2017 – 80th WIOA Victorian Water Industry Operations Conference & Exhibition
6 & 7 September 2017 – Bendigo Exhibition Centre
Supported by: Victorian Regional Water Corporations represented by Barwon Water, Goulburn Valley Water and Western Water.
Prime Sponsors: Calix, Fusion, Hach, Hayward, Ixom and Xylem
The following papers are listed in order of the conference program
Operational review: Optimisation of polymer in the coagulation process Bridey Pearn & John Martin – North East Water
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The polymer system linked to a DAF process at the Wangaratta Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) has been identified for an upgrade to address ongoing inefficiency issues. These include safety concerns raised with regards to dust exposure and manual handling, as well as ongoing reliability and operability limitations involving blockages and dust infiltration into nearby equipment.
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Take your tablets – Outcomes of the pomonal chlorine tablet dosing facility trial Chris Baker – GWM Water
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Pomonal is a small town with a population of 350 people located on the east side of the Grampians National Park approximately 20km SW of Stawell. Since 2001, a potable water supply has been provided from the Halls Gap Water Treatment Plant (WTP) via a 12km trunk main to the Pomonal 450kL Clear Water Storage (CWS) Tank. Initial disinfection is by Chlorine Gas at the Halls Gap WTP.Due to the long and relatively large diameter trunk main (DN250/200/150), there has been an ongoing issue of maintaining an effective free chlorine residual in the Pomonal CWS tank and reticulation.
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Energy efficiency opportunities at Wastewater Treatment Plants Waven Pyke – Northmore Gordon
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The energy intensity of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is dependent on multiple factors: the process design, technology used, its treatment capacity, and how it is operated. We have conducted energy audits and studies at over 27 wastewater treatment plants. Based on our work on an energy efficiency guide for the wastewater treatment industry, and our audit experience, we present some common opportunities, with short payback periods, for WWTP to improve energy efficiency and reduce cost. The opportunities we present can be broadly categorised into 1) Energy management systems, 2) Energy efficiency, and 3) Energy cost reduction.
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Curlewis Pump Station chlorination Upgrade Brock Stone – Gunnedah Shire Council – Best Paper & Best Operator Paper NSW 2017
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In 2016, Gunnedah Shire Council planned a major upgrade to the Curlewis Pump Station and chlorination site. We had to take into consideration that this site is the only water source for Curlewis so an uninterrupted supply would have to be maintained during the build. These bores will more than likely be discontinued in the future due to the hardness of the ground water and a proposed pipeline extending to the village from Gunnedah. The pipeline will be a long term project as it will require pipeline over 15 km in order to provide the village with Quality water however we needed to fix the current problem of the dilapidated building and aging chlorination system regardless of future plans. We also had to recognise and overcome the limited budget that was given for this project.
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Resolving Casterton’s manganese problem Stuart Silvester- Wannon Water
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Casterton’s water is supplied by four bores with the issue of consistent soluble Iron and Manganese present in the raw water. The water is then pumped 14 km to the water treatment plant. Prior to the upgrade, pre-treatment was by chlorine (liquid) for oxidisation and ferric chloride for coagulation directly prior to gravity and pressure filtration. A post chlorine dose maintained residual in the onsite 3 ML storage.
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Groundwater borefield refurbishing works Gwyn Hatton – Barwon Water
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The Barwon Downs Borefield consists of six production bores ranging from 500m – 600m deep, with the capacity to produce up to 12 ML/d each. Four of the bores were constructed in 1982 of epoxy coated steel and were partially relined in 1998 to repair some corroded sections of the bore columns. Two additional bores were later constructed in 2001. The Barwon Downs Borefield was last operated as a supply source over the period of 2006 to 2010. With recent dry conditions the bores needed to be re-commissioned within a short timeframe.
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Protecting concrete structures – Real life examples from a coatings inspector Justin Rigby – Remedy Asset Protection
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Our experience is in refurbishment of structures with a focus on protective coatings over many different industries and substrates. From steel to concrete whether it is weir walls, oil pipelines, gas networks, sewer mains, water tanks and so on. However for this paper we will focus on Concrete structures and their protection. I am here today to tell you, ‘painting is difficult’ and if you have been in the water industry for long enough you will already know some horror stories. So why does this happen with painting or more appropriately ‘application of protective coatings’?
