identified above where alum dose was reduced in a stepwise fashion (Figure 6). Results indicated that the plant exhibited improved performance under normal flow conditions.

Since wastewater treatment plants need to continue to perform at higher than normal flow conditions (for various reasons), the project needed to ensure the new optimisation settings continued to perform under these conditions. Therefore a new series of plant trials was developed, called tertiary clarifier stress tests.

Flow from the EB was rapidly increased to simulate a large increase in flow, consistent with a wet weather event. The flocculation peformance of the clarifier was then assessed and, if performance remained unaffected, the new dose rate would be accepted as an operational setting. Similar to Stage 1, NaOH dosing was discontinued and the pH of plant effluent monitored to ensure license compliance, as shown in Figure 7. These trials proved to be instrumental in locking the results of the optimisation project into daily operations and providing knowledge for troubleshooting problems with the tertiary process stream.

Following the EB flow smoothing project and trialling of alum dose reduction the alum pumps could now meet the alum demand during normal

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Filter 9 Turbidity Frequency Distribution 0.5 0.45 0.4 Filtered Turbidity (NTU)

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0.35 0.3 0.25

0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 0%

10%

Alum = 85 mg/L

20%

30%

40%

EB software change & alum = 77 mg/L

50%

60%

Alum = 66 mg/L

70%

80%

Alum= 55 mg/L

90%

100%

NaOH dosing off

Figure 7. Reduction of filtered water turbidity and pH by ceasing NaOH dosing. operating conditions. SCADA trends showed how this resulted in improved filtered water quality (Figure 7). It is important to note that the greatest improvement to filtered turbidity

had resulted from the cessation of NaOH dosing as alum’s coagulation ability improves at lower pH ranges.

Following the completion of the Stage 2 trial, a review of the NaOH dosing

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Technical Papers Polymer: Typically in water treatment, the coagulant and coagulant-aid (polymer) have the same polarity of charge, usually positive. However, at Rouse Hill the polymer dosed is anionic and opposite to alum’s positive polarity. To understand how opposite polarities between coagulant and polymer could work, jar

testing of the plant polymer and cationic polymers were performed. Although the reason for relatively good performance is still unknown (and requires further investigation), results (Figure 8) illustrate that the plant anionic polymer dose could be halved to 0.175mg/L without significant impact to performance. Plant trials and SCADA trending confirmed no perceivable impact. From these encouraging results, the plant team decided to operate permanently with this reduction. It is worth noting that, although cationic polymers can exhibit superior performance at higher dosages, the increased operational cost to operate these regimes is unfeasible.

Polymer Performance 35 mg/L alum 0.7

Filtered Turbidity (NTU)

0.6

Filters: Some preliminary work has begun on improving the operation of the dual media filters; however, a more in-depth investigation has yet to commence. As shown in Figure 9, the installation of filter turbidity sample probes has been shown to produce more sensitive trends as the sample is more receptive to rapid changes that may otherwise be missed (e.g. backwash). As is common practice at WFPs, filter probes with high velocity piping were employed to ensure samples analysed were representative with no sedimentation occurring in the sample lines. Following installation (Figure 10), SCADA indicated that the performance among the filters had become more uniform as generally experienced in water treatment contexts.

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1 0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

Polymer dose (mg/L) Cationic polymer typically used at a WFP

Anionic polymer used at Rouse Hill WRP

Figure 8. Anionic vs cationic dose response.

Filter 9 - Before and After Probe

0.5

Where to from here? The optimisation study at Rouse Hill WFP is ongoing.

The dynamic nature of wastewater has presented new areas for study. These include:

0.45

Filter 9 Turbidity (NTU)

0.4 0.35 0.3

After Installation

Probe Installation

Before Installation

0.25

• Installation of additional sampling arrangements such as clarifier turbidimeters to enable reliable instantaneous monitoring of processes crucial to particle removal;

0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 21/09

22/09

23/09

24/09

25/09

26/09

27/09

28/09

29/09

30/09

• An in-depth analysis of filter operation to explore further optimisation opportunities;

01/10

Figure 9. Filtered turbidity trend before and after sample probe installation.

After probes

Before probes 0.5

0.5

0.45

0.45 0.4 Filtered Turbidity (NTU)

Filtered Turbidity (NTU)

0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1

0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05

0.05

0

0 0%

10% Filter 7

20%

30% Filter 8

40% Filter 9

50%

60%

Filter 10

70% Filter 11

80%

90% Filter 12

100%

0%

10% Filter 7

20%

30% Filter 8

40% Filter 9

50%

60%

Filter 10

70% Filter 11

80%

90%

100%

Filter 12

Figure 10: Filtered turbidity cumulative frequency curves before and after sample probe installation.

2

Greg Kennedy (SWC): Review of Caustic Dosing at Rouse Hill WRP.

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at Rouse Hill WRP was conducted2.

This report outlined improvements to the plant’s pH correction as well as the decommissioning of the now redundant Stage 1 caustic dosing plant.

This delivered a saving of $300k in deferred capital works, which is directly attributable to the optimisation project.

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Technical Papers • Investigation into abnormal scenarios and their impact on the treatment process, e.g. elevated ammonia and addition of side streams such as centrate into the secondary effluent.

This helps assess risk to the plant from changes made during optimisation.

Total Savings In the last financial year the tertiary treatment optimisation project has delivered direct chemical savings of $169k, with additional savings of $300k in deferred capital works. The project continues to deliver savings of $20k per month, a figure that will increase as the prices of bulk chemicals rise.

CONCLUSION A recent optimisation investigation at Rouse Hill Water Recycling Plant was undertaken through a different approach of combining experience from both water and wastewater treatment sides of the business. It is through this collaborative approach that the investigation yielded a tertiary process that is more effective (lower turbidity), more reliable (less variation in recycle water quality) and more efficient (savings in chemical use).

The mind-set of engineers and operators has been expanded and the value of plant trials reaffirmed by the project’s continued savings. The combination of different perspectives has been a positive experience for all involved and paved the way for future business gains at other water recycling plants.

THE AUTHORS Jaques Ostrowski (email: Jaques.Ostrowski@ sydneywater.com.au) is a water treatment technical specialist with six years of experience at Sydney Water, primarily focusing on water and recycled water treatment optimisation.

He recently completed his secondment as Smart Utility Program Coordinator to drive innovation and business excellence across the organisation, through an increased alignment of business intelligence with business processes.

As past chairman of the New South Wales Young Water Professionals, he is active in helping to engage, represent, and inspire today’s young professionals in the water industry.

Greg Kennedy (email: Gregory.Kennedy@ sydneywater.com.au) is an Industrial Chemist who joined Sydney Water in 1996. Greg has worked at a number of wastewater treatment plants using biological nutrient removal technologies. He is currently assigned to the Rouse Hill water recycling plant, which utilises a high level of treatment and UV disinfection technologies to supply recycled water. He has conducted a number of process optimisations over the last four years focusing on the application of science and other technologies to improve performance.

Phil Duker (email: Phil.

Duker@sydneywater.com. au) is a water treatment/ water quality technical specialist with 40 years of experience at Sydney Water. He has been actively involved in major improvements and learnings at Sydney Water concerning drinking water (treatment and distribution), and in more recent years extending into the area of recycled water.

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Technical Papers

CULTIVATION AND ENRICHMENT OF ANAMMOX CULTURE IN A SUBMERGED MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR Results of a research project comparing membrane fouling rates of PVDF to PTFE membranes D du Plooy, MG Mostafa, M Duke, T Yeager

ABSTRACT Submerged membrane bioreactors (SMBRs) have been used to cultivate Anammox bacteria in laboratories from start-up cultures to help overcome the slow growth rate associated with these microbes. Membrane fouling is, however, a limitation of SMBRs and a significant amount of research has been conducted to identify the causes of fouling and how best to manage it.

This research project compared the membrane fouling rates of PVDF to PTFE membranes and concluded that the industry standard PVDF membranes performed significantly better than the novel PTFE membranes in Anammox SMBRs. PVDF membranes showed more resistance to membrane fouling with and without backwashing. It also demonstrated a better membrane fouling recovery rate when backwashing was applied.

In addition, it was demonstrated that the PVDF membranes were more resistant to membrane fouling in a startup Anammox SMBR than PP membranes used in a similar project when no backwashing was applied. The results from this project also demonstrated that both the PVDF and PTFE membranes performed best when backwashed for nine minutes every 90 minutes, compared to other backwash frequencies. Anammox activity was achieved within 80 days in two start-up SMBRs, seeded with anaerobic sludge from an Australian industrial wastewater treatment plant Keywords: Anammox, wastewater, submerged, membrane, bioreactor, PVDF, PTFE, fouling.

INTRODUCTION Anammox (ANaerobic AMMonium OXidation) is a fairly new process that has been developed to remove ammonia from wastewater. The Anammox process

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was first observed in the Netherlands in 1986 with the unexpected drop of ammonia levels in a denitrifying fluidised bed reactor with a constant production of nitrogen gas. Four years later the process was identified as anoxic ammonium oxidation and, in 1995, the first scientific journal articles were released; (Van de Graaf et al., 1995).

The first publications identified the Anammox process as: NH4+ + NO2- → N2 + 2H2O Upon further investigation it was discovered that the overall ammonia conversion occurred in two separate processes and by two different groups of bacteria. The first process was performed by ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) to convert a portion of the ammonia to nitrite (1), and the second by the newly discovered Anammox bacteria to convert the nitrite and remaining ammonia to nitrogen gas (2) (Strous et al., 1998): NH4+ +0.75O2→ 0.5NH4++ 0.5NO2− +H+ +0.5H2O NH4+ +1.32NO2- +0.066HCO3+0.13H+→ 1.02N2+0.26NO3-+ 0.066CH2O0.5N0.15+2.03H2O

(1)

(2)

Anammox can thus be utilised as an alternative biological ammonia removal process compared to the traditional nitrification/denitrification processes, with significant benefits. Data from the first full-scale plant in the Netherlands showed that the Anammox process removed nitrogen at a rate of up to 2.6 kg N/m3/d with a removal efficiency of up to 95%. It was also revealed that the Anammox process operated at a significantly lower overall operating cost compared to conventional nitrification/ denitrification, due to a reduction in

plant footprint size (up to 50%), and a reduction of power consumption by up to 60%, due to lower aeration costs. The Anammox process also reduced CO2 emissions by up to 90%, making it a very ‘green’ process (Paques, 2008).

Like most biological systems, there are limitations to utilising this new process.

All species of Anammox bacteria are strict anaerobes and are inhibited by low pH, high nitrite and high chemical oxygen demand (COD) levels. They also have a doubling time of nearly two weeks, which meant that it took approximately three years to grow the biomass for the first full-scale plant in the Netherlands (Strous, 2006; Tang et al., 2009).

One way to overcome these long start-up periods is by using submerged membrane bioreactors (SMBR). SMBRs in general have many benefits, such as smaller footprint sizes, higher rates of organic matter degradation and better effluent quality (van der Marel et al., 2009). One of the main benefits of SMBRs is that the microbial populations are retained in the system, leading to higher microbial population yields, making it an attractive option for Anammox start-up cultures (Wang et al., 2009).

Various small-scale Anammox SMBR configurations have been operated to demonstrate shorter start-up periods compared to full-scale plants. Two of these achieved 75% nitrogen removal after 80 days (Gong et al., 2007) and 90% nitrogen removal rate after just 60 days from start-up (Wang et al., 2009).

Membrane fouling is, however, a limitation of SMBRs and can sometimes be very hard to manage at a large scale, especially in anoxic/anaerobic SMBRs (Feng et al., 2009). Previous research indicated that membrane fouling could be a problem in Anammox

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Technical Papers

SMBRs without the use of anti-fouling mechanisms such as sparging and backwashing, especially in the start-up phase. Wang et al. observed a fouling rate of approximately 2 kPa/day at a constant flux of 0.5 L/m2 /h during the start-up phase of the Anammox reactor, which was marginally lower than normal fouling rates of standard anaerobic membrane bioreactors (Le-Clech et al., 2006; Wang, 2009).

Researchers over the last two decades have investigated how the influent properties, biomass characteristics, operating conditions and membrane characteristics impact on the rate of fouling in aerobic and anaerobic SMBRs (Feng et al., 2009; Meng et al., 2008; Le-Clech et al., 2006). Fouling can be categorised according to its ease of removal and long-term effect on the performance of a membrane. Removable fouling normally refers to the fouling substances and formations, like cake formation, that can be removed through physical cleaning; and irremovable fouling through chemical cleaning.

Irreversible fouling refers to the fouling substances that cannot be removed by either (Feng et al., 2009; Le-Clech et al., 2006; Tian et al., 2009).

Fouling of membranes by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and soluble microbial products (SMP) from microbial populations in bioreactors is one of the biggest problems facing SMBR technologies for wastewater treatment (Metzger et al., 2007).

Membrane characteristics such as pore size, porosity, roughness, surface charge and hydrophobicity also have a significant influence on the fouling rate of membranes in SMBRs. The types of

Polymeric membranes are used in the majority of SMBRs due to their low cost. They can, however, show less resistance to fouling compared to other types of membrane, like metallic and some ceramic membranes, due to the hydrophobic nature of the material (Feng et al., 2009).

Membranes can be manufactured from a variety of polymeric materials such as polypropylene (PP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyethylene (PE), polyethersulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), Polyester (PETE), polycarbonate (PCTE) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) (Meng et al., 2009; Choi et al., 2009). The three most commonly used polymeric membranes in SMBRs are PE, PP and PVDF (Choi et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2008).

Previous studies suggest that PVDF membranes perform better than most other membranes in both aerobic and anaerobic SMBRs, including PE and PP membranes. It was speculated that PVDF membranes had better overall resistance against organic membrane fouling, lower levels of static absorption of EPS, exhibited better pore blocking resistance and displayed better cake layer removal ability (Yamato et al., 2006; Feng et al., 2009). However, current studies are looking at alternative membranes for SMBRs, with the novel PAN membranes showing signs of increased fouling resistance as compared to PVDF membranes (Tian et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2008). Very little research has been conducted on selecting the best polymeric membrane for Anammox SMBRs. Many different types of antifouling mechanism have been developed to reduce the fouling rate of polymeric and other membranes used in aerobic and

anaerobic SMBRs. Some of these include sparging the membrane surfaces with air or other gases to prevent foulants from attaching, and backwashing the membranes with water or cleaning chemicals, such as sodium hypochlorite, to remove foulants from membrane pores and surfaces (Kornboonraksa and Lee, 2009; Aryal et al., 2009). However, very little information is currently available on optimising antifouling techniques for membranes in Anammox bioreactors.

The purpose of this project was to investigate the influence of backwashing on membrane fouling rates in an Anammox SMBR, utilising both industry standard and novel membranes. The project tried to establish the lowest fouling rate of the two membranes by varying both the membrane backwashing amounts and frequencies. It also compared the membrane fouling rates of an industry standard membrane (PVDF) to a novel membrane (PTFE).

METHOD SUBMERGED MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR

The experimental setup was designed to simulate a typical industrial SMBR wastewater plant. The experiment was performed in duplicate to reduce the risk of accidental loss of Anammox biomass and to verify the data obtained from the bioreactors. Two 7.0L Applikon glass bioreactor vessels with a working volume of 4.0L were utilised (Figure 1).

They were covered with black sunblock cloth to minimise algal growth. The bioreactors were fed with synthetic wastewater media (2) via Applikon ADI 1035 peristaltic feed pumps (3).

Nitrogen gas (1) was supplied to the feed vessels to keep them under constant positive pressure and ensure an anaerobic environment. Applikon P100 mechanical stirrers (4) were operated at 100RPM to keep the bioreactor suspension homogeneous, and thermal jackets (5) were utilised to ensure a constant temperature of 32°C. Applikon 1030 pH monitoring and auto correction systems (6â&#x20AC;&#x201C;11) were also incorporated to maintain pH levels between 8.0 and 8.5. Permeate was drawn through PVDF and PTFE membrane modules in each bioreactor (12) via a Watson Marlow 701S/R peristaltic pump (13) into a collection vessel (14). The transmembrane pressures were monitored on Ambit positive pressure gauges (0 to

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Figure 1. Scheme of Anammox SMBR: (1) Nitrogen Gas, (2) Synthetic Feed Vessel, (3) Feed Pump, (4) Mechanical Stirrer, (5) Thermal Jacket, (6) pH Probe, (7) pH Controller, (8) Acid Pump, (9) Caustic Pump, (10) Acid Solution, (11) Caustic Solution, (12) Membrane Module, (13) Permeate Pump, (14) Permeate Vessel, (15) Vacuum Pressure Gauge, (16) Gas Outlet Filter.

material used have also been identified as an influencing factor on membrane fouling (Meng et al., 2008).

The three major types of material that are used in membrane bioreactors are ceramic, metal and polymer.

134

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Technical Papers 600kPa) and vacuum pressure gauges (-100 to 0 kPa) (15). All gases produced from the bioreactor exited via 0.45µm air filters (16).

MEMBRANE MODULES

PTFE and PVDF membrane modules were installed in both bioreactors.

Memcor hydrophilic hollow fibre PVDF membranes with a surface area of 0.01m2, were used. The PVDF membranes had an unknown pore size and an outer diameter (OD) of 1.1 mm. Hydrophobic hollow fibre PTFE membranes with a surface area of 0.01m2, with an unknown pore size and an outer diameter (OD) of 1.5mm, were also used for this experiment. These membranes were still under development by the manufacturer and no further information about the membranes could be released at the time of the project.

MEMBRANE MODULES CLEANING

Chemical cleaning was applied to the membrane modules between all experiments. Cleaning was achieved by removing the membrane modules from the bioreactor and gently removing the biofilm layers from the membrane surface. Great care was taken not to touch the membranes by hand or damage them in any way.

Chemical cleaning was performed by backwashing the membrane modules with 10% v/v sodium hypochlorite.

The cleaning was performed outside the bioreactor to ensure the microbialpopulation was not negatively affected by the sodium hypochlorite. The membranes were also backwashed several times with distilled water to ensure all chemicals were removed before reinstalment.

MEMBRANE FOULING RATE

Pressure gauge readings and flow rate measurements were collected at least twice a week. All readings and measurements were completed exactly 20 minutes after the completion of a backwash cycle. The membrane fouling rate was based on the increase in trans-membrane pressure over time.

However, because the peristaltic pumps utilised in this project were not true positive displacement pumps, the flow rate decreased over time as the transmembrane pressure increased. For this reason, the flux (flow rate per unit of membrane area) had to be used.

Membrane fouling rate in this experiment was thus calculated as the increase of trans-membrane pressure (kPa) per flux

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Table 1. Composition of synthetic wastewater feeding media for Anammox SMBRs. Major Salts Distilled Water

Trace Elements 1

Trace Elements 2

1L

Distilled Water

1L

Distilled Water

1L

(NH4)2SO4

0.50 g/L

EDTA

5 g/L

EDTA

15 g/L

NaNO2

0.50 g/L

FeSO4

5 g/L

ZnSO4.7H2O

0.43 g/L

KHCO3

1.25 g/L

CoCl2.6H2O

0.24 g/L

KH2PO4

0.025 g/L

MnCl2.4H2O

0.99 g/L

MgSO4.7H2O

0.30 g/L

CuSO4.5H2O

0.25 g/L

CaCl2.2H2O

0.20 g/L

NaMoO4.2H2O

0.22 g/L

Trace elements 1

1.25mL

NiCl2.6H2O

0.19 g/L

Trace elements 2

1.25mL

NaSeO4.10H2O

0.21 g/L

H3BO4

0.014 g/L

NaWO4.2H2O

0.050 g/L

(L/m2/h) per hour. Straight line standard curves were generated to indicate increases of membrane fouling and were used to calculate the membrane fouling rates. The gradients of the standard curves were equal to the membrane fouling rates.

SYNTHETIC WASTEWATER FEEDING MEDIA

A synthetic wastewater medium was used to feed the Anammox bioreactors (Table 1). The composition of the synthetic feed was used by Wang et al. (2009), which was based on the original synthetic media of Van de Graaf et al. (1995). The concentrations of ammonium sulphate and sodium nitrate in the synthetic feed media were slowly increased over the duration of the project as nitrite and ammonia consumption increased in the SMBRs. SMBR INOCULATION

Anaerobic sludge from an industrial wastewater treatment digester was used to inoculate the bioreactors.

Previous Anammox bacteria have been successfully isolated from wastewater treatment plants (Sànchez-Melsió et al., 2009). The seed originated from anaerobic digesters with low levels of COD and high levels of NH4. Small red clusters in the seed sludge were also observed under the microscope.

ANAMMOX OBSERVATIONS

The presence of Anammox bacteria in the bioreactors was observed in two ways: by physically observing the biomass in the SMBRs over time under a microscope and by monitoring the ratio of nitrite and ammonia removal from the bioreactors. Samples were observed under an Olympus BH2 light microscope

and images were captured with a Canon A410 digital camera every two weeks.

Observations of the amount, spread and size of red cell clusters were recorded.

General observations of other microorganisms were also recorded.

The Anammox process utilises roughly equal parts of ammonia and nitrite to drive the reaction towards nitrogen gas and water (Mulder et al., 1995; Van de Graaf et al., 1995). Therefore, equal amounts of ammonia and nitrite removal from the bioreactors would also indicate the presence of Anammox activity. Therefore, water analyses were performed weekly to monitor the consumption of nitrite and ammonia from the bioreactors. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate analysis were performed on the influent and effluent of both systems.

WATER ANALYSIS

COD (Hach Method 2125925), ammonia (Hach Method 10031), nitrite (Hach Method 8153) and nitrate (Hach Method 8039) analyses were performed with a Hach DR 5000 spectrophotometer, using EPA approved methods. pH measurements were performed on a Hach SensIon 156 analyser and DO measurements on a Hach HQ40D analyser.

RESULTS BIOREACTOR OPERATING CONDITIONS

An optimum Anammox growth environment was maintained throughout the project with a constant temperature of 32˚C, pH between 8 and 8.5 and stirring speed of 100±1 RPM in both SMBRs. Biomass settled sludge volume (SSV) remained between 15% and 20% with hydraulic retention times between 3.0 and 3.5 days.

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Technical Papers

Nitrogen Removal Rate (Kg/m3/Day)

SMBR2 Ammonia Removal

SMBR1 Nitrite Removal

SMBR2 Nitrite Removal

SMBR1 Total Nitrogen Removal

SMBR2 Total Nitrogen Removal

gap between the ammonia and nitrite removal rates did, however, appear to reduce towards the end of the experiment, especially in SBMR2.

At the end of the experimental period the nitrite to ammonia removal rates were 0.73:1 in SMBR1 and 0.85:1 in SMBR2. An average ammonia removal efficiency of 89% was achieved with a maximum of 98% at 70 days (Figure 3). Similarly, an average nitrite removal efficiency of 61% was achieved with a maximum of 67% at the end of the experimental period.

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Time (Days)

Figure 2. Nitrogen removal rates (kg/m3/day) of Anammox SMBRs.

Average Nitrogen Removal Rate (%)

100

Total nitrogen removal rates reduced after the first week and then increased sharply between weeks two and three.

The total nitrogen removal rates then stabilised, with a steady increase for the remainder of the experimental period. An average total nitrogen removal efficiency of 61% was achieved with a maximum of 71% at 70 days.

90

BIOMASS OBSERVATIONS

80

The seed biomass consisted predominantly of dense dark brown and black microbial colonies and micro-granules. Single red cells and small colonies could also be observed, although they were few in number and dispersed throughout the biomass (Figure 4). After 11 days there were fewer dense dark-brown and black microbial colonies and micro-granules in the SMBR biomass. The red cells appeared more frequent and more clusters were observed.

70 60 50 40

Average Ammonia Removal

30

Average Nitrite Removal

20

Average Total Nitrogen Removal

10 0 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Time (Days)

Figure 3. Average nitrogen removal efficiency (%) of Anammox SMBRs. COD levels in both SMBRs remained between 60 and 140 mg/L for the duration of the project, with Influent COD levels between 40 and 80 mg/L. Effluent COD levels peaked at around 14 days, as anticipated, but then dropped again when 50% of the bioreactor solution in both bioreactors was replaced (Wang et al., 2009).

Effluent ammonia levels remained below 20 mg/L for the duration of the project as the ammonia levels in the feed solution were increased from 20 to 110 mg/L. Effluent nitrite levels peaked around 17 days when nitrite levels were increased in the feed solution, but remained below 70 mg/L. Influent nitrite levels were increased from 80 to 120 mg/L during the project. The nitrate

levels in the feed solution remained between 10 and 20 gm/L for the duration of the project and the nitrate levels in the effluent remained between 15 and 30 mg/L. NITROGEN REMOVAL

Nitrite and ammonia removal rates decreased in the first week and then recovered over the subsequent weeks in both SMBRs (Figure 2). The nitrite removal rate increased fairly steadily over the following weeks, whereas the ammonia removal rate increased sharply after the second week and then stabilised. After 15 days the ammonia removal rate increased above the nitrite removal rate. Both the ammonia and nitrite removal rates remained relatively parallel between days 28 and 80. The

Very few dark-brown microbial colonies could be detected after 25 days. No black micro-granules were visible any longer. A large number of light brown colonies could be seen and it appeared that they started to form large flocs.

Red clusters could now also be seen in abundance. After 39 days a large number of hazel-brown clusters and flocs could be observed. There were virtually no dark-brown or black micro-organisms left in the biomass. Many large red colonies of micro-organisms could also be observed. They also appeared to be producing an abundant amount of an orange substance that looked like dense clouds around the red clusters.

Smaller red cells were also observed to be budding off from the larger red cells in the colonies. The further biomass observations remained fairly unchanged for the duration of the project.

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0.25

SMBR1 Ammonia Removal

136

Figure 4. Optical images of biomass in Anammox SMBR (light microscope at 1000x). Photos were captured (from left to right): upon seeding; at 11 days; at 25 days; and at 39 days.

MEMBRANE FOULING

Very similar fouling rates were observed between the same types of membranes in both SMBRs throughout the project.

The PVDF membranes displayed a 95% lower fouling rate than the PTFE membranes when no backwashing was applied (Figure 5). PVDF membranes produced a membrane fouling rate of 1.27kPa/ L/m2h /day and PTFE membranes a fouling rate of 23.21kPa/ L/ m2h /day. Both membranes did, however, produce lower membrane fouling rates when backwashing was applied. PVDF membranes displayed an average fouling reduction rate of 72% and PTFE membranes a 73% reduction.

Significant differences in the fouling rates of PVDF membranes were produced by varying the backwash amounts and frequencies (Table 2): nineminute backwashes every 90 minutes produced the lowest membrane fouling rate of 0.29kPa/ (L/m2h)/day and the application of three-minute backwashes every 30 minutes produced the highest membrane fouling rate of 0.5kPa/ (L/m2h) day, with a difference of 31%.

Variation of backwash amounts and frequencies had less of an impact on the PTFE membranes, but still resulted in a 19% difference of membrane fouling rates. Similarly to the PVDF results, the application of nine-minute backwashes every 90 minutes produced the lowest membrane fouling rate of 5.8kPa/(L/m2h)/ day and three-minute backwashes every 30 minutes produced the highest membrane fouling rate of 7.17kPa/ (L/m2h)/day.

DISCUSSION BIOREACTOR OPERATING CONDITIONS

All operating conditions of both SMBRs remained fairly stable during the experimental period, which would have aided in the possible Anammox growth observed in this project. The pH levels remained between 8 and 8.5 as recommended by previous research for

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optimal Anammox growth (Tang et al., 2009). This pH level was also maintained to minimise the risk of acidifying bacteria colonising the SMBRs in the first two weeks when higher COD levels were present. The lower stirrer speed of 100rpm, as suggested by Trigo et al.

(2006), could also have contributed to Anammox bacteria forming clusters and larger granules observed under the microscope (Figure 4). The temperature levels close to the optimal of 35Ë&#x161;C would also have aided in Anammox growth (Cema et al., 2004).

Stable biomass measurements observed throughout the project

suggested that there were no drastic shifts in the micro-populations and that a favourable environment was also being created for microbial growth. It was also an indication that the potential population shift to an Anammox culture would have happened gradually. A slight decrease in SSV during the first two weeks could have been due to heterotrophic organisms dying off, as the feeding media contained no organic carbon energy. An increase in COD during the first two weeks would further support this and has been commonly observed by other researchers (Trigo et al., 2006; Wang et al., 2009).

350 Trans-Membrane Pressure / FLUX (kPa/LMH)

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Technical Papers

PTFE SMBR1

300

PTFE SMBR2

250

PVDF SMBR1 PVDF SMBR2

200 150 100 50 0 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Time (Days)

Figure 5. Average fouling rates of PVDF and PTFE membranes, expressed as an increase of Trans-Membrane Pressure (kPa) per FLUX (L/m2h) per day in Anammox SMBRs. Table 2. Average fouling rates of PVDF and PTFE membranes with and without backwashing, expressed as an increase of Trans-Membrane Pressure (kPa) per FLUX (L/m2h) per day.

Backwash Frequency

PVDF Membrane Fouling Rate

PTFE Membrane Fouling Rate

(Minutes)

kPa / (L/m2h) / day

kPa / (L/m2h) / day

None

1.2673

23.207

3

30

0.4192

7.1665

6

60

0.3697

6.1736

9

90

0.2889

5.8117

12

120

0.3636

6.1583

Backwash Duration (Minutes) None

137

Technical Papers NITROGEN REMOVAL

It can, however, be predicted that the total nitrogen removal rate would have continued to rise by observing the slope of the trend in Figure 2, especially if the ammonia and nitrite concentrations in the feed water would have been increased and more Anammox biomass would have developed. The ammonia removal efficiency of 97â&#x20AC;&#x201C;98% seen towards the end of the project also suggests that the SMBRs operated at maximum efficiency (Figure 3).

PRESENCE OF ANAMMOX BACTERIA

Visual observations strongly indicated an increase of Anammox biomass in the SMBRs (Figure 4). It could not be concluded that the majority of red cells observed were Anammox bacteria, but the probability was very high taking into consideration the type of environment created in the SMBRs and the ratio of nitrite and ammonia removal rates.

The orange biofilm appearance and the small red cells budding off the larger red cells also strongly pointed towards the possibility of Anammox bacteria.

These particular characteristics were established very soon after the discovery of Anammox bacteria (Van de Graaf et al., 1995).

The ratio of nitrite to ammonia removal during this project suggested a fairly good chance of Anammox activity.

A nitrite to ammonia removal ratio of 0.73:1 in SMBR1 and 0.85:1 in SMBR2 was achieved towards the end of the project. This indicated that almost equal parts of nitrite and ammonia could have been converted to nitrogen gas and water as per the original Anammox findings (Mulder et al., 1995; Van de Graaf et al., 1995).

The higher rate of ammonia removal, compared to the nitrite removal, was most probably due to the presence of ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) in the SMBRs. The AOBs could have utilised oxygen diffused into the bioreactors to oxidise ammonia, even though the

membrane surfaces (Meng et al., 2008).

The drop in membrane performance when backwashed for 12 minutes every 120 minutes could have contributed to irreversible fouling. Previous studies have concluded that long periods between backwashes can cause more irreversible fouling by extracellular polymeric substances and soluble microbial products (Feng et al., 2009).

A further characterisation of the microbial culture by a molecular mechanism, such as PCR or FISH analysis, would have given additional conformation of the presence of an Anammox culture in addition to the morphological characteristics and nitrogen utilisation pattern. While such techniques were not utilised in this work, they are currently being developed for future studies.

Overall, both PVDF and PTFE membranes performed the best when backwashed for nine minutes every 90 minutes in an Anammox SMBR. The results suggested that this frequency and duration of backwashing was a good balance between achieving high backwash pressures and preventing excessive, irreversible fouling.

MEMBRANE PERFORMANCES

This project revealed that PVDF membranes performed better than PTFE membranes in Anammox SBMRs, with or without backwashing (Table 2). Hydrophobicity of the membrane surfaces could have played a significant role in the membrane fouling resistance, with PVDF being a hydrophilic membrane and PTFE being hydrophobic. Other studies in general anaerobic SMBRs have presented similar conclusions (Feng et al., 2009; Meng et al., 2008).

However, further studies on the composition and quantify of extracellular polymeric substances and soluble microbial products in Anammox SMBRs will need to be conducted to further support this theory. As expected, the project demonstrated that both the PVDF and PTFE membranes displayed a great increase in membrane fouling resistance when backwashed. This was consistent with other membrane fouling studies performed on both aerobic and anaerobic SMBRs (Meng et al., 2009).

The project also showed that an increase in backwash duration resulted in better membrane performance for both the PVDF and PTFE membranes, until the intervals between the backwashes became too long. The link between the increased performance and the longer backwash period could have contributed to higher backwash pressures being achieved. The higher pressures inside the hollow fibre membranes could have resulted in a greater quantity of foulants being removed from both inside the membrane pores and attached to the

This project also suggested that PVDF membranes were more resistant to membrane fouling than the PP membrane used by Wang et al., under similar conditions (2009). The PVDF membranes displayed 50% more membrane fouling resistance compared to the PP membranes when no backwashing was applied.

CONCLUSION It was concluded that Anammox activity was achieved within 80 days in two start-up submerged membrane bioreactors, seeded with anaerobic sludge from an industrial wastewater treatment digester. This project also concluded that PVDF membranes showed significantly greater resistance to membrane fouling compared to PTFE membranes in Anammox SMBRs, with and without backwashing.

It was also demonstrated that the PVDF membranes were more resistant to membrane fouling in a start-up Anammox SMBR compared to PP membranes used in similar studies when no backwashing was applied. The results from this project also demonstrated that both the PVDF and PTFE membranes performed best when backwashed for nine minutes at 90-minute intervals, compared to other backwashing frequencies.

THE AUTHORS Drikus du Plooy (email: drikus@hydrohelix.com. au) is is an Industrial Microbiologist with over 15 years of water treatment experience. His area of expertise is biological nutrient removal ranging from laboratoryscale to full-size plants.

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The total nitrogen removal rate increased steadily during the project and achieved a final removal rate of 0.209 kg /m3/day at the end of the project. It is fairly low compared to the first Anammox plant in the Netherlands with a total nitrogen removal rate of 2.6 kg/m3/day. The first plant did, however, operate for more than eight years and contained mature Anammox granules (Paques, 2008).

experiment was set up to create an anaerobic environment. The presence of AOBs in Anammox bioreactors has been documented by other researchers (Tang et al., 2009; Trigo et al., 2006; Wang et al., 2009). Healthy colonies of light brown bacteria were also observed under the microscope, which indicated that another group of bacteria was residing in the SMBRs (Figure 4).

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Technical Papers Prof Mikel Duke (email: mikel.duke@vu.edu.au) is a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Sustainability and Innovation at Victoria University. His research interests focus on innovative technologies for sustainable water treatment and foods processing.

Dr Thomas Yeager (email: thomas.yeager@vu.edu.au) is a Senior Lecturer at Victoria University and specialises in the microbial aspects of wastewater treatment and their application to novel technologies.

REFERENCES Aryal R, Lebegue J, Vigneswaran S, Kandasamy J & Grasmick A (2009): Identification and Characterisation of Biofilm Formed on Membrane Bio-Reactor. Separation and Purification Technology, In Press, Accepted Manuscript.

Choi J-H, Park S-K & Ng H-Y (2009): Membrane Fouling in a Submerged Membrane Bioreactor Using Track-Etched and Phase-Inversed Porous Membranes. Separation and Purification Technology, 65, pp 184–192.

Feng L, Li X, Du G & Chen J (2009): Characterization and Fouling Properties of Exopolysaccharide Produced by Klebsiella Oxytoca. Bioresource Technology, In Press, Corrected Proof.

Gong Z, Yang F, Liu S, Bao H, Hu S & Furukawa K (2007): Feasibility of a Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactor to Achieve Single-Stage Autotrophic Nitrogen Removal Based on Anammox. Chemosphere, 69, pp 776–784.

Kornboonraksa T & Lee SH (2009): Factors Affecting the Performance of Membrane Bioreactor for Piggery Wastewater Treatment.

Bioresource Technology, 100, pp 2926–2932.

Le-Clech P, Chen V & Fane TAG (2006): Fouling in Membrane Bioreactors Used in Wastewater Treatment. Journal of Membrane Science, 284, pp 17–53.

Meng F, Chae S-R, Drews A, Kraume M, Shin H-S & Yang F (2009): Recent Advances in Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs): Membrane Fouling and Membrane Material. Water Research, 43, pp 1489–1512.

Meng F, Yang, F, Shi B & Zhang H (2008): A Comprehensive Study on Membrane Fouling in Submerged Membrane Bioreactors Operated Under Different Aeration Intensities. Separation and Purification Technology, 59, pp 91–100.

Metzger U, Le-Clech P, Stuetz RM, Frimmel FH & Chen V (2007): Characterisation of Polymeric Fouling in Membrane Bioreactors and the Effect of Different Filtration Modes. Journal of Membrane Science, 301, pp 180–189.

Mulder A, Van De Graaf AA, Robertson LA & Kuenen JG (1995): Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation Discovered in a Denitrifying Fluidized Bed Reactor. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 16, pp 177–184.

Paques (2008): Anammox Nitrogen Removal [Online]. Available: www.paques.nl/en/ anammox_nitrogen_removal [Accessed 14 July 2009].

Sànchez-Melsió A, Cáliz J, Balaguer MD, Colprim J & Vila X (2009): Development of BatchCulture Enrichment Coupled to Molecular Detection for Screening of Natural and ManMade Environments in Search of Anammox Bacteria for N-Removal Bioreactors Systems.

Chemosphere, 75, pp 169–179.

Strous M (2006): The Online ANAMMOX Resource [Online]. Available: www.anammox. com/index.html [Accessed 17 July 2009].

Strous M, Heijnen JJ, Kuenen JG & Jetten MSM (1998): The Sequencing Batch Reactor as a Powerful Tool for the Study of Slowly Growing Anaerobic Ammonium-Oxidizing Microorganisms. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 50, pp 589–596.

Tang CJ, Zheng P, Mahmood Q & Chen JW (2009b): Start-Up and Inhibition Analysis of the Anammox Process Seeded With Anaerobic Granular Sludge. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 36, pp 1093–1100.

Tian J-Y, Liang H, Nan J, Yang Y-L, You S-J & Li G-B (2009): Submerged Membrane Bioreactor (SMBR) for the Treatment of Contaminated Raw Water. Chemical Engineering Journal, 148, pp 296–305.

Trigo C, Campos JL, Garrido JM & Méndez R (2006): Start-Up of the Anammox Process in a Membrane Bioreactor. Journal of Biotechnology, 126, pp 475–487.

Van De Graaf AA, Mulder A, De Bruijn P, Jetten MSM, Robertson LA & Kuenen JG (1995): Anaerobic Oxidation of Ammonium is a Biologically Mediated Process. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 61, pp 1246–1251.

Van Der Marel P, Zwijnenburg A, Kemperman A, Wessling M, Temmink H & Van Der Meer W (2009): An Improved Flux-Step Method to Determine the Critical Flux and the Critical Flux for Irreversibility in a Membrane Bioreactor. Journal of Membrane Science, 332, pp 24–29.

Wang T, Zhang H, Yang F, Liu S, Fu Z & Chen H (2009): Start-Up of the Anammox Process from the Conventional Activated Sludge in a Membrane Bioreactor. Bioresource Technology, 100, pp 2501–2506.

Yamato N, Kimura K, Miyoshi T & Watanabe Y (2006): Difference in Membrane Fouling in Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs) Caused by Membrane Polymer Materials. Journal of Membrane Science, 280, pp 911–919.

Zhang G, Ji S, Gao X & Liu Z (2008): Adsorptive Fouling of Extracellular Polymeric Substances with Polymeric Ultrafiltration Membranes.

Journal of Membrane Science, 309, pp 28–35.

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KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON, CHRISTCHURCH Operational observations of water and wastewater utilities’ disaster recovery response following the Christchurch earthquake P Free, M Christison

This paper will describe one aspect of the recovery, namely some operational observations as to how to restore water and wastewater utilities to a large city after a natural disaster.

These observations are based on the authors’ experience during the first five months of the recovery effort. Peter Free, as a GHD manager, was seconded to the Council’s utilities contractor, Citycare, initially supervising the repairs of one of nine water supply zones set up across the city, and then two weeks later as the overall supervisor of the wastewater recovery efforts, leading a team of 40 engineers and some 130 work crews whose aim was to return (limited or full) wastewater services to the crippled city.

Mark Christison was the City Council’s Water and Wastewater Manager, and he very quickly became the public face of the services rebuild, arguably the second most recognisable City Council officer, second only to Mayor Bob Parker.

by bring in extra resources from its other operating centres around New Zealand.

Some of the actions taken after the first major event were: • Integrating other Citycare teams and subcontractors into its existing O&M teams; • Securing repair materials by strengthening supplier arrangements; • Building an understanding of the earthquake failure modes for various assets and material types; • Building stronger lines of communication between the O&M contractor and the Council; • Developing systems to ensure GIS representation of damage and progress could be readily displayed for repair crews and the public.

These lessons were critical to the continuity of essential water services within the city when a 6.3 magnitude quake (at a depth of 5km) event struck just 10km from the centre of the city on

22 February 2011. This time there were 185 fatalities, a large number of injuries, and widespread damage to buildings both in the city and in neighbouring suburban centres and towns.

The Christchurch earthquake badly damaged over 10,000 residential houses and disrupted the main lifeline systems of the city, including the road, water and wastewater networks and the electrical systems, forcing thousands (estimated to be 10% of the population) to leave their homes and communities.

The February event compounded many of the effects of the September 2010 quake. In that event most of the city’s essential services were crippled, with a large proportion (approximately 40%) of the city without water and wastewater services; the roading network was also severely restricted, especially as the cross-town transportation routes and bridges were almost all closed.

Further, the river stop banks had sunk, meaning they could not contain a king tide that would have resulted in

HOW THE EVENT UNFOLDED The earthquake sequence started with a 7.2 magnitude quake that occurred on 4 September 2010, some 30km west of the city (at a depth of 10km). In this first event there was no loss of life; however, there was a huge increase in requests for service (RFS) across the water and wastewater networks. The Council’s network maintenance operator, Citycare, was mostly able to cope with the emergency

Figure 1. The Medway footbridge over Avon River, Christchurch, after the February 2011 earthquake.

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INTRODUCTION At the beginning of World War II, the British Government produced a poster that aimed to keep up public morale: “Keep Calm and Carry On”. These words proved still useful today when dealing with the huge utilities disaster recovery response in Christchurch, New Zealand, following a prolonged earthquake sequence that struck New Zealand’s second largest city between September 2010 and June 2011.

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Technical Papers

Figure 3. One of many sand volcanos (this one is tiny, but some were as big as small cars). the full extent of the disaster became evident, more repair crews arrived from Councils and contractors from all over the country (both South and North Islands) and, later on, from a number of east coast water authorities in Australia.

Figure 2. Tilted and floated pump station near the Avon River. river water, rich with sewage, flowing into low-lying areas at the next king tide, which was only six weeks after the February event. New Zealand’s secondlargest city was devastated and, without rapid action, mass evacuation would have been needed to avoid further potential loss of life due to disease caused by lack of potable water and unsanitary housing conditions.

appeared to cement readily when drained of surrounding liquid. However, these events became of lesser importance than the more urgent need of restoring water supply to approximately half the city’s residents who had lost supply.

AN OPERATIONS NIGHTMARE

• Exhausted the world’s supply of new portaloos;

Interestingly, on the day of the earthquake and the day after there were few requests for service; it appeared that most people were too busy checking on family and neighbours to be concerned about their water services. However, there were worrying signs that not all was right underground. Besides the obvious raised manholes in the streets, tilting pump stations and the slow build-up of wastewater in the streams and drains around Christchurch, there was the more ominous sign of the steady stream of liquefaction sand and water that was issuing from sand volcanos that had suddenly appeared across large parts of the city. These were often followed by sink holes and settlement that started to appear soon afterwards.

• Organised and delivered some 34,500 household chemical toilets;

The extent of the underground disaster was becoming apparent by Day 3, when teams of engineering volunteers started recording the condition of manholes around the city. They discovered that most of the manholes in the lower areas to the east of the city were partially or fully blocked and that the blockage material seemed to be gritty, abrasive sand that

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In the early days/weeks of the disaster the Christchurch City Council and Emergency Management:

• Established a network of 120 potable water tanks for filling personal water containers and around 520 wastewater tanks used for disposing of chemical toilet waste; • Oversaw the distribution of 250,000 litres of bottled water.

A FLOOD OF VOLUNTEERS Almost immediately after the earthquake, large groups of volunteer engineers started arriving in the city. Initially recovery efforts were somewhat unplanned and most engineers were detailed to assist in building assessments. However, there was a growing group of people arriving at the Council’s main wastewater treatment plant and at its maintenance contractor’s yard, both of which were located in the badly damaged eastern suburb of Bexley.

From this initial team of volunteer engineers and the local staff of the city’s maintenance contractor, teams of water supply zone managers, overseers and repair crews were formed. Rapidly, as

The aim of the repair crews was to restore water service as quickly as possible to the city’s residents. Repairs were to be carried out to as good a standard as possible, but it was realised that permanent repairs were generally not possible in the difficult ground conditions and the (50 times the normal level RFS environment that was postearthquake Christchurch.

Notwithstanding the difficulties, the water supply network was restored to 95% of residents on 19 March, some 24 days after the main earthquake. This occurred even with a background of multiple large daily aftershocks, massive traffic jams making obtaining materials problematic, and hundreds of new RFS daily.

Some of the key learnings from the restoration of the water supply were: • Have a mix of local and non-local staff; local staff bring with them great knowledge and understanding of the local network but have the disadvantage that family must come first and recovery workloads are immense; • Have preferred supply and delivery arrangements for material supply, and ensure that the suppliers have networks that they can call on if their own resources are challenged; • Don’t totally rely on electronic means for storing all asset data; there is always a place for sets of largescale network plans and map books, especially when a number of the repair crews are not familiar with the network or its operation; • Plan networks with secure storage and some redundancy, or at least a Plan B;

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Technical Papers • A network of temporary store facilities (located in shipping containers in various suburbs), a fleet of mobile store vans, and issue of common repair fittings packs to all crews greatly helped ease the frustration of slow repair times due to major traffic delays;

Figure 5. The student army... informal deliveries of bottled water in the days immediately after the February earthquake.

Figure 4. Homemade emergency water source.

A MORE DIFFICULT CHALLENGE The wastewater recovery was a much more difficult task, mainly due to the single main treatment plant and a network that focused on the Bexley treatment plant.

It was much less resilient than the highly interconnected and daisy-chained water supply network configuration.

The water supply system has 146 individual bore sources located in almost every suburb in the city, which are fed by the Canterbury plains aquifer that stretches beneath the city. This diverse system configuration was one of the major reasons why the water supply system was put back into service so quickly. However, it did have the real disadvantage that emergency chlorination of the complete supply was difficult to achieve and, therefore, great care was need to repair, topically chlorinate and flush broken water pipes.

Emergency chlorination had to be installed at a pump station level rather than a centrally controlled point.

The wastewater network had the added problems of many inverted syphon river crossings, which were badly damaged by pipe separation due to lateral spreading of the river banks. In addition, after the earthquake the very flat-graded network sometimes had reverse grades due to ground elevation changes. Also, separation of pipe joints allowed huge quantities of liquefaction sand and water to enter the network, which often set in the pipes meaning that even when repaired hugely timeconsuming jet cleaning and suction was required – in some cases every week until all the sand was removed from the public and private networks.

Further, stormwater flow paths were now different due to ground level changes, and the crowns of some roads were now prone to floodwaters, greatly increasing I&I risk in wet weather conditions.

Liquefaction sand became one of the greatest difficulties: firstly, it had to be mobilised, using lots of water and very high jetting pressures so that it could all be captured and not allowed to reconsolidate downstream in the network or in the pump stations, where its abrasive nature played havoc with impellors and wear plates. The second issue, once it was captured, was where to place the contaminated solids and liquid that arrived at the treatment plant in huge quantities. At the peak of the wastewater recovery, 16 combo (jetting/ suction units), 30 individual jetting units and 39 individual suction units mostly worked two shifts of a 20-hour day, six to seven days a week.

Recovery of the sand was a slow and laborious job that needed to be repeated regularly, especially in the first couple of months; as every major aftershock would send a new load of sand down into the network. While this operation was being carried out the Avon, Styx and Heathcote Rivers where acting as open sewers, although, after some time, basic screening was carried out to remove the worst of the objectionable solids from the waste stream.

A special dump site for liquefaction silts was created at a closed landfill on the city’s boundary to allow for safe and economic disposal and potential reuse of this material.

The wastewater recovery took much longer than the water supply and it took until mid-September before the number of RFS received per day decreased below the number that were closed out each day. Some of the key dates for the wastewater recovery team were: • 5 April 2011, when 95% of the residents were served with some level of wastewater service, although this figure was vastly reduced after two large earthquakes caused a fresh set of damage on 13 June 2011; • 5 July 2011, when 95% of residents were again receiving some level of wastewater service; • 22 September 2011, when the last of the wastewater overflows to Christchurch’s rivers were stopped; • 29 January 2014, when the last of 520 neighbourhood wastewater

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• Have emergency water supply plans in place and practised, whether that be bottle water stores, tanker deliveries or emergency sources. People will go to extraordinary lengths to obtain water if they have trouble getting it.

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Technical Papers “Water and sewage infrastructure is usually out of sight, out of mind and we take them for granted, as we do those who help keep them working. It’s not a glamorous job, but it’s essential to public health. The massive scale of damage to this vital infrastructure in the earthquakes left Christchurch people at risk of major outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness that almost always follow disasters of this magnitude. That this did not happen is a tribute to the skill and dedication of the water and waste workers repairing broken sewers and restoring water supplies so quickly.”

Figure 6. Early days of tankered potable water supply. storage tanks were removed. These tanks were used by residents to dump their chemical toilet waste; suction trunks would then be used to remove the waste regularly. Residents had stopped using these tanks about a year prior to this date, but it was decided to leave these tanks in place as aftershocks were still being experienced at that time.

KEY LEARNINGS Some of the key learnings from the restoration of the wastewater service were: • When recovering from a large disaster, things are going to go wrong every day, but the key to actually making progress is the people in the teams, their personal resilience and their ability to cope; • Make sure the messaging and daily aims are very clear to the teams.

In a disaster, situations change rapidly and it’s not always possible to fully brief all those involved as to the full background of the situation.

However, clear daily messaging is critical to succeeding, especially when communications are difficult; • Don’t leave teams in untenable situations day after day. We created a “red team” whose job was to take on the most difficult repairs (or whole streets) where returning wastewater service was seemingly impossible.

That team had great autonomy and resources, but its workload was controlled so that the members weren’t overloaded themselves;

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• Take time out every day to keep in contact with the other service authorities; there were often great synergies and overlap in our work and, without that contact, the speed of the recovery is likely to have been much slower; • Site survey and mapping teams gave us critical insight into how the network was performing and where the most benefit could be derived from repairs and maintenance. It also allowed us to provide information to the overall decision makers so that they could convey messages to the public. The daily reporting was time consuming, but the public had huge expectations of being fully informed by all the service authorities; • Redundancy and a Plan B are critical design features for any essential service network. Often budgetary restraints and consenting sensitivities force engineers into removing items such as emergency overflows, bypasses, manual overrides, overland flow paths, emergency power and key system redundancy, but these items cannot be replicated in the short timeframes required in an emergency.

CONCLUSION In summary we would agree with the Medical Officer of Health for Canterbury, Dr Alistair Humphrey, who said that, before the earthquakes, most Christchurch people would not have given any thought to the important role that water utilities workers play in protecting their health.

Figure 7. Amendment to the original World War II Poster.

THE AUTHORS Peter Free (email: Peter.

Free@ghd.com) a Civil Engineer and is a principal water engineer for GHD in New Zealand. Peter has had 28 year’s experience in the water industry in New Zealand and the Middle East. He was part of a group of engineers who were awarded the IPENZ Fulton-Downer Gold Medal President’s Award for making an outstanding contribution in the recovery phase of the Christchurch earthquakes.

Mark Christison (email: mark.christison@ccc.govt. nz) is a Mechanical Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand. He has spent much of his career in senior management roles in the energy industry, military and water and wastewater industry, in both private and public sector roles. Mark has worked for the Council since 2004 and was the Christchurch City Council’s Water and Wastewater Manager at the time of the earthquake.

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LESSONS FROM A DECADE OF EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS FOR AUSTRALIAN DRINKING WATER SUPPLIERS A review of 10 case studies from five Australian states SK Fitzgerald, BD Stanford, SJ Khan

ABSTRACT Ten Australian case studies have been collated detailing the water quality impacts of extreme weather events.

The weather events reported include drought, bushfire, strong winds, changes to rainfall patterns, heavy rainfall and flooding. The outcomes of these weather events included damage to infrastructure and compromised raw and finished water quality, which increased the risk to public health and necessitated immediate operational responses.

In eight of the 10 case studies the primary weather event occurred in combination with other significant weather events. This resulted in an exacerbation of the adverse outcomes.

Furthermore, in many cases the water quality impacts could conceivably have been worse if the associated weather events had been in closer succession.

This result highlights the need to consider combinations of weather events in planning and preparing for the resulting impacts on drinking water supply.

INTRODUCTION Over the last decade, the incidence of flooding, cyclones, droughts and bushfires has focused Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention on questions surrounding climate change, extreme weather events and appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies. In the coming 50 years in Australia it is expected that average temperature will increase, with hotter droughts, longer and more intense fire seasons and changes to the frequency and intensity of rainfall patterns (Garnaut, 2008; Steffen, 2011).

These changes will likely result in considerable water shortages, which will create challenges for water provision for agriculture, industry and domestic use (Short et al., 2012).

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It is expected that these changes to the climate will also result in changes to the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration and timing of extreme weather events, resulting in shorter average recurrence intervals and more widespread social, environmental and economic impacts (IPCC, 2012).

Changes in the intensity and frequency of these events will have considerable effects on drinking water suppliers, including water shortages, changes to catchment health and a wide array of water quality issues (Short et al., 2012).

As such, it is necessary to gain a better understanding of the nature and extent of the potential impacts of such events in order to best adapt and prepare for their future occurrence.

This project was undertaken, with the help of a number of Australian utilities, to investigate the experienced impacts of extreme weather events on water quality and the resulting effects on water treatment and supply. Ten Australian case studies examine the impacts of extreme weather events from 1998â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2012, including droughts, flooding, heavy rainfall, changes in rainfall patterns, bushfires and high winds. These weather events caused infrastructure damage through fire and flood, loss of electricity supply to treatment plants and pumping stations, and varied water quality impacts.

A number of key challenges have been highlighted, including rapid and unprecedented changes to raw water quality and challenges to provision of finished water due to infrastructure damage, loss of power supply, and the need for timely changes to treatment operations and distribution. Perhaps the most significant challenge, however, is the need for more flexible planning to account for a growing incidence of combinations of extreme weather events,

occurring either simultaneously or in quick succession, which increases the complexity and severity of the resulting water quality incidents. This paper examines the water quality impacts evident in the case studies and explores the significance of the combinations of weather events on these impacts.

METHODOLOGY Ten Australian case studies of extreme weather events have been collated from the Australia Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. These case studies form part of a broader project across Australia and the USA that seeks to examine the water quality outcomes of extreme weather-related events across these two continents, to assist utilities to prepare for similar future events.

Preliminary data collection involved a review of published literature, which informed the development of an introductory questionnaire. The questionnaire provided a basis of discussion at two workshops conducted with participating utilities. The workshops allowed for collaborative identification of key weather events, related water quality impacts and issues for future preparedness of utilities. The workshop outcomes then informed the development of a case study template.

Detailed data provided by utilities was collated in a general case study format. Collection of this information was aided by the use of online webinars and follow-up with participating utilities.

The information contained in the case studies includes a description of the weather event, the impacts on raw and finished water quality, and the response of relevant agencies during and after the event.

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Technical Papers RESULTS AND DISCUSSION SUMMARY OF THE CASE STUDIES

Nine case studies report heavy rainfall as the primary weather event, and one study cites a bushfire as the key event causing the water quality impacts. For each of the case studies the raw and finished water quality impacts are varied due to the intensity of the primary weather event, the preparedness of the utility to respond and other environmental vulnerabilities.

In many cases these vulnerabilities are a result of preceding or succeeding weather events, such as a preceding drought causing the deposition of organic matter within catchment riparian zones. In order for Australian water suppliers to best prepare for the effects of extreme weather events it is necessary to understand the complex water quality outcomes, such as those described above, and to learn from the management of past events to enable better preparedness in the future.

This paper examines the outcomes as reported in Table 1, considering the nature of the primary event as well as the environmental vulnerabilities and exacerbation of impacts caused by the other significant weather events. In considering these cumulative outcomes of the combinations of weather events, the question is asked as to whether or not these outcomes are, in fact, worse than the effects of the individual weather events, and whether they could have been minimised or exacerbated further, given an increased or decreased frequency of the weather events.

The paper also summarises the key factors that enabled quick and effective responses to the water quality changes and the areas for improved preparedness as identified across the case studies.

Heavy Rainfall The 10 compiled case studies each detail the occurrence of heavy rainfall contributing to the raw and finished water quality impacts experienced.

However, in each case the outcomes were varied depending on the intensity of the rainfall and the cumulative effects with other significant weather events.

Case Studies 4 and 9 detail the occurrence of heavy rainfall without contribution of any other significant weather events.

Case Study 9 reports raw water quality impacts including increased colour, conductivity and turbidity of 3.3x, 1.5x and 2.3x normal concentrations, respectively. In this case, the finished water quality was compromised by increased turbidity, which reached up to 69 NTU and threatened the efficacy of the filtration and disinfection processes.

In addition, inundation of the water treatment plant (WTP) prevented treatment and distribution of potable water to residents, who were issued a Boil Water Advisory over an 11-day period and supplied with bottled water.

Similarly, Case Study 4 details increased turbidity in the river from which raw water is sourced. As there was no existing water treatment infrastructure at the time of the event the water authority was required to cease river extraction and drawdown on the water storage. This then created taste and odour problems as water levels were drawn down to 5.5m below the full storage level.

Rainfall preceded by drought From 2001–2010, much of Eastern Australia, from South-East Queensland and throughout the Murray-Darling Basin, experienced below average rainfall and drought conditions. This was followed by a transition to El Niña conditions in Autumn 2010, which were characterised by widespread heavy rainfall in Eastern Australia (BOM, 2010). This weather event succession of prolonged drought followed by heavy rainfall is evident in Case Studies 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 10.

The drought caused a build-up of organic matter in the catchment riparian zones and decreased vegetation, thereby exposing banks to erosion and decreased reservoir water levels, and consequently

allowing vegetation growth on the banks of reservoirs. The subsequent rainfall caused organic matter, nutrients and sediment to be transported into the waterways and water storages, resulting in significant effects on raw and finished water quality.

As seen in Case Studies 8 and 10, increased organic matter in the waterways caused elevated Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) levels. In Case Study 10, the DOC concentration was sustained for 10 weeks at over 15mg/L, causing low Dissolved Oxygen (DO) in the raw water. Combined with an increase in turbidity, this required operational changes to optimise coagulation, filtration and disinfection. In this case it was precisely the combination of weather events that caused the significant increase in DOC, decrease in DO and consequential water quality impacts and water treatment challenges.

Increased turbidity was evident in every occurrence of drought followed by heavy rainfall. Elevated turbidity necessitated careful management of filtration and disinfection treatment processes. In cases of a small increase in turbidity that were not beyond the WTP’s design capacity, operators were able to decrease filter run times and increase disinfectant dosing to optimise these treatment processes.

Case Studies 4, 6, 7 and 9, however, describe an inability to treat the highly turbid water. For Case Studies 4, 6 and 9 this was due to a lack of water treatment infrastructure, or damage to the treatment infrastructure during the extreme weather event. Case Study 7 details flooding, which resulted in turbidity persisting at over 400 NTU for 14 days, with a maximum level of over 1200 NTU at two of the major WTPs (Robinson, 2011; Donaghy, 2012).

This extremely high level of turbidity necessitated the shutdown of these treatment plants.

The level of turbidity in raw water following a rainfall event is dependent on a number of factors, such as the intensity of rainfall and the state of the catchment. The intensity of the rainfall in Case Study 7 certainly contributed to the extremely high turbidity peaks. However, the prolonged drought preceding the heavy rainfall caused decreased vegetation and land degradation throughout the catchment prior to the rainfall event (Warner, 2011), which most

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The 10 Australian case studies each detail one or a combination of weather events that resulted in impacts on raw and, in some cases, also on finished water quality.

For each case study the key event causing adverse water quality issues has been identified as the primary weather event.

In general this event is also classified as an extreme weather event as per the IPCC definition. However, in most cases other significant weather events preceding or succeeding the primary event occurred, thereby exacerbating the water quality impacts. Table 1 provides a summary of the case studies, including the weather events experienced and the outcomes.

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Table 1. Extreme Weather Event Case Studies Summary.

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Case Study

1

2

Weather Events Event 1 Extreme

Drought, 2001–2007

Event 2

Bushfire, Spring 2006

Event 3 Primary

Moderate rainfall, June 2007

Event 4

High winds, 28 June–4 July and 7–13 August

Event 1 Extreme

Drought, 2001–2007

Event 2 Primary Extreme

Bushfire, Dec 2001–Jan 2002

Event 3

Moderate rainfall, beginning 7 January 2002

Event 1 Extreme

Drought, 1993–1997 Heavy rainfall,

Event 2 3

Primary

6–9 and 16–19 August 1998 ARI 30 years

Event 3

4

Event 1 Primary

Event 1 5 Event 2 Primary Event 1 Extreme 6

Event 2 Primary Extreme

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Strong winds,

Outcomes

The drought and bushfire resulted in accumulation of nutrients in the catchment riparian zones and led to reduced storage volumes of 33.6%.

Rainfall in June 2007 caused the highest historical inflow to storage volume ratio. High winds disturbed the thermocline and caused mixing throughout the reservoir. Increased turbidity and nutrients were detected and a significant Cyanobacterial bloom developed.

A total of 66 different species of cyanobacteria and algae were detected in the source water. Major incident declared in response to detection of up to 20,000 Microcystis sp. cells per mL.

Increase in turbidity and nutrients in raw water.

Loss of power at several water and wastewater treatment plants and pumping stations resulted in boil water notices being issued.

Turbidity >15 NTU was recorded in the source water. Various levels of Cryptosporidium and Giardia, up to a maximum of 12080 and 7620 cells/100L respectively, were recorded in the source water, water treatment plant inlets and within the distribution system. As the level of Cryptosporidium and Giardia detected in the raw and finished waters was of concern, the decision was made to issue three Boil Water Notices over a 10-week period, which affected more than two million consumers.

August 1998 Heavy rainfall, late 2010 ARI approx.

8–12 years Below average rainfall, April 1997– March 1998

The erodible nature of the basaltic soils in the upper Barnard River resulted in very high levels of turbidity, elevated phosphorus and sediment. As there was no water treatment facility constructed at the time of the incident it was not possible to fill the off-river storage. This resulted in a draw-down of the water storage and the presence of taste and odour compounds.

Rainfall pushed a developing algal bloom from stagnant upstream rivers into the drinking water storage, which was only at 64% full.

Sporadic rainfall, September 1997

Blue-green algal bloom persisted in the drinking water storage for more than two months. The dominant organisms present were identified as Microcystis flos-aquae and M. aeruginosa. Cell numbers were recorded up to 12,000 cells/mL.

ARI 10 years

Geosmin levels rose to 16 ng/L.

Drought, 2001–2007 Heavy rainfall, June 2007 Approx.

ARI 100 years

Heavy rainfall transported high levels of sediment into the drinking water storage, which was only 40% full. This resulted in high turbidity. Inflows peaked in the 50–100 NTU range, giving a turbidity peak of 40 NTU at the bottom of the reservoir. Drinking water for Melbourne was transferred from an alternative reservoir and Boil Water Notices issued to residents supplied by the affected reservoir on 16 July 2007.

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Table 1 (cont’d). Extreme Weather Event Case Studies Summary.

Case Study

Weather Events Event 1 Extreme

7

Drought, 2002–2009 Heavy rainfall, October–December 2010

Event 3 Primary Extreme

Intense rainfall and flooding, January 2011

Event 1

Drought, 2002–2010

Event 2 Extreme Event 3 Primary Extreme

Detection of E. coli in two locations prompted the issue of Boil Water Advisories for affected communities.

Bushfire, 17–26 January 2003 Heavy rainfall and flooding, December 2010

The drought and rainfall preceding the primary weather event caused decreased catchment vegetation and substantial bank erosion. This caused sediment mobilisation and significant turbidity issues, which prevented treatment at some water treatment plants. Flooding of water treatment and pumping infrastructure also prohibited continual and efficient water treatment in some areas (McManamon, 2011).

The extended drought and bushfire resulted in erosion and the build-up of organic matter in catchment riparian zones. In addition, the low reservoir levels allowed for vegetation growth on the reservoir banks.

Heavy rainfall transported sediment and organic matter to the raw water supply, resulting in increased dissolved organic carbon and increased turbidity.

Campaspe River reached an historic peak on 15 January 2011.

Source water quality issues included: Event 1 9

Primary Extreme

Event 1 Extreme 10

Heavy rainfall and flooding,

- Increased colour (up to 100 pt/Co, normally 15-30 pt/Co)

November 2010– January 2011

- Increased turbidity (up to 69 NTU, 20-30 NTU normal)

ARI 200 years

There were also public health concerns due to overflows of untreated wastewater into the source, and damage to water infrastructure resulting in the water treatment plant being offline during the flooding. A Boil Water Notice was issued directly on 16–27 January 2011.

Drought, 2001–2010

Hypoxic blackwater in the southern Murray-Darling Basin resulted in fish kills, increased DOC and decreased DO.

Event 2 Primary

- Increased conductivity (up to 150 µs/cm, normally 60-100 µs/cm)

Heavy rainfall, Late 2010

Extreme likely increased the river’s vulnerability to bank slumping and erosion, resulting in extensive sediment and nutrient mobilisation. No doubt other factors, such as quarrying or land management, would also have contributed to land degradation in the catchment, but the drought could only have exacerbated these effects.

It is reasonable to infer that the extent of the elevated DOC and turbidity was far worse, given the combination of weather events, than would have been experienced had the weather events occurred in isolation. This is supported by the difference in turbidity changes from the isolated rainfall events referred

DOC levels reached over 15mg/L and were sustained for over 10 weeks at various points along the river. DO concentration dropped to below 6mg/L from December 2010 in the upper regions of the river until late April 2011 around Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend. These parameters threatened the effectiveness of disinfection processes and increased the risk of taste and odour compounds. to in Case Studies 4 and 9, to those reported in case studies where there were other significant weather events.

Even though Case Study 4 reported a 1-in-200-year flood, the turbidity impacts were still significantly less than cases where prolonged drought, multiple rainfall events or bushfires had also occurred. In the cases with multiple weather events, the level of turbidity elevation experienced not only had consequences to the raw water quality, but also posed significant treatment challenges, in some cases resulting in the shut-down of water treatment facilities and the use of alternate water sources.

Were the extreme rainfall events to occur in closer succession, it is conceivable that the impacts of erosion and consequential turbidity could be exaggerated. However, should rainfall events occur in closer succession, but be of a lesser intensity, the regular flows through flood plains and riparian zones would prevent the build-up of organic matter.

The cumulative effects of these successive weather events therefore depend on the intensity of the rainfall event.

Rainfall preceded by bushfire The occurrence of rainfall following a bushfire can greatly increase erosion and can result in runoff with high colour,

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Event 2

Extreme

8

Outcomes

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nutrients and suspended sediment concentrations (Smith et al., 2011).

There is evidence of this occurring in Case Studies 1, 2 and 8.

The rainfall events described in Case Studies 1 and 8 occurred at least one year after the bushfire. In both of these case studies the ongoing drought prevented adequate revegetation on the catchment lands following the bushfire, thereby contributing to the catchment vulnerability to erosion and sediment transport during a heavy rainfall event. Case Study 1 reported increased turbidity 6x normal concentrations, and increased phosphorus and nitrogen levels, resulting in a cyanobacterial bloom. The nutrient accumulation on the catchment that led to the cyanobacterial growth was exacerbated by the bushfire one year earlier.

Case Study 8 details a bushfire that occurred several years before the heavy rainfall in late 2010. This bushfire was estimated as a 1-in-400-year event and burnt 98% of the drinking water catchment. Immediately following the bushfires there were water-quality impacts, with increased turbidity, iron, manganese and nutrients. Long-term impacts, characterised by turbidity spikes, were evident due to the problems with revegetation of the catchment (White et al., 2006). The limited revegetation contributed to the vulnerability of the catchment to erosion with heavy rainfall, which then resulted in increased turbidity experienced after the 2010 drought-breaking rains.

The primary event reported in Case Study 2 was a bushfire that burnt 250,000 hectares of forest land, including extensive damage to the drinking water catchment concerned. Following the fires, six rainfall events, of up to approximately 100mm, occurred in the catchment, which worsened the effects of erosion and sediment transport into the catchment waterways (Wallbrink et al., 2004; Wilkinson et al., 2007).

However, in the years following the fires, below average rainfall persisted, thereby minimising the potential effects on water quality (Chafer, 2007).

It is evident that the extent of the water quality impacts of bushfires is largely dependent on the timing and intensity of any subsequent rainfall events (Smith et al., 2011). As such, if the catchment has a longer period of time to recover in between the bushfire

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and rainfall events, it is more likely that water quality impacts, such as increased nutrients and turbidity, will be minimised.

In the event that these extreme weather events increase in frequency it is, therefore, likely that water suppliers will experience an intensification of the related water quality impacts.

Utility preparedness to respond The extent of the impacts reported in each case study also depended on the utility’s preparedness to respond. Early risk assessment, changes to treatment operations and sourcing alternate raw water were identified as the three key areas that allowed utilities to minimise negative impacts. Quantitative microbial risk assessment and prior modelling of reservoirs were two examples of how utilities were able to effectively assess the extent of the water quality impacts and plan for extreme events.

Changes to treatment operations and alternative water supply also proved important in managing the changes to raw water quality. For example, utility response included regularly assessing and optimising treatment plant operations, commissioning mobileactivated carbon dosing and disinfection plants, and sourcing additional water supplies through desalination and alternative reservoirs.

The level of preparedness varied across all case studies, with all utilities identifying some areas for improvement. In case studies where combinations of extreme weather events caused unprecedented changes to raw water quality, utilities were often unprepared for the scale of the event and reported difficulties in applying emergency response plans that did not cater for water quality incidents of the magnitude experienced. In these cases, utilities identified a number of lessons learned and areas for prevention and better preparation for future events. Common themes for improved preparedness included: • Increased research, such as algae bloom dynamics, flood modelling, groundwater quality and catchment management, for more accurate risk assessments; • Ability to detect water quality changes earlier through online monitoring and regular catchment inspections; • Scalable emergency response plans with clear escalation strategies;

• Incorporation of lessons learned into business-as-usual, and up-skilling of operators and other staff where necessary to enable effective decisionmaking during water quality incidents; • Alternate water supply or water treatment options; • Better internal and stakeholder communications during emergencies.

CONCLUSION Ten case studies from five Australian states have been compiled to examine the water quality impacts of extreme weather events. Impacts on source water quality included increased turbidity and organic matter, hypoxia, eutrophication leading to algal and cyanobacterial growth, taste and odour problems, increased presence or risk of pathogens, and changes to conductivity, pH and alkalinity. Finished water quality was also compromised by these parameters and by infrastructure damage incurred during the extreme weather events. Immediate operational response was required by utilities to minimise the risk to public health and to avoid interruptions to water supply.

It was found for the majority of case studies that the resulting water quality impacts were caused or exacerbated by the occurrence of multiple significant weather events, rather than individual extreme weather events. Furthermore, in many cases, the water quality impacts could conceivably have been worse if the weather events had been in closer succession.

This result is important in light of a changing climate and, in particular, in light of predicted changes to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. It is, therefore, necessary to look to these examples of raw water quality impacts and of lessons learned to inform planning, not only for individual extreme weather events, but also for incident management adaptable to the scale and complexity of impacts from combinations of extreme weather events.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was funded by the Water Research Foundation (RFP No. 4324), with contributions from the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) and more than 50 water utilities from Australia and the USA. The final report for the WRF Project No. 4324 was published in January 2014.

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Technical Papers THE AUTHORS

Donaghy P (2012): Management of Residuals Production During Excessive Wet Weather Events at Water Treatment Plants. Ozwater’12.

Sydney, Australia.

Garnaut R (2008): The Garnaut Climate Change Review: Final Report. Melbourne, Australia: 680.

Ben Stanford (email: bstanford@ hazenandsawyer.com) is Director of Applied Research at Hazen and Sawyer, Raleigh,NC, US. Shona Fitzgerald (email: SHONA. FITZGERALD@sydneywater.com.au) is a Graduate Scientist at Sydney Water Corporation.

REFERENCES BOM (2010): Annual Australian Climate Statement 2010. Retrieved June 2012, from www.bom.gov.au/announcements/media_ releases/climate/change/20110105.shtml Chafer CJ (2007): Wildfire, Catchment Health and Water Quality: A Review of Knowledge Derived From Research Undertaken in Sydney’s Water Supply Catchments 2002–2007.

IPCC (2012): Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. CB Field, V Barros, TF Stocker et al. New York: 594.

McManamon P (2011): Statement of Peter McManamon, 13 May 2011. Statement for the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry.

Robinson AA (2011): Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry – Supplementary Submission by Queensland Bulk Water Supply Authority trading as Seqwater.

Short MD, Peirson WL, Peters GM & Cox RJ (2012): Managing Adaptation of Urban Water Systems in a Changing Climate. Water Resource Management, 26, pp 1953–1981.

Smith HG, Sheridan GJ, Lane PNJ, Nyman P & Haydon S (2011): Wildfire Effects on Water Quality in Forest Catchments- – A Review With Implications for Water Supply. Journal of Hydrology, 396, pp 170–192.

Wallbrink P, English P, Chafer C, Humphreys G, Shakesby R, Blake W & Doerr S (2004): Impacts on Water Quality by Sediments and Nutrients Released During Extreme Bushfires: Report 1: A Review of the Literature Pertaining to the Effect of Fire on Erosion and Erosion Rates, With Emphasis on the Nattai Catchment, NSW, Following the 2001 Bushfires, CSIRO Land and Water Client Report.

Warner S (2011): Restoring Ecological Infrastructure for Flood Resilience: The 2011 Southeast Queensland Floods and Beyond, SEQ Catchments, Submission to the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry: 39.

White I, Wade A, Worthy M, Mueller N, Daniell TM & Wasson R (2006): The Vulnerability of Water Supply Catchments to Bushfires: Impacts of the January 2003 Wildfires on the Australian Capital Territory. Australian Journal of Water Resources, 10, 2, pp 179–194.

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Dr Stuart Khan (email: s.khan@unsw.edu. au) is an Associate Professor in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales.

IPCC (2001): IPCC Glossary of Terms. Retrieved June 2012, from www.ipcc.ch/publications_ and_data/publications_and_data_glossary. shtml#.T-itkjvNoZM.

Steffen W (2011): The Critical Decade: Climate Science, Risks and Responses, Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency: 72.

Wilkinson S, Wallbrink P, Shakesby R, Blake W & Doerr S (2007): Impacts on Water Quality

by Sediments and Nutrients Released During Extreme Bushfires: Summary of Findings. CSIRO Land and Water Science Report 38/07. Report for the Sydney Catchment Authority: 15.

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DESIGN OPTIONS FOR BACKFLOW PREVENTION DEVICES IN LEVEE STORMWATER OUTLETS EXTREME WEATHER & DISASTER MANAGEMENT

A review of backflow prevention devices and learnings from Australian case studies B Kelly

ABSTRACT

11.

Aesthetics;

Flooding of residential areas due to water flowing back through stormwater drains, levees and pipes has always been an issue. The city of Brisbane was a highprofile example of how backflow through pipes and open drains can inundate significant areas of residential and industrial land, even though the levee remained intact and was not overtopped.

This caused considerable disruption, with substantial social and economical costs.

12.

Capital vs whole-of-life costs;

13.

Early involvement.

Backflow prevention devices have traditionally been considered as simple flap-type gates on pipe ends.

In fact, there are many water control infrastructure solutions that can be utilised to prevent backflow.

A number of Australian cities and towns have embarked on significant backflow prevention programs over recent years. These projects have highlighted many lessons that can be used to improve costs and outcomes for backflow flood mitigation projects.

This paper discusses:

Backflow prevention devices are located in some challenging environments, traditionally with minimal maintenance, yet are expected to operate effectively when required to protect assets and lives. Design specifications are critical to performance and, therefore, require due consideration.

BACKGROUND Throughout Australia, flood mitigation studies are currently identifying strategies to isolate assets from floodwater inundation, resulting in comprehensive backflow prevention programs.

Backflow prevention devices form part of the critical infrastructure required for the isolation of stormwater systems during flood events. The purposedesigned equipment may be required to isolate, redirect or control rising stormwaters or invading tidal or floodwaters.

Tailored infrastructure, supplied as standard or custom-designed, satisfies flood mitigation solutions across urban, suburban, industrial and regional locations including:

1.

Different types of backflow prevention devices;

2.

The interaction of backflow prevention devices with existing and new infrastructure;

3.

Maintenance;

4.

Dealing with silt and debris;

5.

Wave action on flap devices;

6.

Hinge options;

7.

Material selection for different environments;

8.

Dissimilar materials and electrolysis;

• Floodwater diversions;

9.

Design of backflow prevention devices;

• Floodwater redirection systems;

10. How

to minimise the effects of upstream flooding caused by localised rain events when the backflow device is closed;

• Isolation solutions for drains, levees and pipes; • Flood protection structures for inner city buildings and basements, sporting facilities, shopping centres, housing, industrial facilities and utility services;

• Permanent or portable flood control barriers; • Emergency isolation gates;

Flap Gate on a stormwater outlet.

• Backflow prevention devices; • Removable stop boards and bulkheads; • Slide gates, tidal gates and flap gates; • Permanent and temporary barrier systems; • Remote or on-site monitoring and control options for greater information and control.

Water management strategies are becoming essential for many corporations and councils Australia-wide.

Sourcing assistance from water control companies ensures that a comprehensive range of options is explored in the early development stages.

The partnership will determine how the isolation, redirection and operation of water control structures will influence town planning and risk management policies.

The results involve the identification and analysis of all appropriate options to determine the best operational and financially viable solution.

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the cost of the actual device. Early involvement with a competent backflow prevention specialist at the concept design phase will allow all options to be assessed, potentially saving tens of thousands of dollars on civil works.

Innovative design processes often allow gates to be custom designed to mount on an existing infrastructure without expensive civil works. Often any civil works required in the type of environment where backflow prevention devices are installed will have significant environmental constraints that can be prohibitive in cost to comply with. Wherever possible, backflow prevention devices should be retrofitted to existing infrastructure.

Maintenance Tilting LayFlat gates featuring collapsible handrails to reduce infrastructure damage during flood events.

DISCUSSION

• LayFlat or Tilting Gates

A number of Australian cities and towns have embarked on significant backflow prevention programs over recent years.

These projects have highlighted many lessons that can be used to improve costs and outcomes for future backflow flood mitigation projects.

This type of gate provides good options for isolation or regulation of water in one direction; as it tilts to open there is very little overhead infrastructure.

Considerations include: Different types of backflow prevention devices • Penstocks Penstocks are traditionally vertical slide gates. While these are the most common, there are many versions of penstocks that can be custom designed to meet specific operational and site constraints, including sideways opening gates. This design reduces the headstock height, often to meet with aesthetic requirements.

Sideways opening gates can be operated via submerged hydraulic actuation, or from a rack and pinion drive from above the water line. Recent advances in design have seen rack and pinion drives replaced by direct drive cables that provide lower maintenance when fully submerged.

• Multi-Leaf Gates In areas such as pits, multi-leaf gates can provide viable options with low head clearance. Gates are usually dualleaf, requiring only 60% of the actual orifice size for the gate to fully open.

In some cases triple leaf gates have been supplied, reducing the required headroom even more.

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• Flap Gates Flap gates are usually mounted on pipe ends, but they can also be headwall mounted in pits along a pipeline to assist with maintenance. Flap gates are typically thought to be a simple, economical backflow prevention device. However, in designing a flap gate, many considerations have to be taken into account to ensure a sustainable seal, low maintenance and reduced effects of wave action. Flap gates can be as small as 100mm, and have been supplied above 3m.

Backflow prevention devices are by nature installed in difficult-to-access locations and exposed to the elements.

Maintenance issues can be broken down into two areas – the infrastructure itself and the local operating environment.

Like all mechanical infrastructure there will be maintenance requirements, but smart design and material selection can significantly reduce maintenance time and costs.

Backflow prevention devices are often subject to the effects of passing water flows in rivers, creeks and drains.

These flows bring trash, debris and silt, causing mechanical damage or obstruction that will prevent effective operation. Again, smart design can minimise the issues. Regardless, there is no substitute for regular site inspections on a programmed maintenance schedule.

• Duck Bill

Dealing with silt and debris

These devices are considered as valves.

They are significantly more expensive than an equivalent-sized penstock or flap gate, so when specifying a duck bill valve it is important to ensure that all other options are assessed.

Drifting silt can be a major problem for backflow prevention devices such as flap gates and duck bill valves. Studies should be undertaken prior to specifying the type of device to determine if silt is a potential issue.

Duck-bill valves are considered when silt is an issue, and may provide less headloss in larger sizes. The duck-bill valve is constructed from moulded rubber with a vertical opening. Like the flap gate there is no actuation system.

There are a number of options to reduce the effects of silt build-up including civil structures, moving the device up the pipeline into a pit and, in some cases, innovative designs that promote scour of the silt obstruction.

The interaction of backflow prevention devices with existing and new infrastructure

Wave action on flap devices

It is very common for the civil works associated with the installation of backflow prevention devices to be up to 10 times

Many flap gates that face rivers or open waterways can be subject to wave action from wind or passing water traffic. The wave action causes the gate to ‘flap’ open and closed; while this may not

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Hinge options The design of the hinge mechanism on the flap gate is critical to ensuring sustainable operation and achieving a good seal.

Hinges should be double-acting to allow the flap gate leaf to ‘float’ and self-locate on the seal. The floating characteristic provides for installation tolerances, as opposed to a single hinge design where installation has to be perfect – and remain so to achieve a viable seal.

Hinges should utilise a good quality, non-corrosive bearing material such as UHMWPE. Material selection for different environments Backflow prevention devices can be supplied in various materials including plastic, fibreglass, mild steel, aluminium and stainless steel.

Material selection is key to determining maintenance and replacement durations, significantly affecting whole-of-life costs.

Smaller devices require less scrutiny,

to drain if the downstream level is lower than the street level.

Many devices are located in tidal environments where great care should be taken in material selection to ensure viable service life. Extra capital cost can usually be easily justified against wholeof-life cost when correctly assessed.

When a penstock is closed it will hold water within the stormwater pipe regardless of downstream water levels.

Recently AWMA has been designing penstocks (including dual leaf gates) with integral flap gates to prevent upstream flooding from rain events in the catchment, regardless of how early the penstock is closed prior to a predicted flood event.

Dissimilar materials and electrolysis

Aesthetics

Isolation of dissimilar metals and isolation of gate material from concrete can significantly extend the life of infrastructure. Electrolysis, particularly in tidal or warm water environments, can rapidly render a gate useless if material isolation is not considered during design and installation.

It is common that backflow prevention devices will have to be installed in very public areas so aesthetics of the infrastructure will come into play.

Reducing headstocks on penstocks is usually the main concern, but it can extend to the colour of the infrastructure.

Again, early involvement with an experienced manufacturer at concept design stage will ensure the options are addressed, resulting in a visually pleasing piece of infrastructure and eliminate public complaints. ‘Hiding’ infrastructure also reduces acts of vandalism.

Operation of backflow prevention devices The location, access, size and frequency of use will determine the best method of operation. Flap gates and duck-bill valves operate automatically (assuming they are free from obstruction). Penstocks require operator intervention to close. As most flap gates are only used in flood events, the most common form of actuation is via a manual handwheel or electric actuation system with push-button control if on site.

Usually, larger penstocks are electrically actuated. Power sources can be 240VAC or 415VAC, mains powered or by solarcharged battery. If mains power is used, provision should be made for either manual override or generator connectivity to allow operation during outages.

Gates can also be hydraulically actuated.

Capital vs Whole-of-Life Costs Most projects are constrained by capital budgets. A badly designed or installed backflow prevention device can incur ‘whole-of-life costs’ many times that of the initial capital cost.

The worst outcome of a design selection based on capital constraints is that, if the wrong type of device is fitted, it fails to isolate the stormwater pipe or open drain and flooding occurs upstream with major economical and social impacts.

In remote locations or sites that require frequent operation it is possible to have the gate actuation system automatically controlled via the upstream level. If automation is used it is important to have a remote monitoring system to ensure automated operation has been successful.

How to minimise effects of upstream flooding caused by localised rain events when backflow device is closed One of the negative effects of isolation of a stormwater pipe or open drain is that stormwater cannot exit the system and has potential to build up and cause localised flooding in the area it was designed to protect.

Non-rising topseal Penstock on levee.

Flap gates and duck-bill valves, if manufactured correctly, will allow water

Rising topseal Penstock on levee.

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There are a number of ways to reduce the affects of wave action on flap gates. It is important to nominate in the specification if this condition is likely to occur.

but as backflow devices increase in size, material selection becomes critical. Factors to consider include flap gate leaf weight, corrosion, required life, maintenance access, capital budget vs whole-of-life budget, strength, location etc.

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Custom-designed topseal Penstock for backflow prevention, with integral pressure relief flap gate.

Early Involvement The most effective way to mitigate the risk of failure and ensure value for money, both on capital investment and wholeof-life costs, is to involve a competent backflow prevention manufacturer as early as possible in the design phase.

The involvement of experienced partners reduces project risks, allows for improved investment decisions, sustainable infrastructure and increases overall project success for greater asset protection.

CASE STUDIES Brisbane

Between July 2011 and May 2012, Council conducted technical investigations to look at the feasibility of installing backflow devices in areas where backflow flooding occurred. The investigation was required as these devices are not suitable in all situations.

Backflow devices are one of many types of flood mitigation tools and strategies that Council is considering to help protect Brisbane from the impacts of flooding. The wider flood risk management strategy also considers the role of planning measures to assist in managing all flooding risks in Brisbane (BCC, 2013).

A backflow device is designed so that water flows in one direction through piped stormwater systems and minimises water flowing back up into stormwater pipes. Backflow devices are effective at preventing stormwater flooding in certain circumstances, but there is no guarantee of full flooding protection. While these devices reduce the chance of backflow flooding, they cannot prevent other forms of flooding.

After its own devastating flood events, Wagga Wagga City Council partnered with AWMA to develop a flood mitigation plan to increase the town’s protection against floodwaters.

In 2013, AWMA Pty Ltd began installing approximately 40 backflow prevention devices across 12 Brisbane stormwater systems. The brief was to deliver reliable, high head, customised infrastructure to protect Brisbane’s CBD from flooding. Working in conjunction with Brisbane City Council (BCC), the company developed critical infrastructure to address backflow issues in key city stormwater drains.

Creek Street, one of the busiest streets in Brisbane, was found to be the most suitable location for the CBD installation. BCC contractors undertook a series of night works in an effort to construct a suitable chamber and complete the installation with minimal disruption to city traffic.

The suburbs and surrounding areas of Brisbane have been built on a low-lying flood plain, vulnerable to inundation. Storms, heavy seasonal rain and flooding are a natural part of living in Brisbane and Brisbane City Council (BCC) is committed to reducing the risk of flooding (BCC, 2013).

The Creek Street solution involved custom-designing a grade 316 stainless steel dual-leaf TLF penstock to isolate the existing 2700mm-diameter brick stormwater pipe. The 3-tonne multi-leaf penstock has a clear span of 3m x 3m and is designed to withstand 5.5m of water pressure.

During the January 2011 flood, some parts of Brisbane were affected by water that came up from the river through the drainage networks and into the streets.

This is referred to as backflow flooding.

A risk management review resulted in an integrated flap gate to prevent excess pressure on the gate and the pipe itself.

Customised low-profile headstocks were engineered to meet restrictions under the roadway.

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Wagga Wagga

Most of Wagga is protected against rising river levels by an earthen levee bank. The town’s stormwater drainage system penetrates the levee and allows backflow in a flood event, with the potential to cause widespread residential flooding.

The selected backflow prevention devices avert backflow during flood events, but still allow stormwater drainage during normal river levels. In a staged implementation program, 30 water control structures were supplied to Wagga City Council. Hinged flap gates were installed on the river side of the levee, while full-parameter sealing TLF penstocks were located on the city side of the levee to provide the security of double isolation.

CONCLUSIONS Many Australian suburbs are vulnerable to water inundation. Stormwater systems have been identified as high priority sites for backflow device installation across many floodprone areas. Backflow prevention devices stop flooding caused by river water rising up out of drains.

To ascertain the correct water control equipment to protected assets and decrease associated risks, it’s advisable to consult water infrastructure specialists early. If a solution doesn’t already exist, it can be resolved.

Obtaining the right expert input at the start will pay off in the long run.

THE AUTHOR Brett Kelly (email: brett@awmawatercontrol. com.au) is Managing Director at AWMA Water Control Solutions.

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“Pump Fundamentals” and “Liquid Piping Systems Fundamentals” The information presented in “Pump Fundamentals” and “Liquid Piping Systems Fundamentals” includes: pump calculations, pump types, sizing, selection, installation, maintenance, pipe and fittings selection, pipe sizing, pipeline materials and operation, wall thickness calculations, valves, instruments, drafting, relevant codes and standards, worked example problems and much more.

Discounts apply for early registrations, dual seminar bookings and multiple registrations from the one organisation.

We can also run these seminars at your own workplace or customise them to suit your needs. We have also provided customised pump/pipeline seminars to many organisations involved in the water and wastewater sector, mining and minerals processing etc including consultants and public utilities.

“Pressure Vessel Design to AS1210” For those involved in the design of pressure vessels, our “Pressure Vessel Design to AS1210” seminar is a must. The information presented includes: relevant background and strength of materials theory, vessel classes, vessel components, commonly used materials, materials testing, vessel corrosion, joint design, shell design, load combinations, openings design, supports design, vessel ancillaries, vessel manufacture, worked example probems and much more. This seminar is presented in conjunction with our seminar partner - Sherwood Design & Engineering.

“Piping Design to AS4041 & ASME B31.3” By popular demand, we have included Melbourne in our list of public venues for 2014. The purpose of this seminar is to provide guidance to those who are not only new to piping, but are also required to design “code compliant” piping systems as part of their job function. The seminar starts with a refresher of relevant “strength of materials” information and a history of piping codes/standards before diving into piping code design topics such as: determining wall thickness, allowable stresses, stress reduction factors, design of stiffener rings, fittings, pipe support spacing, combined loading, dynamic fluid loading, thermal expansion, flexibility analysis, Stress Intensification Factors, cold spring, pipe supports, nozzle loads, flexible joints and computer stress analysis. Many worked example problems are presented.

Contact Details For more information on our seminars (including a full seminar synopsis) and to obtain registration forms, call KASA on (02) 9949 9795 or email info@kasa.com.au or visit www.kasa.com.au.

www.kasa.com.au

KASA Redberg

Engineers & Technical Trainers

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LEADERSHIP IN LEARNING: COLLABORATIVE APPROACHES TO BUILDING THE WATER SECTOR OF THE FUTURE Embracing a time of change and challenge BS McIntosh, M Pascoe, P Lant, S Bunn, PJ Jeffrey

WATER EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION We live in a time of change within the water industry. Across the sector pressure is growing to secure water resources in the face of climate variability and change; ensure sufficient water flows to support the health of inland waterways and coastal ecosystems; deliver resilient and affordable water supplies; recover energy and other materials from wastewater; better manage stormwater; mitigate flooding; and play a stronger role in enhancing the liveability of our cities. These pressures constitute strong drivers for transformation in our water policy, planning and management systems, and in the way we think about and use water for different purposes.

We have previously articulated the challenges of developing skills and knowledge profiles in the workforce of the water sector to enable the implementation of transformational change while ensuring high-quality basic services and functions are delivered cost effectively (McIntosh et al., 2013; McIntosh and Taylor, 2013). The kinds of T-shaped, leadership-oriented professional skills profiles that we have argued will be needed for effective transformation are different from the kinds of narrower, specialist â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;-shaped skills profiles that are needed for effective delivery of basic services and functions.

The water sector needs both kinds of skills profile in the workforce, but as a matter of some urgency needs to develop enhanced capacity to innovate as the basis of responding effectively to transformational pressures. Radical innovations require significant effort and long lead-in times; they require the development of leadership capacity, a gap recognised within the sector (AWA, 2011).

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We also live in a time of change within the Higher Education sector. Online learning purveyors, particularly Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) providers, have positioned themselves as offering world-class learning at little or no cost to the learner. Massive, open and online learning offers a response to increasing cost pressures on individual learners and a challenge to the traditional role and modes of learning that universities offer.

At the same time, the need to improve the way in which higher education is integrated with workplace skills and knowledge needs has been recognised in Australia as being key to achieving broader transformational ambitions for the national economy.

Universities Australia, the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Industry Group and the Australian Collaborative Education Network have recently signed a letter of intent to strengthen university and business partnerships for the purpose of improving the integration of work-based and work-oriented learning into curricula (Universities Australia, 2014).

Whether MOOC providers such as Coursera (with its advertised over 6,700,000 registered learners spread over 622 courses from 108 university partners globally) are able to create new high-quality and financially sustainable models of education provision is still up for debate. The question of whether or not online-delivered courses or even entire degrees will provide high enough quality and sufficiently relevant skills and knowledge development to meet workforce needs has not yet even become a focus for debate.

So while we stand on the edge of significant changes to higher education,

we argue that the transformational skills and knowledge agenda facing the water sector in Australia will not be delivered using massive online models of learning.

Rather, based on what we know about effective leadership development (Taylor et al., 2012), we argue that the development of skills profiles for driving innovation and change in the water sector will itself require innovative and significantly more intensive faceto-face and immersive programs of learning. Our aim with this article is to critically review two example program models for innovative, professionally targeted higher education that have been implemented as a response to the transformational needs of the water sector here in Australia and in the UK. Both programs are collaborative, involving multiple university and employer partners. The first model is a collaboratively delivered Masters Program run by the International WaterCentre (IWC) on behalf of a set of university partners to target Government, utility, NGO and consulting firm needs, while the second is a collaboratively delivered Engineering Doctorate Program focused on the needs of the UK water industry, called STREAM and run by a consortium of universities using leveraged Government and water industry funding.

How do these programs work? How do they employ collaboration and what benefits does this bring? What key success lessons can be learned from them for the broader transformational skills and knowledge agenda? How might these programs and the delivery and learning models they embody be progressed for the benefit of the Australian and other water sectors?

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Within the T-shaped water professional model, these sets of skills and knowledge are positioned within a broader framework, which includes ethics, personal values and context. Context here is intended to show recognition that effective T-shaped professionals will have developed skills to appreciate the organisational and cultural contexts within which they work and to nuance their approaches correspondingly (Taylor et al., 2012).

Figure 1. The IWC T-shaped water professional concept. as identified from work on emergent leadership in the water sector (Taylor et al., 2011, 2012):

The concept of the T-shaped water professional underlies the design and delivery of a suite of Masters level water management programs offered by the IWC – the Masters of Integrated Water Management, or MIWM (which contains related Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate programs), and the Water Leadership Program (WLP) (see McIntosh and Taylor, 2013, and Figure 1). The overall ambition of IWC Masters level programs is to develop specialists able to operate across boundaries and in different situations rather than generalists with limited depth of knowledge. Figure 2 indicates graphically the difference between:

• Understanding – the mix of additional skills and knowledge required to turn deep disciplinary or functional specialists into professionals able to collaborate across boundaries. In water, this knowledge would include natural sciences (e.g. hydrology, ecology), social sciences (e.g. sociology, psychology, governance, economics) and engineering (e.g. process treatment, hydraulics);

• T-shaped skills profiles – deep disciplinary or functional understanding and an ability to apply that understanding in different situations; an ability to ‘talk the language’ of other disciplines and functional areas;

• Organising – the mix of management skills and knowledge that are essential for effective implementation of innovation, and for more general problem solving and team work within organisations. Examples include project management, systems thinking and stakeholder engagement; • Influencing – the set of behaviours, strategies, tools and skills that are

The IWC T-shaped model targets the development of all three skills sets (understanding, organising and influencing), although not all within the same program, partly because the scope across all three is too significant to fit inside one program effectively.

Instead, the programs of the IWC have been developed to deliver different components of the T-shaped water

• Generalist skills profiles – knowledge of many areas to a limited extent; able to recognise the need for change and to connect people, but not likely to be deep enough in any one area to identify how to innovate or to drive processes of innovation; • I-shaped or specialist skills profiles – deep disciplinary or functional understanding; an ability to resolve complicated tasks and problems; and to deliver technically deep, high-quality outcomes.

Looking at skills and knowledge, there are three core groups of relevance

Figure 2. Professional skills profiles differentiated by breadth and depth of knowledge (adapted from Uhlenbrook & de Jong, 2012).

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WATER EDUCATION

MASTERS LEVEL LEARNING FOR INNOVATION AND CHANGE

The ambition of developing T-shaped water professionals is significant, perhaps more significant than in other professions, because of the sheer diversity of skills and knowledge required. Developing a broad, systemic appreciation of water management and how one’s own area of professional expertise is situated and relates to others involves a range of subjects from governance, law and policy through social impact assessment, stakeholder engagement and conflict management, to hydrology, water quality, ecology and engineering. In addition to these areas of substantive understanding there are skills in project management, teamwork and management, time management, networking and collaboration, as well as reflective personal values clarification and application.

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Table 1. Coverage of T-shaped skills and knowledge profile components

by IWC programs.

WATER EDUCATION

T-shaped skills profile component

Masters of Integrated Water Management

Water Leadership Program

Understanding

Covered

Minor coverage

Organising

Covered

Minor coverage

Influencing

Minor coverage

Covered

Collaboration

Covered

Covered

Ethics, context and values

Covered

Covered

professional skills and knowledge profile (see Table 1). Essentially, the Masters Program can be thought of as developing skills and knowledge to inform what to change (an outcome focus), and a little bit of implementation of innovation and change (a process focus), while the WLP focuses on developing skills and knowledge for implementation of innovation and change with a little on what to change.

To provide more detail, Table 2 shows the subjects that are covered within each program to deliver the components of the T-shaped skills profile.

DOCTORAL-LEVEL LEARNING FOR INNOVATION AND CHANGE The UK water and wastewater sector is composed of around 500 companies employing around 80,000 people. Of significant concern in the UK is the “persistent shortfall in the number of engineers required to achieve economic growth” (HoC STC, 2103) and the lack of ability of graduates to apply their engineering skills and knowledge development in the workplace (ICE, 2012). On top of this there are general and recognised needs to improve innovation performance and rates in the UK water sector (Cave, 2009) along with specific innovation needs surrounding tackling water scarcity, reducing carbon emissions and improving water quality (Energy and Utility Skills, 2013), creating a strong need for industry- and innovation-focused skills and knowledge development within engineering and related disciplines.

The UK Government’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC – www.epsrc.ac.uk) has a longstanding funding mechanism that seeks to develop sector-focused engineering research, leadership and management skills and knowledge through the form of Engineering Doctorate (EngD) degrees run by universities. The mechanism, the Industrial Doctorate Centre (IDC), is a

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way of granting funding to consortia of universities to provide sector-specific research higher degrees in close collaboration with industry, so as to provide both a Government-leveraged means of industrial partners funding and directing research that will lead directly to innovation for them, and a means of developing the engineering research leaders of the future for the sector. IDCs have a research (knowledge production) function, a human capacity/skills and knowledge development function, and a broader function in creating links between industry and universities, which then facilitate the dissemination of ideas and catalyse innovation.

The EngD model of research education was established in 1992 as a way of combining excellence in engineering research with a broadening education to provide graduates (EngD holders) with the skills necessary to function effectively in the sector of their research. In 2009, 45 new IDCs were established by EPSRC with funding of £283m across a range of sectors (EPSRC, 2011). The water industry IDC is called STREAM (www.stream-idc.net) and is run by a consortium of Cranfield University, the University of Sheffield, Imperial College London, Newcastle University and the University of Exeter, along with an Industrial Steering Board composed of major utilities, consultants and contractors – Anglian Water, MWH, Thames Water, Balfour Beatty, WRC, United Utilities, Scottish Water and Severn Trent Water.

The STREAM IDC is based around the premise that developing the next generation of engineering leaders will require a subtle mixture of academic and industrial contributions. The IDC is essentially a program of industrydriven research that is delivered through the provision of part-industry, partGovernment and part-university funded EngD studentships. Research projects funded through STREAM combine academic rigour with water sector

priorities, typically ‘where there is a need to go back to fundamental scientific understanding and principles’ (STREAM Sponsor Survey, 2011), are collaboratively formulated by academics and industrial partners, and informed by associated research agendas.

The aim is to provide research students with a motivational training and research experience that will then launch their careers. Each cohort of STREAM EngD students undertakes a common induction semester comprising five advanced technical skills modules as well as a Group Design Project (GDP). This common program of technical skills and water sector context awareness prepares students for professional life in the water sector and ensures that they have enhanced competencies in areas such as engineering costing and risk evaluation before they join their sponsors to start their research projects. Beyond this, they are required to complete two additional Masters level technical skills modules over the course of their registration period, the choice of which is made in consultation with their academic and industrial supervisors and informed by the student’s ongoing technical skills or career development needs.

In addition to this advanced technical skills training and the research projects that constitute the core of the program, students on the induction semester commence a detailed transferable skills program. A number of field trips to water management schemes and treatment works providing first-hand experience of sector practices and challenges are also included.

A central tenet of the STREAM program is proactive development of researchers’ transferable skills.

The STREAM Transferable Skills and Engineering Leadership (TSEL) syllabus was developed in close consultation with sector stakeholders and comprises five week-long modules covering: Research Skills, Business Environment, Personal Development, Communicating and Project Delivery.

The syllabus meets the expectations set out in the RCUK Joint Statement of Skills Training Requirements and is strongly aligned (95% concordance) with the transferable skills priorities advanced by the Engineering Council’s UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (EC, 2013).

The TSEL program has been designed to be delivered in a timely fashion to fit with research and career development

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Table 2. Detail of the topics covered by the IWC MIWM and WLP against each T-shaped skills profile component (note, the list of topics is coarsely grained and not exhaustive).

T-shaped skills profile component

Masters of Integrated Water Management

Water Leadership Program

• Natural science (e.g. hydrology, water quality, aquatic ecosystem function and health, sustainability, climate science, urban climatology, dryland agriculture) • Social science (e.g. water governance, water policy, water law, environmental economics, development theory, sustainability, behaviour change, gender, participation and collaboration) • Applied science (e.g. social impact assessment, environmental impact Understanding assessment, IWRM, sustainable livelihoods, participatory rural appraisal, decision-making techniques, urban metabolism, life-cycle assessment, urban agriculture, conceptual modelling)

• Systems thinking • Methods to build leadership capacity over one’s career (e.g. mentoring, individual leadership development plans, feedback, challenging job assignments, etc)

WATER EDUCATION

• Engineering (e.g. water treatment, sustainability, low-cost water and sanitation systems, water supply system design, mass balance modelling, rainwater and stormwater harvesting, water-sensitive urban design, water/energy/nutrient recycling and recovery) • Project proposal development • Project management Organising

• Team working • Survey and interview design, execution and data management

• Self-leadership • Team development and leadership • Time management • Leadership development planning • Individual leadership development project planning and management.

• Water leadership models (relevant to the target audience) – e.g. project champion, enabling leader, team leader models

• Team leadership Influencing

• Presentation skills • Conceptual modelling

• Models and theories from the organisational leadership literature (e.g. transformational, authentic, team leadership) • Social networking • Communication skills (e.g. active listening, giving and receiving feedback, etc) • Planning successful influence attempts, including the selection of appropriate influence tactics • Fostering innovation and creativity within teams • Individual leadership development project

Collaboration

• Stakeholder engagement and participation

• Distributed/shared leadership

• Conflict management

• Team leadership

• Team leadership

• Mentor-mentee relationships

• Team roles

• Social networking • Communication skills

Ethics and values

• Personal values clarification

• Personal values clarification

• Reflective practice • Equity

• Communicating personal values to colleagues, acting in accordance with these values, and building credibility as a leader

• Ethical project management

• Authentic, ethical and self-leadership

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WATER EDUCATION

The EngD program specification for the STREAM IDC is shown in Figure 3.

COLLABORATION FOR LEARNING AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING Both the IWC and STREAM programs are delivered by means of collaboration and involve, at their heart, models of learning that are based on collaboration.

In the context of the programs run

by IWC, collaboration involves a broader partnership of universities that own IWC as an entity; while in relation to delivering the modules of MIWM and WLP, collaboration involves a set of academics from across the University of Queensland, Griffith University, Monash University/CRC for Water Sensitive Cities and the University of Western Australia, alongside a few independent consultants/ practitioners who have had past academic careers. In relation to the final project component of the MIWM, over 100

projects have been delivered involving partnerships with 45 organisations in over 37 countries. This provides workrelevant and often field-based learning for program participants, and is typically an essential component to turning the whole MIWM program into a qualification that is tailored to the individual needs and ambitions of each participant.

Cross-institutional collaboration creates a richness of expertise and experience that would be difficult or impossible to replicate in a traditional university setting, where only a limited set of academics, potentially from a single department, are available. Instead, by collaborating across university boundaries and enabling the program management team to engage the best academics or practitioners for the job, a well-qualified and passionate set of educators can be assembled for both MIWM and WLP. Extending to final projects, the opportunities presented by connecting into the networks of the delivering academics and practitioners, and into the corporate networks of the IWC, provide a capacity that again is difficult to replicate for a program delivered from within a single university department or unit.

The STREAM IDC is similarly built on a model of collaborative delivery, albeit with some different dimensions to the collaboration. The TSEL component of the STREAM EngD is delivered by academics from across the five university partners, enabling the universities to play to their strengths of delivery and, consequently,

Figure 3. Overview of the STREAM IDC EngD program.

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enhancing the learning experience.

This resonates with the collaborative, cross-institutional model of delivery utilised

by IWC. The research projects themselves are industrially driven, and students receive academic and industrial supervision from the sponsoring company.

Normally students are embedded within their sponsoring company unless specific analytical equipment (e.g. from university laboratories) is required, when the student might be based at a university for a while.

Being embedded within the sponsoring company enables significant learning to take place about how to apply research and theoretical knowledge into practice, and about how to drive research agendas by translating practical needs into engineering questions. These skills are vitally important developmental components for stimulating and driving innovation in the water sector more generally.

Focusing on the model of learning embodied in both the IWC Masters level and STREAM EngD programs, there is a strong emphasis on the cohort, and on immersion. For the IWC, participants are recruited mostly with professional experience in the water sector so the cohort is already rich in knowledge. Every cohort tends to be around 50% engineering by background, 20%–30% natural science, and around 20% social science or, sometimes, humanities. There are typically around 20 nationalities in each cohort, making the cohort rich in disciplinary knowledge and cultural approaches, as well as global and professional experience.

The approach to learning then becomes a mixture of structured facilitation of learning between cohort participants as well as some content provision by the delivery team in the role of ‘experts’. The approach is termed ‘asset-based learning’ (see Missingham and McIntosh, 2013) and has proven to be an effective way of facilitating learning in the context of a classroom where the opportunities for learning often come primarily from within the cohort.

The cohort emphasis is also present in the STREAM EngD, which operates a single start date and entry point during the year, something not normally done for research higher degree students. This provides peerto-peer learning and support opportunities, and participants will form networks that last far beyond the formal constraints of the program. These connections may then form part of broader innovation networks that benefit the sector as the EngD alumni progress through their careers.

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SUCCESS FACTORS AND SOME THOUGHTS ON THE WAY AHEAD The prospect of massive, open and online courses is looming, suggesting the potential for a revolution in higher education. The kind of innovation and change-oriented skills and knowledge development programs offered by the IWC and STREAM IDC provide something else: learning based on collaboration across traditional institutional boundaries; across disciplines, participant experiences and backgrounds; across the university-work divide; and in context. This form of learning is rich and popular. The IWC received over 450 applications for its MIWM program in 2014 and over 100 applicants expressed an interest in the STREAM EngD projects in 2013. Both programs are experiencing growth in numbers despite the economically challenging times, indicating demand for the professional learning and development involved.

Central to this attractiveness is: • Collaboration in delivery across universities and with employers; • Use of innovative learning approaches (andragogies) that utilise a mix of asset-based, immersive and workbased learning; • A focus on transferable and leadership skills.

Looking ahead for the Australian water sector, there are opportunities to develop models of research education similar to the EngD programs run by IDCs. Professional doctorates are available in most Australian universities and could

offer a means of implementing a combined research and leadership education in the context of a broader range of disciplines than engineering alone.

Doing so, and improving engagement with industry to recruit staff onto programs like the MIWM and WLP, and to secure project opportunities, will enhance existing programs. There are also opportunities to develop more specialist collaboratively delivered Masters programs to focus on building postgraduate skills in particular areas of need for the water sector. These would complement existing offerings focused on leadership and transformational capacity such as the MIWM and WLP, and ensure the right mix of T-shaped and I-shaped professional skills and knowledge development to build the water sector of the future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Some of the material presented here has been adapted from McIntosh and Taylor (2013).

THE AUTHORS Brian McIntosh (email: b.mcintosh@watercentre. org) is Senior Lecturer and Education Manager at the International WaterCentre, Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland, Senior Research Fellow at Griffith University and Visiting Fellow at Cranfield Water Science Institute in the UK. He is also a Project Leader with the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities.

Mark Pascoe (email: m.pascoe@watercentre.org) is CEO of the International WaterCentre, and an exPresident of AWA. Mark has had a 40-year career in the water sector, and is currently Manager of Water and Sewerage for Brisbane City Council.

Stuart Bunn (email: s.bunn@ griffith.edu.au) is Director of the Australian Rivers Institute (ARI) and Professor in Ecology at Griffith University.

Paul Lant (email: paul. lant@uq.edu.au) is Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Queensland and cofounder of the Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC) at the University.

Paul Jeffrey (email: p.j.jeffrey@cranfield. ac.uk) is Professor of Water Management in the Cranfield Water Science Institute at Cranfield University in the UK and Director of the STREAM Industrial Doctorate Centre.

REFERENCES AWA (2011): AWA National Water Skills Audit Report 2011, Australian Water Association.

Cave M (2009): Independent Review of Competition and Innovation in Water Markets: Final Report, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, www.archive.defra.gov.uk/ environment/quality/water/industry/cavereview/ documents/cavereview-finalreport.pdf Energy and Utility Sector Skills (2013): UK Water Industry Skills Foresight: A Report on the Skills Needs of the UK’s Water Industry Through to 2030.

EPSRC (2011): The EPSRC Industrial Doctorate Centre Scheme Good Practice Guidelines, www.epsrc.ac.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/ other/IDCGoodPracticeGuidelines.pdf (accessed 28/02/14).

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (HoC STC) (2013): Educating Tomorrow’s Engineers: The Impact of Government Reforms on 14–19 Education, London, The Stationary Office.

ICE (2012): ICE Capacity and Skills Workshop, Challenges and Opportunities for an Uncertain Future, Institution of Civil Engineers, London.

McIntosh BS & Taylor A (2013): Developing T-shaped Water Professionals: Reflections on a Framework for Building Capacity for Innovation Through Collaboration, Learning and Leadership. Water Policy, 15, pp 42–60.

McIntosh BS, Beckenham T, Yule M & Pascoe M (2013): Transforming Our Cities Whilst We Keep the Taps and Toilets Working – Facing Skills Challenges in Australian Urban Water Management, AWA Water Journal 40, 2, pp 52–56.

Missingham B & McIntosh BS (eds) (2013): Water Education for Sustainability in Higher Education, Special Issue of Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education, Issue 150.

Taylor A, Cocklin C & Brown R (2012): Fostering Environmental Champions: A Process to Build Their Capacity to Drive Change, Journal of Environmental Management, 98, pp 84–97.

Uhlenbrook S & de Jong E (2012): T-shaped Competency Profile for Water Professionals of the Future. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 16, 3, pp 475–483.

Universities Australia (2014): Statement of Intent: Work Integrated Learning – Strengthening University and Business Partnerships, www.universitiesaustralia. edu.au/ArticleDocuments/212/Work%20 Integrated%20Learning%20-%20 Statement%20of%20Intent.pdf.aspx

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Both IWC programs and the STREAM EngD emphasise the development of applied skills and knowledge by means of what might be termed immersion – learning from practice and experience by means of collaborating with external organisations or people. In the MIWM this is manifest through field trips and practicals embedded in modules, running some modules entirely immersed (e.g. learning about community development, water and livelihoods firsthand by staying in the homes of villagers in a rural Thailand setting) and by means of the final projects, which are often done on placement. In the WLP most of the learning (around 70%) takes place by implementing individual leadership development plans (ILDPs), including significant and challenging leadership projects at work. For the STREAM EngD the research projects are typically work embedded, and always industry driven.

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RAINWATER TANKS – REIGN NO MORE? An exploration of the Queensland Government’s role in the ascendancy and decline of rainwater tanks and implications for the state’s water security I White

ABSTRACT

Times and governments change.

With the repeal of the HWRS, and the Queensland Competition Authority decisions in 2012 and 2013 to reverse the support for rainwater tanks provided under the QDC, today’s diametric position materially limits the ability of local governments to make and implement their own decisions about rainwater harvesting in local constituencies. Current Queensland Government policy appears to be a systematic rejection of this renewable alternative water source – yet few seem aware of the extent of the policy change.

Why has the pendulum swung, and has it swung too far? This paper explores the changing Queensland Government role in the ascendancy and decline in support for rainwater tanks and the implications for Queensland’s ongoing water security.

Keywords: Rainwater harvesting, Queensland Development Code, urban water policy.

INTRODUCTION Household rainwater tanks dominated domestic water supply in Queensland through the 1940s and ’50s due to

Household use of rainwater tanks then held a low and stable baseline from the late 1970s, so that the burgeoning uptake of household rain harvesting (RH) in Queensland during the Millennium Drought, particularly in the period from 2004 to 2010, is reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as an 800% increase in the capital, Brisbane, and 250% increase across the state (see Figure 1). This unprecedented growth was fuelled by factors including restricted mains water supply and the threat of supply failure.

The Queensland Government responded to the water crisis with programs that facilitated household RH adoption, including grants for voluntary adoption through the Home Waterwise Rebate Scheme (HWRS), and mandated 70kL/a water savings on new dwellings as part of domestic and commercial building guidelines under the QDC. In this rainwater renaissance, the ABS reports that voluntary household uptake comprised more than 75% of growth (ABS 4602.0, see Figure 2), largely due to a range of factors that are ignored when triple bottom line benefits are eschewed for a simplistic economic rationalism, and this paper will explore some of these factors. It suffices for the moment that the people of Queensland had a fresh love affair with RH. Tanks returned social and environmental benefits to households, including freedom from water restrictions, and mitigated demand on the mains supply.

Yet criticism of RH policy from the State perspective began to emerge on health grounds, on the economics of yield, and for a predilection for centralised supply solutions, thought to be more ‘reliably

controllable’. This paper considers issues with this perspective that could have been addressed, but weren’t.

Instead, the HWRS was discontinued in 2009 and the QDC provisions for water saving repealed in 2013. Queensland has returned to a one-string reliance on water restrictions to control urban water demand, and through the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) provides an economic justification for its actions.

This paper explores the machinations of these collective decisions as they appear in the public domain, and considers the unaccounted expense of a potential disruption of ‘social contract’ between the State and its constituency.

A PLACE FOR DECENTRALISED SYSTEMS A little over 200 years ago, Dorothy McKellar wrote My Country, describing Australia as “a land of drought and flooding rains” – features likely to be exacerbated under climate change forecasts (CSIRO, 2012). The Millennium Drought that gripped Australia was felt in Queensland from 1995 until late 2009, and coined a ‘green drought’ (Cordiner, 2006) – a period in which it may rain, but rainfall does not replenish water storages.

When dams work, there is no argument that they are a highly efficient means of achieving urban water security.

However, two issues are significant. First, rainfall must physically occur in defined catchments to reach dams. The evidence for climate variability and climate change is met with the Canute expectation that the historic suitability of reservoir sites will continue to meet our demands. In financial terms, diversification means reducing risk by investing in a variety of assets, although use of decentralised systems is not, apparently, recognised as an equally sound principle for water security planning. Second, assuming that rain falls in the necessary catchment, run-off coefficients of rainfall to reservoirs are curtailed under drought

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Over the last decade, the Queensland Government has introduced, modified and repealed a range of laws, policies and programs supporting the installation of household rainwater tanks. These State actions initially seemed synchronous with a cultural transformation in the community regarding social values given to water resource management. State programs included unprecedented financial support for voluntary household rainwater tank installations through the Home Waterwise Rebate Scheme (HWRS) and mandating 70kL/a water savings (typically achieved through a rainwater tank) under the Queensland Development Code (QDC).

inadequate water supply infrastructure, though they were progressively repealed through the 1960s and early ’70s with the establishment of the reticulated mains supply and concerns about mosquito breeding and spreading dengue fever (Moglia et al., 2013).

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Running costs for household RH systems can be negligible, and because they are distributed across a community have been shown to be less expensive than the economy of scale frequently argued to favour reticulated supplies (Ferguson, 2012).

Rainfall remains a neglected water resource in urban areas and household RH systems are an attractive form of supplementing supply for several reasons:

Household RH systems are accessible to the public as a simple and ancient practice (as distinct from other decentralised demand management technologies such as domestic greywater recycling systems or condensors). They are simple to install and operate, and are convenient and economical in providing water at the point of consumption.

Household RH systems provide a renewable resource at acceptable volumes despite forecast climate change. Even taking into account the lower bounds of CSIRO’s (2007) climate change modelling for reduced rainfall in south-east Queensland (SEQ) (i.e. -12% by 2030), rainfall volume and quality are sufficient to supply one-quarter to one-third of the average SEQ household demand for water (Chong et al., 2011).

Household RH systems provide effective capture of rainwater for two reasons. First, they are effective in periods of light rainfall, since the loss coefficient is much smaller for roof catchments than for the run-off that replenishes reservoirs. Second, being decentralised, they catch rain where it rains – not simply when it rains in reservoir catchments. Household RH, therefore, provides localised benefits to households and a centralised benefit as offset demand when it does not rain in reservoir catchments.

THE INCREASE IN HOUSEHOLD RH The triennial ABS release, Environmental issues: Water Use and Conservation (Cat. no. 4602.0) provides a clear record of household water use. Figure 1 shows that households in Brisbane reported a significant increase in RH systems, from 5% in 2004, to 18% in 2007 to 43% in 2010. ABS data also show the proportion of households residing at a dwelling less than one year old that have an RH system installed rose from 26% in 2007 to 57% in 2010.

STATE POLICY AND PROGRAM SUPPORT FOR HOUSEHOLD RH The looming challenge of assuring water security through the drought provided a timely ‘policy window’ (Solecki and Michaels, 1994) for revision of water supply and governance, and the Queensland Government established voluntary and mandatory programs to support household RH. In 2006, it introduced the Queensland Development Code (QDC), mandating water savings on new housing and commercial buildings (with exemptions available to local

From the household perspective, RH systems can assure an independent supply during mains water restrictions.

From the water service provider perspective, household RH systems reduce demand on mains water supplies during supply shortfalls, defer the capital and operating costs associated with construction or augmentation of new centralised supplies, and reduce peak stormwater runoff and associated processing costs (Coombes, 2012; Pezzaniti, 2003).

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FACTORS IN VOLUNTARY RH ADOPTION Research conducted through the Millennium Drought sought to understand community acceptance of alternative water supply systems, including RH. White’s (2009) doctoral research (n = 560) developed a ‘decentralised environmental technology adoption’ model (DETA) comprising 17 subfactors drawn from the perspectives of Ecological Modernisation (EM presaged the triple bottom line) and Diffusion of Innovation (DI concerns reasons for social adoption). DETA provides a discriminant function that correctly groups 89.2% of households as ‘RH adopter’ or ‘nonadopter’ (p < 0.000) and provides a robust empirical basis for understanding the issues that influence household RH adoption (White, 2010; 2009 for detail).

What does DETA tell us about the motivations of household rainwater users? RH is a highly accessible and agreeable water supply solution to households. Advances in RH technologies allowed households to overcome health and chreseological barriers, with components like leaf-eaters, mosquito screens, pumps and filters lowering the challenges of collecting

SOURCE: ABS 4602.0: 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010

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Since only 1% of mains water has potable household use, the cost of treating water to potable standard and mains distribution for end uses such as garden watering, toilet flushing and laundry makes little sense.

Household RH systems generally yield water of acceptable quality for most domestic purposes and can be plumbed in accordingly.

governments), and launched the Home Waterwise Rebate Scheme (HWRS), providing rebates for voluntary RH system installation (along with other demand mitigation measures). Half the initial $29 million budget for the HWRS was used in the first three months and reviews extended funding until late 2009 (Department of Natural Resources and Water, 2008). This program clearly showed community acceptance of RH as an alternative water supply, yet what actually motivated household RH system adoption was not well understood.

Figure 1. Household RH system ownership.

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The final cluster of significant DETA subfactors concerns governance and regulatory arrangements: (i) compliance regulations are inhibitive but important; (ii) pressure and voluntariness are important for RH; (iii) households support mandated RH adoption; and (iv) rebates are a strong positive incentive to install RH. Both ‘carrot and stick’ approaches appeared to be accepted by the community in transitioning to a system of water service provision that elevated the role of household RH. Triangulation is healthy in exploratory research. Reasons for RH adoption were not particularised by the ABS before the rapid growth in tank ownership in the mid-noughties. In 2010 the ABS 4602.0 asked households why they adopted RH systems, although without an obvious theoretical base. Figure 2 shows that in the ABS analysis, similar factors emerged atheoretically to those in the DETA model, although different weightings were observed.

Figure 2. Reasons for RH system adoption.

The DETA model shows that the motivations for household RH system adoption are complex – easily beyond the scope of a simple economic rationalism. It also shows that key elements in the household adoption decision remain within the span of control of governments to influence – for better or worse.

CHANGING CONTEXT Of concern to the resilience of support for household RH, substantial changes to the original context of the research are observed. The breaking of the Millennium Drought, apparent changes in social priorities, capital investment in new centralised water supplies (and their contribution to looming fiscal challenges in the State budget), provided a second policy window for revisiting State support for RH, and the State acted in that space.

Social climate Mission Australia’s 11th National Youth Survey tested the views of more than 15,000 young people.

Concern around the environment – considered by young people to be the leading issue of national importance for the previous two years (37% in 2011; 38% in 2010) – fell by more than half, with only 17.5% considering it a major challenge for the country. In its place, young Australians overwhelmingly believe the biggest issue facing the nation is the economy, with many feeling they need to find work to help pay for household bills (Mission Australia, 2012). It is a small leap to consider that the same sentiments would be felt by adults responsible for managing the household. CSIRO climate change surveys also reflect a change in underlying values, with water conservation at home attributed to ‘environmental reasons’ falling from 55.3% to 40.8%, but rising for ‘other reasons’ from 35.1% to 47.9% over the period (Leviston et al., 2010, 2013).

Variable climate Dorothy McKellar’s poetic wisdom held true. The decadelong Millennium Drought broke and above-average rainfall continued in 2010.

January 2011 brought devastating floods and extreme rainfall, with 75% of the State declared a disaster zone, considered to be the largest disaster event in Queensland history (Queensland Government, 2012a).

In April 2013, just two years on from the flood, however, a diminished 2012 wet season led to drought declaration over a third of Queensland that has since expanded to 66% of the State. Across the state, if not currently in SEQ, inflows to dams are failing.

Supply, consumption and governance As late as 2006, household water consumption from the mains supply across local government areas in the SEQ region ranged from 280 litres per person per day (L/p/d) to 380 L/p/d.

The combined effect of regional water restrictions, greater community water use awareness, adoption of water-efficient fixtures and fittings, a significant drop in outside water use and household RH all contributed to an unprecedented cultural shift in water use. The regional average household water consumption dropped to just 140 L/p/d and was sustained at that level from August 2007 until late 2009 (Queensland Water Commission (QWC) 2009, 2010). It is difficult to disaggregate the effect that RH alone had on this outcome, although the Urban Water Security Research Alliance (UWSRA) advanced studies that showed that mean savings of up to 60 kilolitres per annum (kL/a) per household are attributable to household RH systems (equating to 25% to 35% of household demand) (e.g. Chong et al., 2012; Beal et al., 2011).

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DETA also shows that financial aspects of RH were motivators, contributing 18% of the variance, as many would expect given rebate programs on offer through the HWRS and local governments.

But self-reports particularising the financial motivations of households may provide a challenge to preconceived ideas. Developing RH on a budget to offset future water costs was the most significant cost/economy subfactor, with a perception of the value of investment in RH and the availability of rebates also providing incentive. However, White (2009) suggests the ABS data (Figure 1) may still understate actual penetration of household RH systems, since 23.4% of eligible households reported seeking no rebate for RH systems, with the most commonly cited reason being a fear the household would incur a government levy if its RH system ownership was recorded.

SOURCE: ABS 4602.0: 201.

rain for household use. Households saw themselves as ‘leading the way’ in securing their own water supplies, gaining independence from water restrictions and the opportunity to do with their water what they chose and when. Data accord with views expressed by leading social researchers (cf Troy, 2008); that households are generally more likely to implement adaptive solutions to problems faster and more creatively than governments charged with water service provision.

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Despite continued growth in the region, per capita transformation in water consumption in SEQ was sustained, and has consistently remained below QWC water use targets that increased from 140 L/p/d to 170 L/p/d in August 2008, and then to 200 L/p/d in April 2009. Demand remains short of a domestic water security planning target of 230 L/p/d and a total regional water use target of 375 L/p/d (SEQWS, 2012). Because water security planning modelled household demand at 230 L/p/d, sustained household water conservation created a shortfall in predicted water revenues that were integral to forecast expenditure recovery on the SEQ Water Grid (comprising desalination, purified recycled water and integrated distribution and storage).

Total urban water production across SEQ for 2011/12 was around 244 L/p/d for all uses and 239 L/p/d for all uses in 2010/11.

Scaling back manufactured water production to match subdued demand, the sustained household water conservation resulted in chronic underuse of manufactured water assets planned by the QWC for regional water security outcomes. The State responded by decommissioning the PRW facility and scaling back desalination to minimise revenue shortfalls, and it restructured regional water governance, bulk water cost recovery schedules, and service provider entities. The legacy of the SEQ Water Grid shows that the cost of creating traditional or manufactured supply sources (e.g. desalination) of sufficient capacity to avoid restrictions would place a significant burden on water users if full-cost recovery of these options was pursued. These capital and O&M cost savings on supply-side initiatives are distinct from demand-side conservation and savings achievable through community acceptance of rainwater tanks.

must make do with less water. When a WSP incurs new infrastructure costs they are redistributed over time and to all users as a pass-through cost of service provision, through billing.

This is distinct from the ‘devolved cost’ of water restrictions, which reflect an economic loss privately incurred by a customer because water is unavailable for a given use. Although devolved costs are real, they have been absent from water planning because they are ‘out of sight, out of mind’, hard to pin down and lost to a centralised account. But water planning has become more sophisticated and devolved costs increasingly accepted. Figure 3 illustrates the ‘full economic cost’ as the sum of the ‘cost of supplying’ and ‘cost of not supplying’ curves.

PROBLEMS WITH GOVERNANCE A UWSRA stakeholder workshop seeking insights on tank maintenance reported that many problems could be addressed by amendments to regulatory instruments that unnecessarily separated compliance inspections at the RH system design and installation stage (Walton et al., 2012).

Separation of roof drainage compliance and tank compliance inspections, for example, meant that tanks were installed with substantial portions of roof catchment ignored, and/or that downpipes for conveyance gutters lacked necessary fall or proximity to the tank, contributing to loss of available yield.

This workshop also reported that, while regulatory interventions that erode cost advantage were negatively viewed, policy ideas that interfered with a sense of agency were more negatively viewed.

REVERSAL OF SUPPORT The two major State initiatives supporting household RH have now been withdrawn. On May 13 2008, Minister for Natural Resources and Water, Craig Wallace MP announced: “It appears that people who wanted a rainwater tank now have one” (Queensland Government Ministerial Media Statement 58020), and in November 2008 the HWRS was terminated.

This decision occurred despite some solid evidence to the contrary. The ABS reported that only 20.9% of SEQ households and 31.2% of Queensland households with a suitable dwelling had not considered installing a tank at 2007 (ABS 4602.0, 2007). This measure was not repeated in 2010, but household RH adoption grew 125% and 36%, respectively, over that period (ABS 4602.0, 2010). Moreover, White (2009) reported that 67.2% of non-adopter households were ‘extremely interested’ or ‘somewhat interested’ in RH adoption, with rented and low-income households the primary groups. HWRS expenditure on rebates reached $241 million by October 2008, with 83% of the budget absorbed by RH installations with 10,000 applications yet to be processed at the time of the minister’s announcement (DNRM, 2008). The HWRS was at a height of community popularity.

Through a decision of the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA), the State also repealed the water savings targets in the QDC in 2013, removing the MP 4.2 and MP 4.3 provisions, which mandated RH system installation on new dwellings and commercial buildings, respectively.

WATER RESTRICTIONS Supply restrictions have been used in Australia since the 19th century to mitigate supply demand shortfall (McIntyre and McIntyre, 1944), and economic analyses bear out the rationality of supply restrictions as an alternative to ‘gold-plating’ centralised supply systems. However, water restrictions are not ‘free’; water restrictions improperly transfer ‘commons’ costs (e.g. delaying new infrastructure investment) onto users who

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Figure 3. Elements in the full economic cost of water supply (adapted from WSAA, 2005).

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Table 1. Summary of SEQ cost benefit analyses – Present values (2012 $M).

Cost/Benefit Descriptor

Low Benefit Model

Medium Benefit Model

High Benefit Model

Benefit Deferred augmentation

18.1

t46.7

87.3

Avoided fixed operating expenditure

8.6

31.2

64.2

Avoided variable operating expenditure

98.1

98.1

98.1

Bio-retention capital expenditure savings

80.8

305.6

716.4

Bio-retention operating expenditure savings

18.8

36.7

64.6

Total Benefits

224.4

518.1

1030.7

Capital costs of tanks

1553.4

1491.9

1399.8

Operating costs

140.5

140.5

140.5

Abatement costs (if tanks are not replaced at end of lifecycle)

12.9

12.9

12.9

Total Costs

1706.7

1645.3

1553.2

Net Present Value

-1482.3

-1127.2

-522.5

Benefit-Cost Ratio

0.13

0.31

0.66

Cost

Source: Marsden Jacob Associates 2012, in QCA, 2012: 13.

WHAT LIES BENEATH? This QCA decision was catalysed by housing industry lobbying, ostensibly to reduce the cost of new dwelling construction. Yet comparison with a breakdown of housing construction costs prepared for the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) shows that the cost of installing a tank in a new dwelling to be equivalent to less than 1% of the modelled sale price of housing stock and less than 5% of the investment return to the developer (AEC Group, 2008).

Consultants, Marsden Jacob and Associates, commissioned to assess the proposed repeal of QDC provisions for the QCA, reported that neither the agencies advocating retention of provisions, nor agencies advocating their removal, had presented comprehensive analyses of the impacts of repealing the provisions (Marsden Jacob, 2012: ESii). The QCA subsequently adjusted its analysis to include recommendations from Marsden Jacob: • A reduction in the cost of tanks and a reduction in the discount rate – applied to determine net present value (NPV); • Inclusion of repeal effects of QDC MP 4.3 (covering commercial buildings);

• Inclusion of variable bulk water operating costs from existing infrastructure; • An increase in RH system yield to 50kL/a per household; • Inclusion of the avoided (stormwater) bioretention costs attributable to RH systems.

• The QCA’s assessment “considered a number of additional potential benefits [which], while not able to be quantified, are not likely to be large enough to lead to a net [economic] benefit” (QCA 2013: ii). On the basis of its analysis, the QCA determined there was a net cost for supporting mandatory RH under each of the ‘low-’, ‘medium-’ and ‘highbenefits’ conditions. Table 1 summarises the QCA’s economic analysis.

The author is not an economist and does not have the benefit of disciplinary training to challenge the expertise of the QCA assessment. However, at face value, some obvious challenges to the assumptions used as inputs to the QCA analysis can be made on several grounds, including: (i) the cost of the RH system; (ii) RH system yields used in the analysis; (iii) application of bulk water component charges rather than retail water costs; and (iv) failure to adequately address non-economic benefits.

First, the QCA analysis used $3500 as the present cost of a 5kL residential internally plumbed RH system installation and $5000 for commercial buildings. Yet

a cursory search of Brisbane prices on the internet shows a tank and pump can be purchased for as little as $1000. Since the QDC is a requirement on builders, not voluntary household adoptions, supplier trade accounts may allow even lower prices. RH system installation at the time of construction is cheaper than retrofitting, since the whole of the household water service can be considered at once. Allowing $500 for sundry materials and 25 hours’ work at $80/hour (commercial plumbing rates) to fit a tank seems excessive. Plumbers contacted by the researcher report that a household RH system can be fitted in one to two days. What is apparent is that differences in the assumed unit price adopted by the QCA, multiplied across tens of thousands of homes, will inevitably skew an analysis, particularly given that the cost of tanks is the single largest line item in the economic analysis.

Second, the 50kL/a household yield used by the QCA is taken from a UWSRA RH system yield study (Beal et al., 2011) that collected data during periods of significant water restriction, at the height of the Millennium Drought. Household savings in that period of up to 95kL/a reported in that study, compared with unrestricted use, suggest that “the maximum achievable reductions were unlikely to be realised during this study.”

(Beal et al., 2011: 1). The UWSRA study used by the QCA (and subsequent UWSRA reports available at the time

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Other Queensland Government agencies advocated retaining the QDC provisions, based on a complex of factors and submissions.

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Understatement of RH system yields has obvious consequences: (i) for avoided household costs (with rainwater substituting for billed mains water use at the household level); and (ii) for planning purposes (NPV of projected savings that accrue at State level with delayed mains augmentation requirements).

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Consumer acceptance of the cost of living is an important consideration for any government, but the focus on bulk water charges in the QCA analysis neglects the true cost of water for households. In accordance with the South-East Queensland Water (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) Act 2009, household water supply is structured by a bulk supply provision to ‘distributor-retailer’ water entities that, in turn, provide water to households.

The retail (household) water bill for supply to households in SEQ has three components: (i) an access charge (payable for the benefit of access to the mains supply); (ii) a bulk water component; and (iii) localised (retail) supply costs. The Price Mitigation Plan 2013/14 to 2018/19 prepared by Brisbane and Ipswich City Councils, and Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Somerset Regional Councils reports that: “The bulk water charges represented on average approximately 24% and 28% of total water bill to residential customers in the areas Queensland Urban Utilities serviced in 2009/10 and 2010/11 respectively based on metered usage of 200kL per annum.” (2011: 10).

Since the QCA adopted only the bulk water supply component in its analysis, the Price Mitigation Plan shows that QCA has considered only one-quarter of the costs to households of water service provision (also neglecting the effect of cost offsets achievable for households by RH systems in a context of rising water prices). Consultants, AEC Group, in a report prepared for the LGAQ, project the weighted average SEQ retail water bill that will apply in 2017/18 at $1,346, compared with the average bill currently applied in 2010/11 ($770) and the average bill levied in 2007/08 ($465) – an increase of 289% over the decade (AEC Group, 2010) against an annual average consumer price index increase of around 2.5%. (BIS Shrapnel, 2012). By obvious contrast, a household RH system,

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once established, provides a freely renewable resource. The alternative is for households to shoulder the hidden costs of water restrictions mentioned earlier.

are human creations and legitimate only to the extent that they fulfil their part of the agreement – to benefit the constituency.

Finally, avoided bioretention was retained in the QCA analysis, although other ‘external benefits’ were not. The exclusions include reduced commercial pollutant reduction, lowered costs of stormwater infrastructure, reduced cost of localised water infrastructure, freedom to use water during mains water restriction (with all the economic, social and environmental benefits this involves), waterway stability, promotion of water stewardship, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions from bulk supply sources. The insistent emphasis on a simplistic economic rationalism recalls one economic scholar’s observation, that “The purely rational economic man is … a social moron” (Little, 2009).

Has the State met its social contract with households? One view might be that the State exercises a dynamic social contract: that its governance arrangements justifiably change to support emerging needs. In the case of RH, policy windows opened to address the value of supporting household RH adoption, those actions were taken when needed and, at the next policy window, withdrawn as the beneficial outcomes became less significant.

The most darkly curious aspect of the QCA consideration has received the least public attention and has gone under the radar of many policy makers: a reversal of QDC provisions from ‘opt out’ to ‘opt in’. At the time of the QCA assessment, 17 local governments (one-quarter) had obtained ministerial approval to opt out of the QDC – a provision that was obviously workable to local conditions.

However, 2013 QCA Report Measuring and Reducing the Burden of Regulation expounds the QCA decision to now place an additional financial burden on local governments: that they are required to conduct a new cost-benefit analysis that ‘clearly demonstrates’ the value of RH system adoption if the local government takes a view that RH is beneficial.

This sits uncomfortably with the Queensland Government claim ‘to cut red tape’ for those local governments.

At the time of writing, a small number of Councils in SEQ and regional Queensland had already made that investment, having demonstrable economic proof of the effectiveness of household RH.

A SOCIAL CONTRACT In political philosophy the concept of a social contract originally addressed the legitimacy of State authority over the individual. Rousseau (1762) argued government reforms should suit the people instead of the government and that we gain civil rights in return for accepting the obligation to respect and defend the rights of others, giving up some freedoms to do so. A central assertion is that law and political order

It is clear that the State has now explicitly stepped away from actions that clearly had enjoyed the support of the wider community, stepped away from innovative responses to water security, and in doing so, towards a position of centralising supply and risk.

The Queensland Competition Authority decisions in 2012 and 2013 to reverse the support for rainwater tanks provided under the QDC position the Queensland Government’s involvement as a systematic rejection of this alternative water source and may well end Queensland’s renaissance with rainwater tanks. The idea of the social contract raises only the question of whom the ultimate beneficiary is.

Unfortunately, it appears that simplicity weighs against [rainwater harvesting] in a world that has grown to venerate bigness, sophistication and hierarchy. [RH systems] are simply too often ignored or uncritically dismissed. Large-scale solutions in water resources tend to be erroneously equated with physically large structures – reservoirs, waterways, levees and treatment plants. If scale is appraised by impact, however, large-scale solutions can also be achieved by less obtrusive measures. (Heggen, 2000: 142).

This paper draws on findings from ongoing monitoring of policies and practices of household rainwater harvesting in Queensland. The aim is to identify and address gaps in knowledge and improve existing methods that, together, allow community engagement and the technical surety necessary to assure appropriate urban water security.

Assumptions of the author and others are presented to generate discussion and in order to be challenged by sector peers.

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Cordiner A (2006): Green Drought. Australia Wide ABC2 10 November 2006. Accessed June 2013 at: www.abc.net.au/tv/ australiawide/stories/s1785645.htm

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Technical Papers

AUTOMATING TERTIARY TREATMENT AT EASTERN TREATMENT PLANT Development and implementation of an award-winning water treatment upgrade project in Melbourne, Victoria K Eldridge, J Mieog, A Koolhaas

ABSTRACT The Tertiary Upgrade Project at the Eastern Treatment Plant, Melbourne, is a landmark wastewater and recycled treatment project for Australia, due to many ground-breaking advancements in tertiary treatment. Through this project Melbourne Water has been able to achieve its two key objectives â&#x20AC;&#x201C; these being the improvement in treated water discharge to the receiving marine environment, as well as producing a new high-quality Class A recycled water for the benefit of future generations.

The integration of the new tertiary treatment step with the existing secondary treatment plant, the high standard of output water quality

required, and the requisite high level of reliability of the plant dictated the need for a sophisticated control and communication system. The control system processes developed during the Alliance achieved outstanding results in terms of value for money, timeliness and operator satisfaction.

PROJECT HISTORY Built in 1975, the Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP) in Bangholme, south-east of Melbourne, is the largest activated sludge wastewater treatment plant in the southern hemisphere, and processes over 40% of Melbourneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sewage in the service of approximately 1.6 million people. Effluent from the plant was historically treated to Class C recycled

water quality (secondary effluent with chloramine disinfection). The Class C water serviced a range of re-use customers and the remaining flows were pumped to a near-shore ocean discharge point at Boags Rocks on the southern Mornington Peninsula.

After many years of planning, Melbourne Water launched the ETP Tertiary Upgrade Project to significantly improve the quality of water discharged to the marine environment, and to produce high quality non-potable recycled water.

ALLIANCE DELIVERY The Eastern Treatment Plant Tertiary Upgrade Project commenced in March 2010. To deliver the upgrade comprising

AUTOMATION & REMOTE MONITORING

An aerial view of Eastern Treatment Plant.

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Technical Papers design, construction and commissioning phases, Melbourne Water entered into an alliance agreement to form the Eastern Tertiary Alliance (ETA), a consortium including Melbourne Water, Black & Veatch, KBR, Baulderstone and UGL. The innovative treatment approach employed to achieve the project objectives demanded a similar scale of improvement in the level of automation and control system technology used for the ATTP. This paper summarises the development and innovations of the ATTP control system, and interface with the original ETP system.

PROCESS INNOVATION The $418 million upgrade utilised multiple stages of synergistic treatment to achieve the required water quality.

These include: • Biologically active dual media filters to reduce solids, fats and ammonia; • Dual-stage ozone treatment to reduce colour and odour and to provide disinfection;

AUTOMATION & REMOTE MONITORING

• Additional disinfection processes from ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and chlorine treatment.

Ultraviolet reactors.

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The ETP Tertiary Upgrade Project was groundbreaking in its approach to tertiary treatment. While the individual processes are well proven in drinking water applications, their combination and use in tertiary treatment of sewage represents a new step in providing advanced effluent and recycled water treatment.

decay curve which is integrated to calculate the CT as described by Mieog et al. (2013). In response to declining CT, the automated control system increases oxygen feed gas flow to the ozone generators as well as generator power to increase ozone gas supply to the treatment process.

A multiple-barrier approach comprising ozone, UV and chlorine treatment has been adopted based solely on pathogen inactivation treatment steps to achieve the required degree of pathogen reduction, or log reductions, to produce safe Class A recycled water in accordance with a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) based control system. In order to ensure stable and efficient operation these systems must be continuously monitored and modulated in response to changing plant flow and water quality conditions.

If the oxygen demand exceeds current onsite production capacity the system automatically draws upon the top-up/back-up onsite liquid oxygen supply system. Similarly, ozone generators and ozone gas injection trains are automatically started and shut down as required to meet changing process demands. Due to the overall scale of the ETP plant and the power consumption associated with onsite oxygen and ozone production, there is a significant incentive to optimise oxygen and ozone consumption and this driver justified the development of innovative and sophisticated control philosophies and architecture.

The ozone treatment step utilises CT (residual ozone concentration x contact time) disinfection to characterise the degree of pathogen inactivation provided. The ETP ozone residual monitoring system is unique in that it uses multiple analysers in a sidestream monitoring system to continuously monitor the first-order ozone residual

The UV treatment step comprises seven parallel 1200mm diameter closedvessel Trojan UVFlexTM UV reactors as described by Townsend et al. (2013).

Each reactor is fitted with 96 x 1 kW Low Pressure High Output (LPHO) lamps.

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Technical Papers recycled water is not supplied to customers if critical control points (CCPs) are exceeded, actual LRVs are still recorded even during process upset conditions.

ADVANCED AUTOMATION AND CONTROL INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEM TEAM

To control the ATTP a new control system was developed and operated separately from the rest of the plant until process proving was complete. It was subsequently integrated into the main control system to exist as a fully integrated sub-system of the wider ETP control system.

The specialist System Integration team from UGL was selected from the Alliance participants to deliver this critical component of the works. This team of six engineers was located on site from the inception of the project. This allowed for easy and early involvement in design decisions, open access to the people defining requirements, and access to the resources of all project participants. The team had extensive knowledge and prior experience with the vendor’s control system so programming commenced immediately after the process specifications had been finalised.

NETWORK ARCHITECTURE

A single UV sensor monitors each of the six banks of lamps within each reactor, and the lamps have adjustable power between 30 and 100%. The UV system has been validated in accordance with the US EPA Ultraviolet Disinfection Guidance Manual, and the number of reactors in service, the number of lamp banks within each reactor, and lamp output are automatically controlled to ensure the minimum critical UV dose is applied, as plant flow rate and UV transmittance vary while optimising power consumption.

The chlorine treatment step also utilises CT disinfection. Similarly to the ozone system, the chlorine residual is monitored

in a sidestream sampling system rather than in-situ in the bulk process flow to optimise residual monitoring and chemical consumption while ensuring the minimal critical CT is achieved.

Each of the three pathogen inactivation barriers can provide varying degrees of pathogen inactivation as a function of their respective primary inactivation process control variables, such as ozone or chlorine CT or UV dose. Each of these variables is monitored continuously including the actual realtime log reduction values, or LRVs, to provide opportunities for sophisticated treatment performance data interrogation. In particular, while

The ATTP LAN networks connect directly to those of the main plant LAN, enabling both SCADA systems to display information from either plant.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Initially a demonstration system was developed to trial the system and this made the transition smoother for the operators to learn the functionality of the new plant. This included a test PLC, Ethernet communications and SCADA. The existing plant’s software standards and libraries were extensively upgraded and enhanced. Using the demonstration

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AUTOMATION & REMOTE MONITORING

The BMF outlet.

The new control system was based on the existing plant’s Siemens PCS7™ platform, an integrated programming environment that encompasses both Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) programming and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) graphics.

The tertiary plant followed the same network structure as the existing plant with two Local Area Networks (LAN) – a PLC LAN and a SCADA LAN. A total of five redundant PLCs and a pair of redundant servers were added to the existing control system.

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Technical Papers engineers copied the base image onto their computers. This base image was then used by each engineer to test their individual area of plant without disrupting others.

At the end of the week the changes from all the base images were added to the master project on the EWS capturing the changes made during the week. This multi-engineering methodology significantly contributed to maintaining the Alliance’s overall project schedule requirements.

WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY

To further aid commissioning the virtual machines were designed to be portable via an extensive wireless network across the site. This network provided a floating access point between the site and the Alliance’s office, with some areas of the plant up to several hundred metres away.

Hands-on operator training. system to verify this software, rapid standard development was achieved.

AUTOMATION & REMOTE MONITORING

Once the new standards met approval from Melbourne Water, development of the controls software for individual plant areas commenced. During this phase the team utilised design inputs including P&IDs, functional design specifications, electrical design drawings, and Control Hazards and Operability Analysis (CHAZOP) workshop reports to develop the software. The team also worked closely with the overseas vendors of the UV and ozone systems to ensure their functionality requirements were met.

The comprehensive management of the control system design package ensured the correct functionality, safety and process design requirements of the software were met.

was a challenge for the control system team to accommodate, with six engineers testing on three PLCs. Virtual machines were set up to overcome this, with the system configured as a multi-project to allow several engineers to work on the same project simultaneously.

A base image was built with the appropriate software packages and licences. Each engineering workstation (EWS) could gain access to the image by connecting to the engineering server (ES) via the PLC LAN. A copy of the master project was installed on the EWS at the start of each week and the commissioning controls

After peer-review internal testing of the software, formal Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) were conducted with key stakeholders. Testing, demonstration and FAT of all plant areas were completed before the critical milestone date of 8 July 2011.

As the project moved into the precommissioning and commissioning phases, the commissioning team could be assured that each area had been extensively tested. The demonstration system can still be used at any time

by Melbourne Water to test software without disrupting the online system.

VIRTUAL MACHINES

The Alliance’s fast–tracked approach to the project meant that many areas of the plant were commissioned in parallel. This

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SCADA via tablet technology.

Tablet devices were used by the control system and commissioning engineers to connect to the SCADA via the wireless network. This was particularly beneficial in the Biological Media Filters area where 32 filters were commissioned. The engineers could locally monitor the backwashing, air scour and filter to waste systems while having control, via the tablet, to open and close valves, start and stop drives etc.

The wireless network also allowed files to be sent electronically to site and provided access to the project’s information database, reducing the need to have hard copies of schematics and testing manuals in the field.

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Technical Papers Due to the ease of use of this webbrowser interface, the Melbourne Water operations team continue to use this system to access the ATTP documentation.

AUTOMATION OF COMMISSIONING DOCUMENTATION

The project information database was used as the basis for the production of all commissioning documentation. This documentation was auto generated, with the system able to locate any information relating to the equipment’s tag number, such as serial number or rated voltage.

This data was then automatically inserted into the test sheet template for that piece of equipment, producing a customised test record.

Traditionally such commissioning documentation is produced manually, which for a plant of this size, would have been a major task. With the auto generation system in place, it took a week to produce the full suite of commissioning documentation for the Alliance, making significant savings in man-hours.

Any changes to the project information database were easily filtered through the system, enabling automatic production of new checksheets with the latest updates.

INTEGRATION WITH CLIENT SYSTEMS

Feedwater pump station.

Radio and phone reception were often unreliable onsite, so Skype was installed on each commissioning station.

The team used Skype to stay in touch through speech, instant messaging or conference calls.

ACCESSING THE PROJECT INFORMATION DATABASE

An internal web-browser mechanism was developed to allow for internet style searching and accessing of P&ID information extracted from AutoPlant™, and project documentation from ProjectCentre™.

This information could be accessed across the site and eliminated the traditional need to have thousands of physical catalogues, manuals, data sheets and drawings in each commissioning area. The web-browser also ensured that up-to-date information was available to the Alliance team.

The AutoPlant™ project database associated with the P&IDs was integrated with Melbourne Water’s existing Hansen™ asset management database. This eliminated data entry errors and ensured that all equipment was included in the lifecycle maintenance management system and asset cost depreciation calculations.

Tabulated information such as Microsoft Excel™ and Access™ was displayed directly in the browser without requiring the source software program, thereby making information retrieval faster, and eliminating the need for the software packages to be installed on individual computers.

In the past, Melbourne Water updated their asset database on project completion. Integrating the two databases progressively through the Alliance’s commissioning phases facilitated a smoother transition for operations and maintenance over to the new treatment assets.

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AUTOMATION & REMOTE MONITORING

Thousands of checksheets were produced and divided into various work lots. As each checksheet was signed off it was dated and marked as complete in the database. Progress was tracked over time and trended via the web browser. Alliance management used this information to report commissioning progress and highlight the areas falling behind schedule.

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Technical Papers and constructive and collaborative relationships were fostered between Melbourne Water, Black & Veatch, KBR, Baulderstone and UGL. The success of ETA and the project has been recognised through several awards including the 2013 Global Water Intelligence Water/Wastewater Project of the Year, the 2013 WateReuse International Award, and the 2013 AWA Victorian Branch Infrastructure Project Innovation Award.

THE AUTHORS

Compliance testing.

CONCLUSION

AUTOMATION & REMOTE MONITORING

The process control and automation systems of the new advanced tertiary treatment step at the ETP have been fully integrated, with the main plant working effectively since the works was fully commissioned in November 2012, and through the development of the systems described the opportunities provided by the advanced treatment proceses involved in the upgrade of the ETP have been successfully realised.

In order to deliver on the potential benefits offered by process treatment

technology innovations implemented by the project, a commensurate stepup in process control automation was required. The integrated Alliance control system team aligned successfully with the wider project Alliance and were able to develop many innovative solutions and designs that were critical to achieving the project’s overall success.

The alliance delivery model adopted for the project proved to be critical to achieving these outcomes. The capabilities of the respective alliance partners could be leveraged effectively

Karen Eldridge (email: karen.eldridge@ugllimited. com) is UGL’s Principal Control and Instrumentation Engineer – Water. Karen has a long history of working within the Australian water industry, and has been responsible for the automation and control of over 20 large water and wastewater infrastructure projects. She currently serves as Vice-President of the AWA’s NSW Branch Committee.

John Mieog works for Melbourne Water and is the Team Leader of the Eastern Treatment Plant Planning Team. John played a lead role in the planning and implementation of the ETP Tertiary Upgrade Project, including being a key team member within the Eastern Tertiary Alliance.

Arjan Koolhaas (email: arjan.koolhaas@ugllimited. com) is a Senior Control and Instrumentation Engineer with a career in process and industrial automation, including major projects in water and wastewater treatment, oil and gas, food and beverage and other industries.

REFERENCES Mieog J, Murphy D, Burns N & Rakness K (2013): Verification of a Sidestream Ozone Residual Monitoring System to Calculate Ozone Process CT and Associated Disinfection Credits for a Full-scale Ozone Contactor, IOA-IUVA 2013 World Congress & Exhibition.

Townsend B, Hulsey R, Hunter G & Mieog J (2013): UV Shines in Melbourne. World Water: Water Reuse & Desalination, 4, 3,

Tertiary plant under construction.

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Technical Papers

OPERATIONAL STRATEGY FOR DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCT MANAGEMENT Can simple changes to conventional treatment plant operation and disinfection reduce DBP formation?

E Sawade, R Fabris, S Laingam, T Lowe, A Humpage, M Drikas

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

The primary purpose of disinfection of potable water supplies is to reduce the risk of infection by micro-organisms.

Chlorination of drinking water is the most common form of disinfection used in Australia; however, disinfection by-products (DBPs) formed may pose a threat to the health of humans and aquatic organisms. A laboratory study was undertaken to assess the impact that varying coagulant and chlorination strategy would have on formation of a range of DBPs.

Chlorine is commonly used as the primary disinfectant in drinking water supplies across Australia. While the overall benefits of chlorine disinfection are well established, its interaction with natural organic matter (NOM) and inorganic precursors, (e.g. iodide and bromide) can generate hundreds of DBPs (Agus et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2010). Identification of DBPs and concern over the possible adverse health effects of associated compounds have promoted considerable epidemiology and toxicology research activity by health organisations across the world (AlMudhaf et al., 2010; Twort et al., 2000).

Epidemiological studies indicate that the risk of developing bladder cancer may be somewhat higher for chlorinated water consumers (Hrudey, 2009). Evidence for an association with other cancer types is equivocal. Nevertheless, the widespread use of chlorinated water means that we should take a precautionary approach to management of DBPs. It is, therefore, important to optimise water chlorination to maintain effective disinfection while reducing the formation of DBPs.

DISINFECTION

Comparison of two water sources showed that coagulation was consistently able to reduce the formation of DBPs and cytotoxicity.

This confirmed that for conventional treatment plants enhanced coagulation through control of coagulant dose to maximise dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal continues to be the best strategy to reduce DBP formation and product water cytotoxicity.

This highlights that improvements may be achievable with simple variations to current plant practices and limited changes to existing infrastructure. Where chlorinated distribution systems are long, requiring considerable disinfectant doses, a reduction in trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) concentrations may be achieved by application of chlorine in multiple stages.

Two-stage chlorination was shown in these studies to be more advantageous for higher bromide waters, while in low bromide waters the reduction of DBPs was less significant.

Keywords: Disinfection by-products; drinking water; cytotoxicity; coagulation; chlorination.

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Australia is subject to extremes of climate, the extent and variability of which is predicted to increase due to the impact of climate change. The recent extensive drought in most of Australia resulted in increased salinity of natural water sources and, hence, increases in bromide concentration in drinking water supplies. Subsequent heavy rainfall has also resulted in significantly increased concentration of natural organics in source waters in certain areas of the country including Victoria and South Australia. These water quality changes will impact on utilities struggling to balance effective disinfection while minimising DBPs in order to comply with Australian

Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG) and/or state and contractual regulations.

Many researchers have observed that bromide incorporation into DBPs is favoured over chloride incorporation when the molar concentration of chloride and bromide is similar (Wang et al., 2010). In general, the brominated forms of various DBPs have been shown to be more potent in cell-based bioassays than their chlorinated counterparts (Muellner et al., 2007; Plewa et al.; 2010, Wang et al., 2010). As bromide is heavier than chloride, this also results in increased concentration (on a weight basis) of the key DBPs – trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs).

Many DBPs are not listed in the ADWG (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2011) and, therefore, are not routinely monitored. Cell-based assays have proven to be a relatively simple and cost-effective means of screening for the potentially harmful effects of emerging DBPs, such as the brominated DBPs and chlorinated organic amines (Laingam et al., 2012; Muellner et al., 2007; Plewa et al., 2010).

The key components controlling formation of DBPs are NOM, bromide concentration, chlorine dose, contact time, pH and temperature. The concentration and speciation of THM and HAA formation are also influenced by these parameters. In general, higher THM and HAA concentrations are expected at higher levels of these parameters (El-Hassan et al., 2005; Sadiq et al., 2004; Twort et al., 2000; Uber, 2003), with the exception of HAA where concentrations increase at lower pH values (Rodriguez et al., 2005). Adsorbable organic halides (AOX) describe the quantity of dissolved halogenated organic material in a water sample (‘X’ refers

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Technical Papers to the halogens chlorine, bromine and iodine). Approximately 40–70% of the AOX detected as a result of chlorine disinfection are THMs and HAAs, as well as some other known DBPs, including haloacetonitriles, haloketones, trihalonitromethanes, chloral hydrate and inorganic compounds (Karanfil et al. 2008; Korshin, 2001).

Case studies into decentralised DBP treatment options for post-chlorinated water at localised water treatment plants (WTPs) showed that air-stripping water supplies could remove 75–85% of total THMs, but brominated species were more difficult to remove, and air-stripping had no effect on HAA concentrations (Singer, 1994). Granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption has also been investigated and found to be 90% effective for total THMs and 100% effective for all the HAAs; however, the removal efficiencies reduced at greater than 10,000 filter bed volumes, as the filter media became exhausted (Johnson et al., 2009).

The fundamental problem with such techniques is that they only address regulatory requirements, not the actual health issues that may be associated with other DBPs. An alternative approach is to actually prevent formation of all DBPs through control rather than remediation. For this and economic reasons the reduction of the other major DBP precursor, NOM, is the most recommended means of DBP reduction.

With variation of existing plant practices, improvements may be achievable with limited changes to plant infrastructure.

More recently, advanced technologies for improving NOM removal have been applied, including magnetic ionexchange (MIEX) and a variety of high rejection membrane processes, such as nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, which can partition the majority of DOC

In this work the impact of optimising commonly employed technologies, coagulation and chlorination, with no additional capital investment, on the formation of DBPs was investigated for two water sources: one with high bromide and high DOC; and the other with low bromide and moderate DOC. To assess compliance with ADWG, THMs and HAAs were the focus of the work; however, measurement of AOX allowed an overview of total DBP formation, while measuring cytotoxicity enabled the impact on possible toxic effects to be determined.

EXPERIMENTAL METHODS WATER SOURCES AND REAGENTS

Two water sources were selected for this study: the first from Western Australia with high bromide (0.60 mg/L) and high DOC concentration (13.8 mg/L); and the second with low bromide (0.07 mg/L) and a moderate DOC concentration (7.2 mg/L) from South Australia.

All chemicals were either analytical or technical reagent grade. Chlorine stock solution was prepared by bubbling chlorine gas (99.8%) through ultrapure Milli-Q water to create a saturated stock of 2,000-4,000 mg/L. The solution concentration was determined by the DPD-Ferrous titrimetric method after the instrument was calibrated using a quality control blind. All chlorine residual and chlorine demand titrations were carried out as per Standard Method 4500-Cl (F) (1998). Aqueous solutions of bromide were prepared using 1,000 mg/L stock solution of bromide and spike volumes stoichiometrically calculated for the required dose for a particular bromide concentration.

IMPACT OF COAGULATION ON DBPS

Coagulation/filtration jar testing using aluminium sulphate (alum) was conducted to produce waters representing differing levels of treatment, from low dose clarification to enhanced coagulation for greater organic carbon removal.

Aluminium sulphate (as Al2(SO4)3.18H2O) was chosen, representing the most commonly applied inorganic coagulant in Australia. The alum dose range for disinfection studies was determined by initial broad range jar tests. A PB900 6-paddle gang stirrer (Phipps &

Bird, USA) was used, which allowed the evaluation of different conditions simultaneously. The jar test conditions were 1 min. @ 200 rpm flash mix, 14 min. @ 20 rpm slow mix and 15 min. settling in 2L square form Gator Jars. A dose range of 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 mg/L and 30, 40, 60, 70, 80, 100 mg/L was applied for the Western Australian (high DOC/high bromide) and South Australian (moderate DOC/low bromide) water source respectively. Filtered water was achieved through gravity filtration using 11 μm paper filters (No. 2, Advantec, Japan).

For simplicity and broader applicability, no pH adjustment was carried out.

Samples were then disinfected using simulated distribution system (SDS) tests with realistic plant doses of chlorine at summer (25°C) conditions. Prior to commencement of the SDS, the 72-hour chlorine demand was calculated for each water quality. Chlorine was dosed at a concentration to achieve the 72-hour chlorine demand + 0.5 mg/L (as residual).

Analysed parameters included bromide, THMs, HAAs and AOX. All samples were also evaluated using the cytotoxicity bioassay to investigate DNA damage due to a range of mechanisms other than direct mutation.

IMPACT OF CHLORINATION STRATEGY ON DBPS

To evaluate a two-stage chlorination strategy, DBP formation was compared with a single chlorine dose as outlined above for treated water produced using optimum coagulation conditions for colour, turbidity and DOC removal. The two-stage chlorination process consisted of an initial chlorine dose to achieve a residual of 0.5 mg/L after 48 hours followed by an additional chlorine dose of 1.0 mg/L and further contact time of 24 hours. The same total chlorine dose was used for both disinfection strategies.

DBP formation was determined after 48 hours, prior to the addition of the second chlorine dose, and after 72 hours.

ANALYSES

Purge and Trap Gas Chromatographic Method according to Standard Method 6232 (C) (1998) was used for the analysis of volatile and semi-volatile THMs (including chloroform (CHCl3), dichlorobromomethane (CHBrCl2), dibromochloromethane (CHBr2Cl) and bromoform (CHBr3)). Standard Method 6521 (B) was used for the analysis of the nine HAA species (HAA9). This method simultaneously analyses for chloro-,

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DISINFECTION

Within WTPs, evaluation of investment, operating and maintenance costs, and economic comparison with alternative solutions, are a fundamental phase in the choice of suitable drinking water treatment processes (Mancini et al., 2005). The most common treatment process used to remove NOM is conventional treatment employing coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and filtration. According to the US-EPA (1999), in general the best available technologies for THM minimisation are: (1) enhanced coagulation; (2) enhanced softening; and (3) GAC adsorption.

from product waters. These technologies can often complement the traditional coagulation treatments in reducing DBP formation through effective removal of the organic precursors.

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Water Source - Coagulant dose (mg/L) 350

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Technical Papers

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DISINFECTION

Figure 1. Coagulation series for DOC and 72-hour SDS DBP formations: (a) DOC, (b) THMs, (c) HAA3, (d) AOX. DBP limits shown reflect ADWG for THMs 250 µg/L (b) and for HAA3 species 150 µg/L, 100 µg/L and 100 µg/L respectively for MCAA, DCAA and TCAA (c). dichloro- and trichloroacetic acid (MCAA, DCAA and TCAA); and bromo-, dibromoand bromochloroacetic acid, as well as the other less commonly analysed HAAs (including bromodichloro-, dibromochloroand tribromoacetic acid). The AOX samples were analysed by external laboratories via the method of DIN (1985) and bromide concentrations were determined by ion chromatography according to Standard Methods 4110 (B) (1998).

this study WA water data was obtained from a 10x concentration and SA water data from a 40x concentration. The chlorinated untreated waters were used as positive controls and the unchlorinated treated waters were used as negative controls. Negative control data has been subtracted from the data presented.

Cytotoxicity (cell death) is a general indicator of the presence of potentially harmful chemicals and was used here to screen for changes in the occurrence of cytotoxic DBPs following coagulation.

Cytotoxicity testing was carried out using a human white blood cell-based bioassay.

Cells were treated for 24 hours and cell viability measured using a fluorometric method (Nociari et al., 1998) and expressed as percent cytotoxicity.

Coagulation with alum was applied for each water source to generate treated water of various qualities. Through these treated waters, the effects of both optimised treatment and failure to achieve efficient treatment could be evaluated for the ability to change DBP concentrations, type, speciation and, ultimately, effect on toxicity assays.

Figure 1 shows the effect of coagulation on DOC removal and DBP formation and the difference between the two water sources.

Highlighting the difference in the water quality of the two sources, the DOC concentration of the WA water treated at the highest coagulant dose (150 mg/L) was almost equivalent to the SA source water prior to treatment. No exceedance of ADWG limits was observed in the SA water for THMs or HAAs after coagulation that achieved aesthetic water quality parameters.

The optimum dose for each water source was chosen on the basis of minimised turbidity and colour with diminishing reduction in UV absorbance and DOC removal from additional dose.

For the Western Australia (WA) water 125 mg/L alum treatment was selected as the optimum dose and 70 mg/L for the SA water. These doses were then used in the subsequent evaluation of an alternative chlorination strategy.

The WA water source contained higher DOC and bromide concentrations than the SA water source and produced overall higher formations of DBPs, specifically THMs and AOX. Notably, although aesthetic targets of colour and turbidity were met in the higher coagulant doses for the WA source, no treatment was found to be able to reduce the total THMs to below the ADWG level of 250 µg/L (Figure 1a).

As expected, the toxicity of the treated and chlorinated waters was below detection, so all samples needed pre-concentration prior to analysis.

Solid phase extraction using Oasis® hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) cartridges (Waters, Sydney, Australia) modified from Chapman et al. (2011) was used to concentrate water samples. In

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION IMPACT OF COAGULATION ON DBPS

Both water sources were found to be effectively treated by coagulation, with alum dose at 50 mg/L and 60 mg/L for WA and SA waters respectively, meeting basic aesthetic drinking water quality targets (Turbidity <0.1 NTU, colour <10 HU).

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HAA3

Reduction of HAA9

400

HAA9

HAA concentration ( g/L)

350 45%

300 250

Reduction of HAA9

Reduction of HAA3

200

Reduction of HAA3 64%

150

69%

100

72%

50 0

WA-25 (underdose)

WA-125 (optimum dose)

SA-30 (underdose)

SA-70 (optimum dose)

Figure 2. Comparison of HAA3 (ADWG) and HAA9 (all) at two different coagulant doses for WA and SA waters.

AOX concentrations observed were approximately double that of the combined THM and HAA3 for WA treated water and three times higher in SA treated water. Although different initial percentages were observed for THMs and HAA3, in relation to total AOX, the DBP formation trend was towards increasing THM dominance with increasing treatment, in the WA water (25 to 150 mg/L alum), at the expense of the unidentified DBPs. In the SA treated water, neither THM nor HAA formation was favoured in the range of effective coagulant doses (>40 mg/L).

The majority of regulatory guidelines for HAAs are based upon the analytical capability at the time of the determination of regulatory limits.

As such, the ADWG (National Health

In this project we undertook analysis for all chlorinated and brominated HAAs (HAA9), giving a more complete picture of HAA speciation and the fate of bromide in DBP formation. In the WA source investigated (Figure 2), the HAA3 only represents between 30% (at 125 mg/L alum) and 54% (at 25 mg/L alum) of the total HAA9.

Critically, the lowest correlation between HAA3 and HAA9 occurs within the higher alum dose range where a treatment plant utilising enhanced coagulation strategies will tend to operate. This was similar for the SA source also (Figure 2), where increasing alum dose decreased the concentration of HAAs formed. Although the overall

It was also observed that the removal across the HAA species was not proportional, with the percentage reduction of HAA3 (69% for WA and 72% for SA) higher than HAA9 (45% for WA and 64% for SA) with increasing treatment. This indicates that the HAA3, chlorinated species are more effectively reduced by treatment and, hence, the measurement of HAA3 under-represents the total HAAs found in each of the water sources, particularly in the higher bromide, higher DOC Western Australia source.

Chlorination of the untreated source waters produced 76% and 65% cytotoxicity in the WA and SA samples, respectively. Despite THM formation in excess of the ADWG limits in the WA source water (high DOC/high bromide water), treatment dramatically reduced production of cytotoxic DBPs, with treatment at or above 75 mg/L alum dose reducing cytotoxicity to below 15%.

All treatments of the SA source (moderate DOC/low bromide) reduced cytotoxicity to where no significant difference between treatments was observed (Figure 3). Potentially a larger concentration factor would provide greater discrimination between treatments.

These results show that coagulation, especially enhanced coagulation, is an effective means of reducing DBP formation potential through removal of organic precursors and highlights the effectiveness of even minimal coagulation as a means of reducing cytotoxicity.

100 90 80 70

DISINFECTION

These results demonstrate that, although treatment by coagulation will reduce DOC and DBPs, the reduction is dependent on initial water quality parameters, including concentration of DOC and bromide. In waters with higher initial concentrations, other treatment options may be necessary to ensure compliance with ADWG.

and Medical Research Council, 2011) has limits only for the 3 chloro-HAAs (chloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid and trichloroacetic acid), while the USEPA notably adds bromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid (HAA5).

% Cytotoxicity

The trend of decreasing DOC with increasing alum dose was also apparent for all the monitored DBPs (THMs, HAA3 and AOX), with the exception of THMs in the WA source, which appeared to plateau. It was also noticed that the results for the three chlorinated HAAs (HAA3) identified in the ADWG for both waters were very similar, with both exceeding the guideline for TCAA (100 µg/L) at the lowest alum dose, despite the two waters having very different DOC and bromide concentrations.

concentration of HAAs was lower, it was still seen that HAA3 only represented between 65% (at 70 mg/L alum) and 83% (at 30 mg/L alum) of the total HAA9.

60 50 40 30 20 10

0

Water Source - Coagulant dose (mg/L)

Figure 3. Cytotoxicity of chlorinated coagulation series, 72-hour, where ‘Source’ represents the chlorinated, untreated water as a positive control.

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Technical Papers 250

(a)

ADWG

250

200

HAA9 concentration ( g/L)

THM concentration ( g/L)

300

WA-125 WA-125 Two Stage Cl

150

SA-70

100

SA-70 Two Stage Cl

50 0

48

72

(b)

200 WA-125

150

WA-125 Two Stage Cl SA-70

100

SA-70 Two Stage Cl 50 0

48

72

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Figure 4. Comparison of DBP formation single-stage with two-stage chlorination strategy for optimum treated water (a) THM, (b) HAA9.

IMPACT OF CHLORINATION STRATEGY ON DBPS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; TWO-STAGE CHLORINATION

for the water sources, the two-stage chlorination was helpful in meeting guidelines (ADWG).

Another possible option for operational management is to reduce DBP formation through optimised chlorination strategies. To simulate this, the single chlorination was compared to two-stage chlorination where a smaller primary dose and a supplementary chlorine dose were applied. Total chlorine applied was equivalent in both strategies.

The results of cytotoxicity testing for the two-stage chlorination (results not shown) supported the findings of the coagulation series testing, where all treatments were able to reduce toxicity compared to the positive control (chlorinated untreated source water), and there was no noticeable difference between the treated waters and the negative control.

The addition of less chlorine in the initial dose during the two-stage chlorination tests reduced the overall formation of THM and HAA9 formation in both water sources (Figure 4). The final HAA9 concentration after 72 hours SDS was 31% (71 Îźg/L) less using the two-stage chlorination strategy for WA and 19% less for SA than the respective single-stage chlorination strategy. A decrease in THMs of 14% and 18% for WA and SA respectively was also observed using the two-stage chlorination strategy. This two-stage chlorination enabled sufficient change in the DBP formation mechanism to reduce the THM concentration to below the ADWG in the WA water. Although there was a reduction in THM and HAA9 formation for the SA water source (moderate DOC/low bromide) using the two-stage chlorination, the overall THM and HAA9 concentrations were below the ADWG (Figure 4) for both strategies.

AOX formation was slightly increased in the two-stage chlorination testing (data not shown), resulting in a 20% increased proportion of unidentified AOX (UAOX) in WA treated water. This was similar in the SA water where an increase in UAOX was observed through the two-stage chlorination at the expense of the THMs and HAA9. Although AOX formation was not markedly reduced

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Based on the DBP results, the use of two-stage chlorination appears to be a beneficial strategy to reduce regulated DBP concentrations. It appears that, by reducing the initial chlorine dose, the intermediate hydrolysis reactions forming hypochlorous and hypobromous acids are diminished and the amount of DBP generation is restricted. When the additional chlorine dose is applied, the already formed DBPs may consume most of the chlorine and shift equilibrium towards more chlorine-substituted analogues rather than reacting with additional DOC to form new DBPs. These results show that two-stage chlorination is a possible strategy to reduce DBP formation and requires further evaluation. The benefit of this approach will be dependent on source water, chlorination points available within the distribution system and would be greater for waters with higher DOC and bromide concentrations.

CONCLUSIONS Through comparison of two water sources, one with high bromide and high DOC (WA), and one with low bromide with moderate DOC (SA), it was shown that any coagulation treatment reduced the formation of DBPs and cytotoxicity, through both removal

of organic precursors and reduction of disinfectant dose requirement.

The presence of higher bromide concentrations was shown to increase total DBP formation.

Optimum DOC removal (or UV absorbance reduction) by enhanced coagulation remains the best strategy to reduce DBP formation and relative product water toxicity. Therefore, continued optimisation of WTP coagulation strategy and the adoption of enhanced coagulation philosophy in water treatment plants will assist in minimisation of DBP issues and will ensure the best-quality treated water.

Two-stage chlorination was shown to be beneficial in reducing DBP formation, specifically THMs and HAAs. This would be particularly useful where distribution system detention times are long, requiring considerable chlorine doses.

Hence a reduction of final THM and HAA concentrations may be achieved by application of lower primary disinfectant doses after treatment, with additional chlorination at strategic points to ensure a residual is maintained. It was also shown that this approach would be more advantageous for higher bromide waters, while a cost-benefit analysis would be recommended for low bromide waters.

Overall it was observed that monitoring of the regulated (ADWG) trihalomethanes (THMs) and three haloacetic acids (HAA3) inadequately described the overall formation of DBPs. The outcomes from this project may have potential in assisting water utilities to manage their existing treatment to minimise DBP formation and also help to address possible changes in DBP regulations with little additional capital investment.

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Technical Papers ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was funded by Water Research Australia (WaterRA), SA Water Corporation, Water Corporation and Central Highlands Water and presents the outcomes of WaterRA projects 1041 and 1061. We gratefully acknowledge the support of Water Corporation and SA Water Corporation for supplying water and data from their water treatment plants.

THE AUTHORS Emma Sawade (email: Emma.Sawade@sawater. com.au) is a Scientist, Water Treatment and Distribution Research, at the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water Corporation. Emma graduated from Flinders University with a Bachelor of Technology in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry and a Bachelor of Science (Honours). She began working for SA Water in 2009 and since then has worked on a variety of water treatment projects including biological filtration for the removal of cyanobacterial metabolites, nitrification in distribution systems and formation of disinfection by-products.

Rolando Fabris (email: Rolando.Fabris@sawater. com.au) is Senior Scientist, Water Treatment and Distribution Research, at the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water Corporation.

Somprasong Laingam (email: Somprasong.

Laingam@adelaide.edu.au) was Scientist, Source Water and Environment Research, at the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water Corporation at the time of this work.

Andrew Humpage (email: Andrew.Humpage@ sawater.com.au) was Senior Specialist, Source Water and Environment Research, at the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water

Mary Drikas (email: Mary.

Drikas@sawater.com.au) is the Manager of Water Treatment and Distribution Research at the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water Corporation. She has been leading research in water treatment processes for over 20 years.

REFERENCES Agus E & Sedlak DL (2010): Formation and Fate of Chlorination By-Products in Reverse Osmosis Desalination Systems. Water Research, 44, 5, pp 1616–1626.

Al-Mudhaf HF, Astel AM, Selim MI & Abu-Shady A-SI (2010): Self-Organizing Map Approach in Assessment Spatiotemporal Variations of Trihalomethanes in Desalinated Drinking Water in Kuwait. Desalination, 252, 1–3, pp 97–105.

APHA, AWWA & WEF (1998): Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 20th Edition, American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, American Public Health Association.

Laingam S, Froscio SM, Bull RJ & Humpage AR (2012): In Vitro Toxicity and Genotoxicity Assessment of Disinfection By-Products, Organic N-chloramines. Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 53, 2, pp 83–93.

Mancini G, Roccaro P & Vagliasindi FGA (2005): Water Intended for Human Consumption – Part II: Treatment Alternatives, Monitoring Issues and Resulting Costs. Desalination, 176, 1–3, pp 143–153.

Muellner MG, Wagner ED, McCalla K, Richardson SD, Woo YT & Plewa MJ (2007): Haloacetonitriles vs. Regulated Haloacetic Acids: Are Nitrogen-Containing DBPs More Toxic? Environmental Science and Technology, 41, 2, pp 645–651.

National Health and Medical Research Council (2011): Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

Canberra, National Resource Management Ministerial Council.

Nociari MM, Shalev A, Benias P & Russo C (1998): A Novel One-Step, Highly Sensitive Fluorometric Assay to Evaluate Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity. Journal of Immunological Methods, 213, 2, pp 157–167.

Plewa MJ, Simmons JE, Richardson SD & Wagner ED (2010): Mammalian Cell Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of the Haloacetic Acids, a Major Class of Drinking Water Disinfection By-Products. Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 51, 8–9, pp 871–878.

Chapman HF, Leusch FDL, Prochazka E, Cumming J, Ross V, Humpage, AR, Froscio SM, Laingam S, Khan SJ, Trinh T & McDonald JA (2011): A National Approach to Health Risk Assessment, Risk Communication and Management of Chemical Hazards from Recycled Water.

National Water Commission, Australian Government. Waterlines Report Series No. 48, pp 48–74.

Rodriguez MJ & Serodes J (2005): LaboratoryScale Chlorination to Estimate the Levels of Halogenated DBPs in Full-Scale Distribution Systems. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 110, 1–3, pp 323–340.

DIN (1985): Bestimmung der adsorbierbaren organisch gebundenen Halogene (AOX). DIN 38409, Teil 14, Summarische Wirkungs- und Stoffkenngrössen (Gruppe H), Beuth-Verlag, Berlin, Beuth-Verlag.

Sadiq R & Rodriguez MJ (2004): Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) in Drinking Water and Predictive Models for Their Occurrence: A Review. Science of the Total Environment, 321, 1-3, pp 21–46.

El-Hassan AM & Al-Sulami S (2005): Disinfection and Disinfection By-Products: A Nuisance in Desalination Technology. WSTA Conference.

Kuwait: Saline Water Desalination Research Institute.

Singer PC (1994): Control of Disinfection By-Products in Drinking Water. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 120, Special Issue: Drinking Water, pp 727–744.

Hrudey SE (2009): Chlorination Disinfection ByProducts, Public Health Risk Tradeoffs and Me. Water Research, 43, 8, pp 2057–2092.

Johnson B, Lin J, Rexing D, Fang M, Chan J, Jacobsen L & Sampson P (2009): Localised Treatment for Disinfection By-Products.

Water Research Foundation.

Twort AC, Ratnayaka DD & Brandt MJ (eds.)

(2000): Water Supply, IWA Publishing, ISBN 0-340-720180.

Uber JG (ed.) (2003): Chapter 4: Chlorine Decay and THM Formation Maintaining Distribution System Residuals Through Booster Chlorination. AWWA Research Foundation.

Karanfil T, Krasner SW, Westerhoff P & Xie, YF (2008): Recent Advances in Disinfection By-Product Formation, Occurrence, Control, Health Effects and Regulations. Disinfection by-Products in Drinking Water: Occurrence, Formation, Health Effects and Control. T Karanfil, SW Krasner & Y Xie. 995, pp 2–19.

US EPA (1999): EPA 815-R-99-012 – Enhanced Coagulation and Enhanced Precipitative Softening Guidance Manual. Microbial and Disinfection By-products Rules [Online].

Available: water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/ sdwa/mdbp/mdbptg.cfm#coag [Accessed 04/04/2011].

Korshin GV, Benjamin MM, Hemingway O & Wells W (2001): Development of UV Spectroscopy for DBP Monitoring. American Water Works Association and AWWA Research Foundation.

Seattle, University of Washington.

Wang H, Liu DM, Zhao ZW, Cui FY, Zhu Q & Liu TM (2010): Factors Influencing the Formation of Chlorination Brominated Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water. Journal of Zhejiang UniversityScience A, 11, 2, pp 143–150.

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DISINFECTION

Todd Lowe (email: Todd.

Lowe@sawater.com.au) was Scientist, Water Treatment and Distribution Research, at the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water Corporation at the time of this work.

He is currently an Operations Engineer at Allwater.

Corporation, at the time of this work. He is currently Technology Transfer Manager at Allwater.

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UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING WATER-RELATED ENERGY USE IN AUSTRALIAN HOUSEHOLDS Preliminary results of a research project being carried out

by The University of Queensland and the Smart Water Fund S Kenway, A Binks, J Bors, F Pamminger, P Lant, B Head, T Taimre, A Grace, J Fawcett, S Johnson, J Yeung, R Scheidegger, H-P Bader

ABSTRACT Water- and energy-efficient households are a necessary element of sustainable cities.

Water-related energy usage in households is a point of overlap where water and energy utilities could work together.

Improving the combined efficiency of water and energy management requires a better understanding of the interrelationships between these systems and associated water and energy use. It also requires collaboration with householders.

ENERGY & WATER

In order to progress understanding of water-energy links within households, a research project has commenced with the Smart Water Fund and The University of Queensland. With funding support from the Australian Research Council, the research focuses on elucidating and quantifying water-carbon-energy links in individual households in Melbourne, as well as collective groups of households in a district. The work is a new initiative for Australian water utilities, in that it looks in detail at how water industry actions and policies influence energy use in private households. In this way, the work goes beyond the boundary of traditional water utility energy use analysis, which typically assesses the energy implications directly connected with the utilities themselves, such as the energy demands of the water and wastewater infrastructure and assets. The project runs between 2013 and 2016. This paper presents the background and objectives of the work, including preliminary results.

BACKGROUND: THE WATER-ENERGY CHALLENGE FOR AUSTRALIA The growing energy demand for water and wastewater services provision in Australian cities poses a large management challenge: by 2030,

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energy consumption is expected to grow to 200–250% of 2007 levels (Kenway et al., 2008b; Kenway et al., 2014 (In press, accepted 12 November 2013); Kenway et al., 2008a).

the influence of each individual household is small, compared to industrial or commercial sites.

However, collectively, the effect of many households in cities is very large.

If the water sector is to adopt the Australian Government target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 80% below 2000 levels by 2050 (Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, 2012), then the equivalent of over 90% of the projected 2030 energy consumption levels needs to be cut, or the GHG intensity of the energy used similarly reduced, or offsets paid (Kenway, 2013). The total energy bill paid by water utilities is anticipated to rise even faster. Because energy costs are rising, the energy expenditure of Australian water utilities is anticipated to grow to 300–500% of 2007 levels by 2030 (Cook et al., 2012). This represents a significant business risk to both the water sector and to communities relying on energyintensive water services (Victorian Water Industry Association, 2011).

Water end-use research has enabled utilities to refine their conservation messages, informing utilities and customers where to target change.

Industry has responded through innovation to improve appliance efficiencies. High uptake of waterefficient measures such as low-flow shower nozzles, dual-flush toilets and front-loader clothes-washers has achieved considerable water savings for both utilities and customers. However, recent research has shown that some efficiency measures can result in unintended outcomes.

Water-related energy use in Australian cities is significant, accounting for some 13% of Australia’s electricity use and 18% of Australia’s natural gas use (Kenway et al., 2011). Urban water management directly and indirectly influences over 8% of Australia’s GHG emissions. The direct energy used by water utilities, while significant, is only approximately 10% of total urban water-related energy use. In comparison, residential water use is responsible for more than four times the water-related energy consumption. Therefore, there is a substantial indirect or “hidden” impact of water-related energy usage on the urban environment. In part, the effect is difficult to observe, because

For example, Kenway et al. (2013) show that changing from a top-loading washing machine (plumbed to gas-heated hot water) to a water-efficient frontloading machine (plumbed to cold water only, with internal electric heating) can double GHG emissions from the clotheswasher. This can happen if plumbing configurations force a change in the heating energy from hot water systems to electricity (supplied from coal-fired plants) within the clothes-washer.

The electricity sector also faces many related challenges. Electricity prices have doubled between 2005 and 2013, significantly impacting users. Capital expenditure to meet peak demand accounts for some 45% of total network costs; however, severe peak demand only occurs for a few hours on a few days per year. Ergon Energy estimates that around six per cent of its multi-billion dollar network is used for less than nine hours a year. The Productivity Commission (Productivity Commission, 2013) has

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Table 1. Summary of preliminary results from the seven households evaluated.

Parameter Location

Units

a

Analysis Period Occupancy Hot Water System

b

Average Cold Water Temperature Water Use, Total

HH1

HH2

HH3

HH4

HH5

HH6

HH7

–

Melb

Melb

Melb

Melb

Melb

Bris

Bris

Start

Apr–12

Apr–12

Apr–12

Apr–12

Apr–12

Oct–11

Jan–07

End

Mar–13

Mar–13

Mar–13

Mar–13

Mar–13

Sep–12

Dec–09

(Adult/Child)

4/0

4/0

2/2

2/2

2/0

4/0

2/2

–

SGI

SGI

GS

GS

GI

ES

GS

°C

16.7

16.9

16.3

15.6

16.9

21.3

21.3

L/hh.d

730

860

410

650

175

460

465

Water Use, Shower

L/hh.d

360

490

130

165

100

240

150

Electricity Use, Total

kWh/hh.d

10

15

10

10

10

30

10

Natural Gas Use, Total

kWh/hh.d

90

20

30

50

20

Nil

10

Solar Energy Use, Total

kWh/hh.d

10

15

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

Nil

kWh/hh.d

110

50

40

60

30

30

20

Energy Use, Total Water-Related Energy Use, Total

c

kWh/hh.d

15

20

10

10

5

10

10

% of total

15%

40%

25%

15%

20%

30%

50%

kWh/p.d

3.75

5

2.5

2.5

2.5

2.5

2.5

Melb – Melbourne Australia, Bris – Brisbane, Australia, b SGI – Solar with Gas Instantaneous Booster, GS – Gas Storage, GI – Gas Instantaneous, ES – Electric Storage, GS – Gas Storage. cIncludes the solar component of water-related energy use; Source: (Binks et al., 2014 (in press, accepted 25 October 2013)). a

highlighted that asset utilisation has been falling in the electricity sector and this trend must be changed.

A PROJECT TO UNDERSTAND WATER-ENERGY INTERCONNECTIONS In order to help utilities reduce water-related energy in households, this project aims to shed light on the “black box” of households and develop detailed knowledge of the influence of all factors on water-related energy in homes, including policy, technology and behaviour. Research objectives include: • Understanding the connections between water and energy usage in individual households (Objective 1); • Understanding city-scale waterrelated energy and GHG emissions in the residential sector, including characterisation of “household types” (Objectives 2 and 3); and • Identifying opportunities to reduce water-related energy consumption (Objective 4).

Seven households (HH1–HH7) were surveyed in detail, including behavioural interviews with householders and technical audits of fittings, fixtures and appliances within the households and

Long-term billing records for water, energy and natural gas use were assembled. Amphiro shower energy and flow meters were also installed to collect data on frequency, duration, temperature and flow rate of shower events due to their substantial impact on water and energy usage.

This information was used to generate probability distribution functions for 139 water and energy use input parameters for a Mathematical Material Flow Analysis (MMFA) model. Preliminary results indicate that water-related energy usage ranges from 5–20 kWh/ hh.d (kilowatt hour per household per day). This accounts for 15–50% of total household energy use; or 2.5–5.0 kWh/ person.d in the households studied (Table 1). For perspective, 37 eleven-watt light bulbs will consume 407 watt hours (per hour), or approximately 10 kWh/d of electrical energy.

One aim of Objective 1 is to identify factors (input parameters) that have the greatest impact on water-related energy use. Local sensitivity analysis on these parameters (changing individual parameters) helps identify factors with the greatest influence on water-related energy usage within the existing “system”. Through this analysis, the following parameters have been identified as having substantial impact on

household water-related energy use (see also Table 2): (i) the temperature of cold water entering the house, (ii) the number of adults, (iii) the temperature of the hot water system, and (iv) the temperature, duration and frequency of showering. Wider scenario analysis, which involves changing more than individual parameters and considering system reconfiguration (for example, plumbing solar hot water systems to provide all end uses including clotheswasher and dishwasher warm water needs), is a follow-on task.

Small changes to water management can have a surprisingly large impact on energy use for the consumer as well as for water and wastewater treatment and transport. For example, in HH4 and HH5 a 10% reduction in the frequency, duration or flow-rate of water for showers would reduce household energy use by approximately 0.3 kWh/ hh.d. The temperature of cold water has a particularly significant impact: a 10% change (~ 2°C), influences 0.3-0.7 kWh/hh.d of household energy use.

Consequently, accurate characterisation of cold-water temperature is an important factor in quantifying water-related energy consumption.

For the five Melbourne households studied, reducing one kWh/hh.d use over an entire year would reduce household costs by $70–$125 for electricity or $16–$30 for natural gas.

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ENERGY & WATER

CHARACTERISATION OF INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLDS (OBJECTIVE 1)

diverse literature review (Binks et al., 2014 (in press, accepted 25 October 2013)).

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Table 2. Summary of preliminary key local sensitivities influencing water-related energy in households 3, 4, and 5*.

Six most influential parameters on water-related energy consumption

Impact of a 10% change in the parameter on water-related energy consumption (kWh/hh.d)

Household Three • Decreasing the temperature of cold water

0.63

• Increasing the temperature of hot water at hot water system

0.40

• Increasing the number of adults per household

0.39

• Increasing the temperature of baths for child

0.36

• Increasing the number of children per household

0.25

• Increasing the temperature of showers for child

0.23

CITY-SCALE ANALYSIS OF WATER-RELATED ENERGY (OBJECTIVES 2 AND 3) Robust city-scale simulation of waterrelated energy requires consideration of a wide range of information, including data on: a.

Household occupancy (e.g. the number of occupants including visitors and absences);

b.

Physical environment (e.g. the water temperature entering the house and the ambient air temperature);

c.

Plumbing configuration (e.g. does the washing machine have both hot and cold intakes and does it draw energy from the hot water system or heat water internally?);

Household Four • Decreasing the temperature of cold water

0.58

• Increasing the number of adults per household

0.58

• Increasing the temperature of showers for adults

0.53

• Increasing the flow rate per shower for adults

0.33

d.

Hot water system type and fuel type;

• Increasing the flow duration per shower for adults

0.33

e.

Associated GHG emission intensities;

• Increasing the number of showers per adult per day

0.33

f.

Water-using technologies and fittings;

• Increasing the temperature of baths for children

0.31

g.

Occupant behaviour.

Household Five • Increasing the temperature of showers for adults

0.52

• Increasing the number of adults per household

0.36

• Decreasing the temperature of cold water

0.29

• Increasing the number of showers per adult per day

0.31

• Increasing the flow rate per shower for adults

0.31

• Increasing the flow duration per shower for adults

0.31

ENERGY & WATER

*Analysis for HH1 and HH2 is currently being finalised.

Guided by the detailed modelling of individual households (Objective 1), the project is systematically compiling spatial data on key influential parameters so that a large grouping of households (a district) can be collectively simulated and understood.

For example, preliminary analysis of water temperature (42,900 data points spanning the month of December 2012) in the Melbourne water network has been used as an input to the MMFA modelling (Bors and Kenway, 2014). This modelling indicates significant temporal and spatial variability: temperature can vary as much as 8°C (from 15°C to 23°C) within 3 km (Figure 1). Such variability could influence 2–4 kWh/hh.d energy use considering HH3 and HH4 (Table 2). A zone of warmer water north of central Melbourne was observed in the water temperature data sampled within the Yarra Valley water distribution area over this time period. The cause of this warm water zone is not yet known.

Finally, measured water temperature values indicate that the AS/NZS 4234:2008 ‘Heated Water Systems – Calculation of Energy Consumption’ (AS/NZS 2008), can be improved. Preliminary analysis suggests measured water temperature values were up to 5°C warmer than the Standard.

Measured values averaged 2.5°C warmer than the Standard through 2012–13.

Figure 1. Spatial variability in cold-water temperature for part of the Melbourne water network in December 2012.

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In addition to supporting improved analysis of water-related energy, knowledge of cold-water temperature could be beneficial for management of

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Technical Papers delivered water quality and performance analysis of hot water systems. Cold water temperature can be influenced by many factors, including: (i) environmental factors such as air temperature; (ii) water system factors such as the temperature of source water, or pipe infrastructure characteristics such as depth of pipe cover. Water temperature records can also be affected by (iii) sample program design such as the time and location of measurements. Finally, water temperature can be influenced by (iv) the method of sample collection. For example, changes in the amount of water being flushed through aboveground pipes, prior to temperature measurement, can influence the result.

Understanding how such factors contribute to water-related energy in a city is a substantial challenge.

Importantly, in addition to providing necessary input to the MMFA, coldwater temperature has demonstrated that estimating water-related energy is a very complicated problem. The effect of just one variable (cold water) is large, complex, and dynamic.

OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE WATER-RELATED ENERGY (OBJECTIVE 4) The research aims to evaluate the impact of a range of scenarios on water-related energy usage, such as:

• Increased uptake of high-efficiency appliances and fixtures (e.g. new washing-machine and dishwasher models); • Introduction of emerging technologies, such as recirculating showers that rapidly treat and recirculate warm water, resulting in energy and water savings; • Changes to plumbing configurations (e.g. hot and cold water intake to appliances from hot water systems connected to solar hot water systems and/or heat pumps, thereby maximising the use of low cost and carbon renewable energy sources); • Changes to incentives, information availability and anticipated costs, which shift end-use patterns (e.g. installation of energy flow meters on water end uses using substantial energy such as showers); • Altered behaviours including selection of ‘ecofriendly’ cycles on washing machines and dishwashers and/or setting hot water system thermostats at cooler temperatures; • Combinations of technological, behavioural and cost changes.

Scenarios will initially be considered for individual HHs to determine their potential impact in diverse conditions.

Ultimately, scenarios will be evaluated at the city scale, such as: • New building stock including an increased proportion of high-density apartments; • Opportunities to influence the coldwater temperature in the network through pipe-laying design criteria; • District heating systems that capture waste heat from energy generation and provide centralised hot water services to communities.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES FROM THE PROJECT The work will help understand how changes in technology, infrastructure, and behaviour influence HH waterrelated energy use, associated costs and GHG emissions. This will have a broad range of implications and policy uptake points for Water and Energy Utilities, State and Federal Government and individual households.

For Utilities: An overview of the research aims to inform policy, which is directed at improving efficiency within utilities, are as summarised in Table 3.

Increased dialogue between the water and energy sectors could ultimately lead to improved collaborative planning, improved asset utilisation, aligning of refurbishment and maintenance planning,

Table 3. Summary of potential outcomes for utilities and preliminary examples from the work to date.

Description

Example of desired outcome for utilities

Identify options that have greatest influence on waterrelated energy (and GHG emissions) to enable effective policy.

The research will quantify the potential for water management to reduce household energy use. This would help reduce the potential for unexpected outcomes such as water conservation strategies leading to increased GHG emissions. By quantifying a range of household conditions it will be possible to understand how “average” versus “tailored” policy will impact on different households.

Quantification of energy impacts of water will also enable utility energy-management strategies (e.g. on a $/kWh basis) to be compared to options that mitigate household energy use. This would enable least-cost options to be identified considering alternatives within and beyond utility boundaries. This information is perceived as critical to the business case for utilities to continue to invest in water conservation.

While this project is focused on understanding residential households, the work also provides insight into the influence of water on energy use in commercial and industrial premises. For example, for some customers who may want either cooler or warmer water, provision of these specifications via the water asset could be beneficial.

Insight into different asset design and management practices could achieve different energy outcomes. For example, variation in the temperature of water delivered in Melbourne now is influencing household energy costs differently in different regions. It is possible that design and management of water infrastructure differently could impact household energy costs.

The research already provides substantive data to understand heat transfers in the water system which could also impact on wastewater temperatures. Industry is already considering a number of heat-exchange and recovery options including precinct hot water delivery. Understanding temperature in the water network will further enhance these options.

Quantifying the overall energy impact of water, is a starting point for quantifying dynamic influences such as water impacts on peak electricity use. While many water utilities already adjust water pumping and storage to reduce utility costs (e.g. overnight or off-peak pumping) little consideration is currently given to how utility policy impacts household water use, and resultant flows of water, wastewater, and related peak electricity consumption.

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ENERGY & WATER

Reduce cost and improve efficiency of service delivery leading to increased overall industry productivity.

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Technical Papers leading to higher efficiency across both sectors. This would be a big step towards integrated infrastructure planning. In the longer term it is possible that crosssectoral targets could be developed.

For example, this could include targets for total water-related energy, or targets for the proportion of water/wastewater energy use within peak electricity demand periods. Elsewhere, for example in Oakland, California, water and energy utilities are combining to provide integrated reporting and invoicing to households across water and energy performance. Such action could lead to new products and services such as home water and energy efficiency solutions.

For State and Federal Government: The work aims to inform the efficient design, monitoring, and management of buildings and cities of the future. Understanding water and energy flows in cities (the metabolism of the city) could lead to citybased targets. By identifying least-cost solutions for communities, it is more likely that policy options will orient towards achieving solutions. The Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) (PMSEIC, 2010) recently identified that “Resilient pathways will simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower overall water demand, maintain overall environmental quality and allow living standards to continue to improve”. This project is one step towards finding such resilient solutions.

ENERGY & WATER

For households: Our aim for the project is to provide information enabling communities to make informed choices about water-related energy usage (in particular, the most direct pathways to increased efficiency as well as cost and GHG minimisation).

Moreover, we hope our work motivates changes within related government agencies toward water and energy cost stabilisation. There would appear to be opportunities for appliance and household goods manufacturers to draw on the information to help identify future product development areas that reduce water-related energy.

The project continues to the end of 2015. Further information is available from the Smart Water Fund website www.smartwater.com.au/knowledge-hub/ climate-change/energy-water-nexus/ water-energy-carbon-links-in-householdsand-cities-a-new-paradigm.html, or from project Leader, Dr Steven Kenway.

WATER APRIL 2014

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Authors appreciate the support of the Smart Water Fund, its member organisations, and the Australian Research Council, as well as the contribution of Christine Cussen in establishing the project.

THE AUTHORS Dr Steven Kenway (email: s.kenway@uq.edu. au) is an Australian Research Fellow and Research Group Leader, Water-Energy Carbon, at The University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Amanda Binks (pictured) and Julijana Bors are research scholars at The University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Francis Pamminger is Manager, Research & Innovation with Yarra Valley Water, Melbourne.

Paul Lant is Professor of Chemical Engineering at The University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Professor Brian Head is with the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), at The University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Dr Thomas Taimre is a senior lecturer with the School of Mathematics at The University of Queensland (UQ).

Dr Adam Grace is a research scholar with the School of Mathematics at UQ. John Fawcett is Manager, Business Resource Efficiency, City West Water, Melbourne.

Sam Johnson is is an Environmental Strategist, with South East Water, Melbourne.

Jessica Yeung is a contract manager with the Smart Water Fund, Melbourne.

Ruth Scheidegger works in the group ‘Simulation of Anthropogenic Flows’ in the Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling at Eawag, Switzerland.

Dr Hans-Peter Bader is is a Theoretical Physicist and Head of the group ‘Simulation of anthropogenic flows’ in the Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling at Eawag, Switzerland.

REFERENCES AS/NZS (2008): AS/NZS 4234:2008: Heated Water Systems – Calculation of Energy Consumption.

Sydney, Wellington: SAI Global Limited.

Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (2012): National Targets. In think change. Canberra: Australian Government.

Binks A, Kenway SJ, Lant P & Pamminger F (2014): (In press, accepted 25 October 2013). Detailed Characterisation of Water-Related Energy Use in Households. In Ozwater’14, edited

by Australian Water Association. Brisbane: Australian Water Association.

Bors J & Kenway S (2014): Water Temperature in Melbourne and Implications for Household Energy Use. Melbourne: Smart Water Fund.

Cook S, Hall M & Gregory A (2012): Energy Use in the Provision and Consumption of Urban Water in Australia: An Update. A report prepared for the Water Services Association of Australia.

Canberra: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Kenway SJ (2013): The Water-Energy Nexus and Urban Metabolism – Connections in Cities. Brisbane: Urban Water Security Research Alliance.

Kenway SJ, Lant P & Priestley A (2011): Quantifying the Links Between Water and Energy in Cities. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 2, 4, pp 247–259.

Kenway SJ, Turner G, Cook S & Baynes T (2008a): Water-Energy Futures for Melbourne: The Effect of Water Strategies, Water Use and Urban Form. 9780643095663. Canberra: CSIRO. Kenway SJ, Turner GM, Cook S & Baynes T (2014): (In press, accepted 12 November 2013). Water and Energy Futures for Melbourne: Implications of Land Use, Water Use, and Water Supply Strategy. Journal of Water and Climate Change.

Kenway SJ, Scheidegger R, Larsen TA, Lant P & Bader HP (2013): Water-Related Energy in Households: A Model Designed to Understand the Current State and Simulate Possible Measures. Energy and Buildings, 58, pp 378–389.

Kenway SJ, Priestley A, Cook S, Seo S, Inman M & Gregory A (2008b): Energy Use in the Provision and Consumption of Urban Water in Australia and New Zealand. 9780643096165. CSIRO and Water Services Association of Australia.

PMSEIC (2010): Challenges at Energy-WaterCarbon Intersections. Canberra: Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.

Productivity Commission (2013): Electricity Network Regulatory Frameworks. Inquiry Report. Canberra: Productivity Commission.

Victorian Water Industry Association (2011): Electricity Issues in the Victorian Water Sector. Melbourne: Victorian Water Industry Association.

AustrAliA DelegAtion to singApore internAtionAl WAter Week Date: 1 - 5 June 2014 location: singapore Apply by: 15 April 2014 About this mission Singapore International Water Week is the premier exhibition for the water sector in the Asia Pacific region with more than 750 companies and 19,000 visitors expected. With the sustained growth in water-related projects across the region, the 2014 exhibition is shaping up to be the must-attend for businesses looking to extend or expand into the South East Asian region.

The Australian Water Association (AWA) invites you to take part in the Australian delegation – either as an exhibitor, or a non-exhibitor. Using AWA’s alliance with the Singapore Water Association and its long established links with the Public Utilities Board of Singapore (PUB), delegates will be offered targeted business introductions and increased brand exposure through an Australian Pavilion under the branding of waterAUSTRALIA. Options will also be provided for delegates to travel to the neighbouring markets of either Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia for tailored business meetings. We are accepting expressions of interest from businesses to join the 2014 Australian mission to Singapore.

Don’t miss out on this chance to profile your business internationally.

Why should you participate?

Did you know the 5th edition of SIWW achieved a record of S$13.6 billion in total value of announcements on projects awarded, tenders, investments and R&D MoUs made at the event?

Achieve greater profile and awareness by exhibiting at the Australian Pavilion Attend a pre-departure briefing on how to succeed in South East Asian markets Meet targeted customers in the ASEAN region and develop relationships through AWA’s tailored business programs Gather valuable market insights from the mission that will help you shape your market entry strategy Network with established Australian and international companies and learn from their experience.

Achieve your business development objective towards building a sustainable market presence in South East Asia (94% of exhibitors reached theirs at SIWW 2012)

Apply now at www.awa.asn.au/wateraustralia_international_missions

This mission is supported by the Asian Business Engagement Plan.

AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST FUSION OF BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENT The event for industry, government and the environmental sectors to gather to shape policy and progress on sustainable enterprise.

• 5 renowned keynote speakers plus a massive 3-day program of experts • Professional development workshops and technical tours • Concurrent streams across energy, waste, water and clean air • Facilitated one-on-one meetings with keynotes and sponsors • Networking opportunities with researchers, government, business leaders, practitioners and policy makers KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Jonathan Trent OMEGA Project Scientist, NASA Ames Research Centre

Richard J. Pope Vice President, ARCADIS, New York

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Benjamin Hewett SA Government Architect & Executive Director of the Office for Design and Architecture SA

Dr Felicity-ann Lewis, President ALGA, Mayor of Marion

Jon Dee Founder & MD DoSomething!

Founder Planet Ark

WASTE • WATER • CLEAN AIR • CLEAN ENERGY

Conference, Expo, Workshops & Tours 17 - 19 Sep 2014 • Adelaide Convention Centre

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water Business

WATER BUSINESS WATER INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP WINS SEWER INSPECTION CONTRACT Water Infrastructure Group has been awarded a contract to inspect more than 34 kilometres of pipeline for Queensland Urban Utilities. The inspection program is part of Queensland Urban Utilities’ $3.2 billion 10-year capital works investment to help ensure the long-term sustainability of Brisbane’s sewerage network. Water Infrastructure Group is using the latest CCTV and laser profiling technology to create digital 3D images of the pipe’s interior.

Queensland Urban Utilities General Manager of Major Projects, Mike Griffiths, said the laser profiling technology picks up faults that can’t be seen with CCTV alone.

AWWU operates two water treatment facilities (WTFs), three wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs), water distribution and wastewater collection systems, a water quality lab and an industrial pre-treatment program.

Sustaining excellence requires technologies that automate data gathering and analysis so operators, supervisors and upper management can focus on their jobs and make process improvements and business decisions based on trusted information.

AWWU has implemented Hach’s Water Information Management Solution (WIMS) to ensure that the utility achieves the service excellence it strives for and to “make life easier” for everyone working in its facilities, says Treatment Division Director Craig Woolard.

AWWU’s Asplund WWTF is designed to process 220 million litres per day (mld).

AWWU’s Eklutna WTF is designed for 132 mld and the Ship Creek WTF for 60 mld. The utility’s water distribution system comprises approximately 1,300 km of water distribution, 60 pressure zones, 272 million litres of storage and between 150 and 200 remote facilities.

“We need to keep a close eye on things like tree roots, silt and debris as well as corrosion caused by the presence of hydrogen sulphide gas which can attack the internal walls of our pipes,” he said. “The data is sent back via a live feed, allowing us to assess the condition of our pipes with minimal interruption to local residents and traffic.

“Using this technology is a safe approach because we don’t have to send our people into the sewerage system with all the risks associated with working in confined spaces.”

For more information about Water Infrastructure Group please go to www.wigroup.com.au

ANCHORING DATA IN ANCHORAGE The Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility (AWWU) is the largest water and wastewater utility in Alaska. AWWU collects water from two major surface watersheds serving industries and more than 260,000 people in the area.

Manually entering data from multiple spreadsheets was highly inefficient, and preparing accurate compliance reports was labour intensive. Data security was in question, and data validation was excessively time consuming. AWWU needed a solution that could standardise data collection, storage, analysis and reporting across its organisation and also be tailored to meet the varying needs of each facility.

Compliance, reporting, process improvement and sustaining business operations as well as enabling growth are essential. AWWU sought a solution that would give all of its personnel the tools they needed to work smarter – not harder – and to focus efforts on high-value tasks.

consumption. The solution has helped AWWU operators better understand where they need to direct efforts to improve performance.

Approximately 60 people use WIMS regularly, and users vary in roles from operators, to project teams, to senior management, to personnel in accounting and finance. AWWU has deployed the solution at each facility, tailoring it to meet each person’s varying needs.

“The fundamental problem it solves is correlating and visualising data from a hundred different spreadsheets,” Woolard says. “We can enter the data into the database, and then every user can pull it out in a customised way.”

Another feature is its remote accessibility to data. Now secure access is available via the Internet from any location, 24 hours a day, every day.

“I have been pleasantly surprised at the buy-in we have received from the newest Level 1 operator to the most experienced Level 4 operator,” says Woolard.

According to Rob Gustafson, superintendent of the AWWU Water Quality Group: “The No 1 difference that implementing WIMS has made for us is that we now have time to actually analyse the data we collect.” SCADA, lab, instruments and field data is aggregated from all sites into a central database.

Secure validated data Validating data from all the facilities had been a brutally difficult task, as was validating information flowing from disparate sources (e.g., instruments, SCADA systems, field and laboratory) that

In AWWU’s system, data from all of the facilities flows to the WIMS central database, which is an enterprise-wide system. It uses the data to generate reports on key performance indicators, process control variables, energy use, and chemical and polymer

APRIL 2014 water

CROSS-WAVE UNDERGROUND WATER STORAGE SOLUTIONS

operators entered manually into a myriad of spreadsheets. Furthermore, the data was not secure. The spreadsheet contained 365 tabs for daily data that was then reconciled into monthly or yearly reports, allowing significant room for error.

Spreadsheets were often corrupted, and the utility did not have a formal review and approval strategy because it was impractical in light of the volume of data and the ongoing need to run the plants.

Process improvements and operational transparency The ability to verify data easily from the thousands of sources and in differing formats has improved quality assurance and quality control, and has led to insights that otherwise probably would not have been made.

Using the trending function to analyse and compare information in unique ways has helped manage the activated sludge process. Having WIMS to analyse AWWU’s activated sludge treatment process adds another tool to the utility’s toolbox for analysing the process control of the activated sludge system for ammonia removal and effluent turbidities.

Mission support Superior data collection, visualisation and accuracy are all significant advantages for AWWU, providing information needed to optimise processes and more easily address compliance and reporting. But perhaps most importantly, WIMS has empowered the entire staff to focus on higher-value activities.

The benefits of Cross-Wave at a glance: • High void ratio (95%) • Light weight and easy to install • No assembly required • Load bearing design (allowing for full use of the surface area) • Can be used for water storage, stormwater detention or aquifer recharge

Make your connection Cliff Cekavicius 0413 059 611 cliffc@sekisuispr.com.au

For more information please contact Hach’s local representative Arash Khorasani on +61488 443 087 or go to www.hachpacific.com.au

PARTNERSHIPS ARE THE ESSENTIAL LINK Partnerships have proven to be a vital link when it comes to recruiting, retaining and prospering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

The Director of the Workplace Ready Program at Reconciliation Australia, Sharona Torrens, says engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a view to providing employment opportunities has many economic and social benefits for business.

According to a Deloitte Access Economics report, billions of dollars will be added to the Australian economy if Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment levels reach those of non-Indigenous Australians by 2031.

Ms Torrens says the most successful Indigenous employment strategies have involved partnerships – different companies and organisations coming together for the common cause of offering real jobs to the First Australians.

One such partnership involved the amalgamation of the Nirrumbuk Aboriginal Corporation, the Victorian Plumbers Union, Cooke & Dowsett Pty Ltd and the Jarlmadangah Burru Aboriginal Corporation to create NUDJ Plumbing, which provides employment and training opportunities for Indigenous Australians.

Since it was established in 2004, NUDJ has enriched the lives of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions through plumbing apprenticeship programs with the Victorian Plumbers Union, employment with NUDJ and the provision of labour hire through Cooke & Dowsett.

The Director of NUDJ, Scott Dowsett, says almost 40 Indigenous apprentices, both men and women, have undertaken the program. He says once they complete their four-year apprenticeship they can return to their remote communities as fully qualified plumbers to improve sanitation, water management and living standards.

Scott Dowsett says Cooke & Dowsett’s partnership with the Plumbers Union and Aboriginal communities in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Victoria has been instrumental in NUDJ’s success.

“Everyone working together for the one aim of creating employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal Australians has been the key,” he said.

If you need help implementing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategies From left: Scott Dowsett (Cooke & Dowsett), Jono please visit Reconciliation Mullins – Indigenous Coordinator & Mentor (CEPU), Marty Sibosado (Nirrumbuk Aboriginal Corporation) Australia’s online toolkit at www. and Earl Setches (CEPU Plumbing Division). reconciliation.org.au/workplace

water APRIL 2014

COLLABORATION THE KEY TO SECURING VITAL NATURAL RESOURCES “Australia is one of the driest continents in the world, which means it is also well placed to tackle the thorny issue of the water-energy nexus head on,” says Stuart Gowans, General Manager Business Development of Degrémont Australia.

“Just as energy production depends on water – primarily to cool thermal power plants and to carry away waste heat – so too does water infrastructure depend on electricity. And with the earth’s population expected to reach nine billion by 2045, and two-thirds of the world expected to be under water stress within the next 15 years, finding sustainable ways to manage water and energy resources is vital to ensure healthy communities.

“We know that water is in limited supply, and most energy production relies on-sustainable fossil fuels, so it appears we have reached an impasse. We need to find new ways of doing things that will protect these valuable resources, and thus protect the future of our cities, towns, industry – and communities.

“As the theme of this year’s World Water Day is Water and Energy, there is no better time for governments, policy makers, private water businesses and industry leaders to pool their collective wisdom and find a solution.

It is only through such a collaborative effort that the aims of a green economy – to support sustainable developments, improved human well-being and social equity, while reducing environmental threats and securing vital resources – can be fully realised.

“According to www.nexuswaterenergy. com, water withdrawals are expected to increase by 50 per cent in the next 15 years, while global energy use is expected to increase by 50 per cent in the next 20 years.

Much of this will be in the water required to produce electricity, and the electricity required to produce clean drinking water.

“In Australia, gross electricity generation is projected to grow by nearly 50 per cent from 247 terawatt hours in 2007–08 to 366 terawatt hours in 2029–30. And with electricity being a major extractor of water from the environment this increase in demand will inevitably lead to an increase in pressure on water resources. This increasing demand for both water and energy will be a critical issue over the next few years due to several factors: global population growth; global economic growth; and improved living conditions in developing countries.

Therefore, the interdependence of water and

energy must be addressed to meet the growing needs for both resources.

“On the one hand, we need to invest in innovative technology that limits the amounts of water for energy production – and maximises water reuse – while on the other, we need to find ways to conserve and preserve water and wastewater that are less energy intensive.

“With Australia committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020, coupled with policies requiring power plants to control their water usage, for both environment and health reasons, the time to act is now.

“The first step is to acknowledge the issue – as those of us in the industry are doing – and to take steps towards greater collaboration across the water and energy sectors, with Government backing.

“Investigating opportunities for improving the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is already a priority across the water industry, with State Governmentowned water utilities working with private water treatment specialists to develop innovative, energy-friendly ways to secure water supplies. For example, in South Australia, there is the Alliance Energy Action Team, comprising representatives from SA Water, Allwater (a private consortium) and energy consultant EfficientSee, established to identify energy savings in that state’s extensive water and wastewater network.

“Including private water businesses and energy providers in this collaboration could lead to pilot projects to quantify the impact of various water management options and energy requirements, while enabling experts in both industries to gather valuable data that would otherwise be fragmented.

“International experience has shown that these collaborations can be beneficial to both industries, and to the community at large. For example, the State Government of California’s Water and Energy Climate Action Team is a cross-function group charged with ‘coordinating its efforts on both greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and adaptation actions affecting the portion of the energy sector that supports the storage, transport and delivery of water for agricultural, residential, and commercial needs’.”

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Diver Data Loggers have become an industry standard in the measurement of water level and salinity ingroundwater and surface water applications. The pressure transducer, temperature sensor, salinity sensor, data logger and battery are integrated intoa single robust device.

Stuart concludes: “It is time for Australia to take the lead and find workable and sustainable solutions to an issue that is effecting us all, and is not going away on its own. A collaborative approach between all major players is the best way to ensure we meet the goals of a green economy.”

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Water Business ELIMINATING HANDLING OF TOXIC CHEMICALS THE WAY OF THE FUTURE

development today have been in use for 180 years. Electrolysis has been proven to be safe, robust and reliable.

With sales up nearly 40% year-on-year since the height of the Global Financial Crisis, Australian Innovative Systems (AIS) reports that eliminating the delivery, storage and handling of toxic chemicals for water disinfection is the way of the future.

Inside an electrolytic cell an electrical current is passed between two electrodes through an electrolyte (water containing minerals like sodium chloride). Hydrogen ions move to the cathode and turn into hydrogen. Chloride ions move to the anode and turn into chlorine. Meanwhile sodium and hydroxide ions get left behind and stay in the solution. This provides all the necessary ingredients for the automatic formation of Hypocholous Acid, an effective and proven water disinfectant (commonly known as liquid chlorine). All of this occurs not only within the electrolytic cell, but inside the water itself, so no toxic disinfectant needs to be stored on-site.

One of the many benefits of disinfecting water via electrolysis – as is the case with AIS chlorine generators, is eliminating the expense and potentially hazardous practice of delivering, storing and handling chemicals.

Not only do these toxic chemicals account for considerable expense over time, they bring with them many Occupational Health and Safety considerations. While mercifully infrequent, accidents do happen and when they do, spills and mishandling can cause serious injuries to staff, members of the public – and a company’s reputation.

CEO of AIS, Elena Gosse reports that removing the costs and risks associated with maintaining supplies of toxic chemicals on-site is one of the major benefits for her company’s disinfection technology.

“Our commercial sales are at the highest levels we’ve seen in the past two years,” Elena says. “We are getting more and more enquiries for our range of products from new commercial-scale facilities as well as older facilities looking to upgrade from traditional chlorine dosing to disinfection by electrolysis.”

Electrolysis is a tried-and-tested technology. In fact, many of the scientific laws that guide electrolysis research and

water APRIL 2014

In explaining why electrolysis is now more readily available in the marketplace, Elena says that it is AIS that made it so.

“Historically people associated electrolysis technology with mostly residential saltwater pools or commercial saltwater aquatic centres. In fact, our AutoChlor brand is a leader in saltwater chlorination. In 2009 AIS launched EcoLine, which created a chlorination revolution in the industry.

EcoLine brings the benefits of inline electrolysis to facilities running at TDS levels of as low as 1,200 ppm, vastly lower than the 5,000 ppm associated with many commercial salt water systems.”

AIS manufactures its own Anodes to ensure optimal quality control and performance in every AIS unit. Every system features a ruthenium compound-based catalyst, which is painstakingly applied and

cured one microscopically thin coat at a time.

This coating increases the productivity of the unit, meaning it enables the electrodes to produce more disinfectant output for a given level of energy input. The catalyst, therefore, plays an energy-saving role.

When people enter swimming pools, amines enter with them. Amines are found in perspiration and urine. If the level of free chlorine in a pool is low (relative to the amount of amines), chloramines may form.

In non-AIS ‘traditional’ chlorine injection systems chloramines may linger in and around the pool until the system is shockdosed – which can only be done when the pool is empty for a long period (eg: overnight). Shock dosing on this scale consumes a lot of chemicals and may contribute to rising TDS levels, requiring the addition of fresh water to dilute it.

With inline chlorination by electrolysis, however, the concentration of chlorine within the electrolytic cell is such that water is being shock-dosed every time it passes through the cell. When water passes through the cell (multiple times each day) any chloramines present are oxidised. This may explain why some indoor pool operators who switch from traditional chlorine dosing to inline chlorination by electrolysis report a noticeable improvement in indoor air quality.

With innovation embedded in AIS’s corporate culture, the level of increasing sales and a number of new products on the drawing board, AIS is confident about the future.

“Our manufacturing facility has been running at full capacity over the past few months and we have seen our technology

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water Business embraced by aquatic centres, water parks, competitive swimming facilities and the hotel and resort market,” Elena says. “We’re particularly thrilled to have been chosen as the primary disinfection technology for three swimming pools that will be used during the Gold Coast’s 2018 Commonwealth Games.”

FLEXIBLE RANGE OF FILTER NOZZLES TO FIT ANY SYSTEM With a wide diversity of filtration systems in use throughout Australia, there are also substantial variations in the types of filter nozzles used. Tecpro Australia’s large and flexible range overcomes repair and maintenance challenges, with filter nozzles available to meet any specification.

For maintenance engineers around the country, keeping water filtration systems in good working order can be difficult, particularly in the case of older systems.

“In our work we come across massive differences in the types of filter nozzles in use,” says Graeme Cooper, Managing Director of technical solutions specialist Tecpro Australia. “There are many variations in slot widths, thread and stem sizes as well as the material the nozzles are made from.

When you’re replacing them, it’s vital to have a close match for their dimensions and also to ensure the fabrication is suitable for local conditions.”

Mr Cooper says the materials used in the construction of filter nozzles affect how well they perform in different operating

temperatures, and how well they withstand chemicals and general wear and tear.

“Our range includes filter nozzles constructed from stainless steel and standard polypropylene, as well as different specialised formulations to offer increased strength, durability and chemical resistance. These include glass-filled polypropylene, mineral-filled polypropylene and polyvinylideneflouride, or PVDF as it’s known.”

Tecpro advises on the best choice of filter nozzles for all types of applications, including water treatment plants and municipal pools throughout Australia.

“We’ve never met a filter nozzle challenge we couldn’t solve,” says Mr Cooper. “Our range is available in 22 different models, eight standard stem lengths, eight types of thread and 10 different slot widths, and we can even arrange for custom filter nozzles to be manufactured if necessary.

As a result we can find an accurate match for any system of any age.”

The filter nozzles distributed by Tecpro are made in Italy by ILMAP, a company with more than 40 years’ experience in designing and manufacturing filter nozzle solutions for water treatment systems in Europe and around the world.

“The ILMAP filter nozzles are precisionmade and are highly regarded for the reliable dimensional accuracy of their slot sizes, which prevents the passage of particles,” says Mr Cooper. “Of course getting the best outcome starts with having expert advice to help you choose the model that will capably deal with the demands placed on your system.”

The technical team at Tecpro can advise on and recommend the optimal choice in filter nozzles for a wide variety of systems.

Tecpro is an exhibitor at Ozwater’14 (Stand 1A12), with representatives on hand to answer any questions about ILMAP nozzles as well as the company’s full range of technical solutions.

For more information contact 02 9634 3370 or visit www.tecpro.com.au.

DELIVERING WATER OPERATIONS TRAINING IN REMOTE LOCATIONS Simmonds and Bristow as an RTO has been successfully delivering Water Operations training for over 20 years. Recent years have been exciting as availability of Government funding for higher-level qualifications spurred demand for supply of this training. Simmonds and Bristow delivery of Certificate IV and Diploma around Queensland commenced in 2009. Our first round of Diploma students attained their qualifications in early 2011, closely followed by the Certificate IV students in mid-2011.

Building on the success of Simmonds and Bristow’s training in Queensland, NSW, Tasmania and WA, since 2011 we have been delivering Certificate II to Certificate IV training all around the Northern Territory from Darwin to Yulara (Ayers Rock). As with all remote places, delivery around the territory, and especially Far North Queensland, up into the Torres Strait Islands, requires logistics and organisation skills second to none. Fortunately our trainers love the adventures this sometimes entails and our administrative team rises to the challenge of getting us there (and back!) on time and well resourced.

The delivery of Certificates II and III training to more than 50 students from 17 different Torres Strait Island communities was a case in point. This was the second of similar major training projects Simmonds and Bristow completed for the TSI in the past few years. Getting the trainers, students

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and materials to the different islands for each block of training was made much easier due to our previous experiences working in the region. It stood us in good stead when coordinating our delivery to indigenous community Essential Services Officers in five remote regions of the NT, with the usual charter flights and contingency planning in case wet-season road closures prevented the normal travel routes.

New projects with Simmonds and Bristow’s business partner EPCO Australia from PNG to Sri Lanka and further offshore signal the excitement will continue in 2014.

With the EPCO partnership we now can offer an even more comprehensive solution package for the majority of client needs, from sampling and laboratory liaison for compliance or investigation; environmental impact assessment and modelling;

compliance assessment and reporting; expert witnesses for Environmental court; design or review of new or existing treatment or reticulation; construction of the chosen options, right through to commissioning, post-commissioning or optimisation, plus delivering operator training or providing supported relief or permanent operators.

With the input of the engineers and scientists in our water consultancy we wrote a lot of our own learner resources, especially RPL evidence collection guides.

Our industry-experienced trainers were able to develop these assessment tools and reference materials based on their many years on treatment plants or working the reticulation or sewer networks. In a similar manner to our tried and proven face-to-face delivery at Certificate II & III level, we have supported qualification achievement with guidance, tailored to individual needs, at the clients’ own sites. Feedback from our graduates is that the regular facilitated sessions on site we offer are applauded, and a key factor in our continuing favourable

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outcomes delivering this training. We are encouraged to see SWSi have echoed our effective face-to-face delivery style with their recent SEQWater Diploma students.

Another highlight was the success of Vincent Schrieber, an Indigenous student from Yarrabah in North Queensland. Vincent was awarded the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year at the Queensland Training Awards 2009. Vincent was part of a course taught as part of a larger Indigenous community infrastructure operation-training program in Weipa, during three two-week block training sessions between December 2007 and October 2008.

David Bristow, Managing Director at Simmonds & Bristow, said the Award was a fantastic achievement for Vincent and demonstrated the results and success tailored training programs could have.

The dedication Vincent has shown to both his studies and his commitment to his community is exemplary and we wish him well with his future studies.

It has been fantastic to see that some of our Certificate IV students are now continuing on and currently undertaking

All the right connections for the water industry.

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Now there’s an online tool that brings all these suppliers together in one central location. ICN’s Water Directory is a pivotal connection point for project and procurement managers looking for the best water industry suppliers in our region.

This comprehensive directory has a powerful search function that allows you to find suppliers with capabilities that exactly match your needs.

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water Business their Diploma studies with us. Simmonds and Bristow Certificate IV students have won the WIOA Qld Conference Best Paper Overall in 2012 (Alistair and Col from Banana Shire), and in 2013 (Jimmy from Toowoomba). Can we make it a hat trick in 2014?

A SMALL LOGGER...

WITH BIG IDEAS With the success of a major project undertaken in association with Sydney Water over many years, Metasphere Ltd is now ready to further its expansion into the Australian telemetry market with a new unit called Point Orange.

Metasphere Ltd has a versatile and highly skilled engineering team in the UK used to working with water companies both at home and internationally. Now, with Graeme Jones on the ground in Australia, and with a logger ideally suited to the needs of the water industry here, the company believes it is ready to add its voice and knowledge to this market.

In 2010 Metasphere launched a low-cost unit called ‘Point Green’, an IP68-rated GPRSbased low power logger that is simple to install, compact and designed to collect data

automatically from another single device.

It was always intended as just the start to a range of loggers that would challenge the conventions of remote telemetry units and provide users with unrivalled flexibility. The range, called Point Colour, now comprises the original unit ‘Point Green’ and a new logger ‘Point Orange’.

Point Orange takes this expanding range of telemetry products into new areas, offering unparalleled versatility and connectivity and, importantly, providing real cost benefits. Point Orange connects to DNP3 Level 3. It comes with a 3G modem with a Switchable internal/ external antenna and provides for remote firmware upgrades and remote configuration.

Engineering Director, Mark Davison explained the thinking behind some of the product’s key features: “The development of Point Orange is market-driven. We know there is a need in Australia for a multi-purpose unit, so adding functionality was key. Cheap loggers that have limited capability have limited use. Point Orange can be used in numerous applications.

There is a submersion sensor, an internal battery pack and an external replaceable battery option that has an extended life of 5+ years. It provides real-time remote monitoring of up to five programmable sensors. It also has programmable I/O functionality for thousands of configurable combinations and includes support for instance AI, CI, DI and DO. The multiple configuration options include local monitoring of battery voltage, signal and temperature.

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water Business EMERSON OPENS A NEW MANUFACTURING AND REPAIR FACILITY IN AUSTRALIA

“The unit has total interoperability; it reduces configuration errors and connection can be better managed,” states Davison.

One of the company’s key aims was to offer a plug and play solution that would minimise the need for additional site visits, making associated cost-savings.

Davison explains: “With Point Orange we were keen to reduce or eliminate some of the OPEX and CAPEX costs involved with the set-up and operation. It was a question of engineering inexpensive solutions; the ability for customers to undertake remote firmware upgrades is one good example, it reduces site visits. Another is File Transfer Protocol. This will suit smaller companies who will not need to buy a top-end or use a bureau service. FTP software can been downloaded and data sent direct.”

Another important benefit the company identified was memory and data security.

Point Orange can store up to 250 million records with no additional memory required, and because the data is transferred to non-volatile memory it is secure in the event of a power loss.

Point Orange is all about turning upside down the preconceptions that surround loggers; with Point Orange Metasphere is bringing loggers to life.

For further information contact Graeme Jones on 0405 671 316, email Graeme. jones@metasphere.co.uk or visit www. metasphere.co.uk

WATER INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP REPAIRS SYDNEY WATER’S ‘SPIT SYPHON’ Water Infrastructure Group carried out repairs inside the Middle Harbour ‘Spit Syphon’ building in Mosman, as part of Sydney Water’s SewerFix™ program to improve the wastewater system and protect public health and the environment.

The Syphon is an essential part of Sydney Water’s Northern Suburbs Ocean Outfall Sewer system that services communities in an area of over 400 square kilometres in the

Emerson Process Management has opened a manufacturing and service facility in Melbourne to serve the process industry in Australia and New Zealand. Local service and manufacturing with short lead times helps customers in the oil and gas, chemical, food and beverage, mining, and water industries minimise downtime and reduce inventory. northern and western areas of Sydney. The Syphon crosses Middle Harbour at The Spit, between Parriwi Point and Clontarf Flat, and consists of two large concrete towers built in the 1920s with Art Deco and Egyptian architectural influence.

Pieter Schoofs, Water Infrastructure Group manager for the project, said that careful planning was required to minimise project risks in this high profile location.

“Water Infrastructure Group designed a sophisticated ventilation and odour control system to provide a safe working environment and prevent any odour issues for nearby residents. We also designed a walking bridge and working platforms so that our team could complete the work safely inside the syphon building.

“To minimise the impact on residents, we managed the work so that the syphon could continue its normal operation. We carried out concrete repairs and installed new stainless steel covers to replace corroded metal access lids. These works have extended the life of this important asset, eliminated the release of odour and provide improved and safer access for ongoing maintenance and operations.

“We worked closely with Sydney Water to address issues that could impact on the local and wider Mosman community, particularly regarding the potential for release of odours. We ensured that the works were completed prior to the Christmas break and it was very pleasing to see that the effort we put into designing and planning an efficient odour-control system was rewarded, with zero community complaints.”

The heritage-listed ‘Spit Syphon’ is an excellent example of the skills of engineers of the time in constructing major public works. It is also possibly the best example in the state of an inverted syphon on such a scale. The syphon is still in good condition and has been in constant use since the 1920s.

water APRIL 2014

The Emerson Quick Ship and Repair Centre provides the local market with more than 6,000 product and service solutions for Emerson’s Rosemount pressure, temperature and DP level instrumentation range, including the capability to manufacture and repair remote seals. New instruments can be manufactured to match specific site applications with either 48-hour express or five-day priority dispatch. The facility also has advanced repair and service capabilities to refurbish and reinstate devices to original performance and specifications.

The new Quick Ship and Repair Centre is ISO 9001 quality endorsed and IECex hazardous area accredited. Testing, calibration equipment and services match the highest device specifications in the world. The facility was officially opened

by Emerson Chairman and CEO David Farr on 4 March 2014.

MELBOURNE WATER COLLABORATION DEVELOPS NEW FIBRE OPTIC MONITORING SYSTEM Water leaks incessantly down an embankment onto houses below. In another part of town a road collapses without warning, creating a three-metre deep pool. Somewhere else a geyser spurts water 10 metres into the air, damaging surrounding houses, cars and property.

These are headline makers – occasional catastrophes – but the real challenge for water pipeline maintenance is much less dramatic: can water authorities remotely monitor vast kilometres of underground

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water Business pipe quickly and accurately, pinpoint faults and, more importantly, assess how critical they are?

If they can do this they will be able to apply targeted fixes. And, instead of making expensive, large-scale replacements based on age, these will be able to be made on pipe performance. There is the potential to shift from a reactive, age-based maintenance model to a proactive and preventative one.

This is where the opportunity lies for real cost savings to consumers.

A new fibre optic system developed through a collaboration among Melbourne Water, Monash University, South East Water, CSIRO Land and Water and Hawk Measurement Systems has the potential to provide 24/7 monitoring, accurate and inexpensive fault and deterioration location, and reduce unnecessary pipe maintenance.

Trials to date indicate the system is accurate to within one metre along 50 kilometres of pipe.

Choosing to work with numerous partners on this project put Melbourne Water in a position to gain industry support and to successfully obtain funds from the Victorian Government. A significant grant from the Department of State Development, Business and Innovation’s Market Validation Program, along with cash and in-kind contributions, has resulted in a $2.5 million project.

Existing fibre optic sensing technology was known to have the capability to monitor the condition and integrity of pipes, but available solutions were largely confined to those above ground. What was needed was a system that allowed sensors to be installed and managed on buried pipes in a costeffective manner for the long service life of water pipelines – up to 100 years or more.

Traditionally, leaks need to become visible first. They are then located with a stethoscope-like instrument, which requires a site visit. This observation can be drawn out, as leaking water often appears at the surface some distance from the actual pipe fracture.

With the newly developed fibre optic system, once a fault is identified it can be evaluated remotely using a data acquisition system that can sense three significant variables – stress and strain (or pressure), sound vibrations and temperature. A laser beam is sent to the optical fibre, which measures the signals coming back. Analysis of the spectrum interprets the signals, telling the operator what kind of fault is occurring, its location and dimensions. Continuous long-term remote monitoring using fibre optics eliminates the need for onsite inspection either to monitor pipe health or to detect leaks.

All the sensed variables are constantly monitored and ‘sensed area’ accuracy is approximately 0.5 metres over 50 kilometres of installed fibre.

The multiple analysis system eliminates the possibility of false positives from a single signal.

but not acoustics,” he says. “The value in acoustics is that you can hear leaks along the pipeline long before they become breaks.”

Attaching the fibre optic cable to the pipelines has thrown up practical obstacles: how to attach the cable to a pressurised pipe (inside or outside?), and how to deploy the fibre optic cables so they can be renewed in future, as they may not last as long as the water pipeline.

The solution developed by Hawk allows the cable to be installed in one-kilometre sections of conduit attached to the wall of the pipe. The system can be buried underground or under water. An installation can be both replaced and upgraded, making it ideal for infrastructure with a long service life.

The project has made links with Intelligent Water Networks and with Integrated Water Management Systems, which suggests fibre optics could be a tool for them to use. Learnings from this project will undoubtedly inform future discussions among scientists and engineers.

Chair of the Project Control Board, Professor Jayantha Kodikara, head of Geotechnical and Geoenvironment at Monash University’s Department of Civil Engineering, says that to his knowledge this is the first three-in-one, remote measurement system available.

“There are remote systems that measure strain and temperature,

Dr Hong Chun Bao at the Hawk Photonics Laboratory making adjustments to the Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifier.

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