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Aquantify – two years on, a celebration of successes Mark Banting – Goulburn Valley Water
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In 2015 Goulburn Valley Water replaced an aging database with Aquantify, a database developed collaboratively with Wannon Water and Thinking Windows. From the initial focus of water quality Aquantify now performs an integral role across the business. Use of Aquantify has expanded dramatically to include operational data, inspections (dam safety, security, occupational health and safety) and water quantities (raw water, consumption and wastewater reuse). Aquantify is used throughout the organisation from the Managing Director through to front line operators.
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Mixer base plate lifting tool Marcus Boyd – Toowoomba Regional Council – Best Paper & Best Operator Paper Queensland 2017
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The Wetalla Waste Water Reclamation Facility is owned and operated by the Toowoomba Regional Council. The facility is a Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) process treating an Average Dry Weather Flow (ADWF) of 36 ML/d. The plant consists of two identical bioreactors operating in parallel. Bioreactor 1 was commissioned in 1995 while Bioreactor 2 was commissioned in 2006.
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School Based Apprenticeships for water and waste water operations John Day – North East Water
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North East Water have always faced difficulties attracting female applicants to apply for its outdoor positions. While promoting diversity, delivering on our promise of this goal has always met the same outcome that no female applicants applied for the advertised positions. Changing the titles and the sound of the advertisement still meet with a poor result. For this challenge North East Water needed to rethink the problem. Conversations with local secondary colleges found an opportunity through the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning program or VCAL as it is more commonly known. The college’s found that by connecting to a water corporation under our NWP07 training modules, they could offer more to their female students in a science and trade based outcome than it currently could.
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900mm Flextend seismic coupling installation Steve Watt – Wellington Water, NZ – Best Paper New Zealand
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An area determined to have high liquefaction in a seismic event is in the location of a 900mm-1050mm diameter bulk water main that supplies Wellington City with water. A critical network valve chamber along this main was assessed by engineers that it would elevate upwards in an event of an earthquake, causing the bulk main to lift with it causing the main to rupture and cutting off the water supply to the city.
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2017 Network Operator Development Program Andrew Povey – Wannon Water & Jason Cass – GWM Water
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After gaining endorsement for the concept at a meeting of Victorian Water Corporation Managing Directors in 2016, planning for the inaugural Network Operator Development Program (NODP) was commenced.The NODP has been established to identify, mentor and develop future leaders in the Network Operations field across the Victorian Water Industry. The program commenced in February 2017 with the first cohort of 13 participants from 11 Victorian Water Corporations participating. The aim of the NODP is to expand the knowledge, skillset, network of colleagues and practical experience of Network Operators by exposing them to strategic thinking and best practice initiatives across the technology, business management and leadership fields.
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Rapid condition assessment of sewer mains using SewerBatt Leon Stackpole – Coliban Water
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Coliban Water has used SewerBatt acoustic sensing technology to assess the condition of a range of small and medium sized sewer pipes within the Coliban Water sewer network. The results have been compared to CCTV condition assessment reports. The results demonstrate that the technology is more accurate for assessing the condition of medium sized sewer pipes (>150 to ≤450mm diameter). Therefore the tool is being used on an ongoing basis to prevent larger sewer spills from medium sized pipes. Further work is required to determine the value of the technology for smaller pipes. The project has identified key attributes of a successful SewerBattTM program including operator capability and program design. The program was enhanced by combining it with a sewer manhole condition assessment program.
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What our customers don’t see David White – Yarra Valley Water
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On the 9th of October 2016 Victoria was lashed with a severe wet weather and wind event which resulted in a tree crashing into a major supply reservoir for a town of 7000 people. Over the next three weeks a major incident response team across multiple businesses operating 24/7 battled multiple failures of critical assets to maintain supply to customers. The adage, ‘what can go wrong, will go wrong’ is particularly pertinent in this incident response which tested the robustness of the supply and distribution systems with contingencies tested to the limit. This paper will detail the incident response and then explore the concept of risk exposure within water treatment and distribution systems during an incident and how your contingencies may not be as good as you think they are.
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Yackandandah energy storage project David Bedggood – North East Water
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North East Water (NEW) in partnership with the Intelligent Water Network (IWN) and the Totally Renewable Yackandandah (TRY) group are currently building the first solar photovoltaic and battery storage installation to run a water treatment plant off grid. Along the journey, NEW has also partnered with SPAusnet to test energy storage through a mini grid pilot program that will see a sewerage pump station being powered by local housing that will collect solar energy for the batteries to run the station. Both these projects are helping North East Water meet its carbon pledge of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2025. This paper will map out the process of how this project came about and the learnings to help other corporations deliver renewable energy projects. Energy storage will be the game changer for the water industry over the next ten years. The introduction of battery storage can deliver water corporations control of the cost and reliability of their energy supply.
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A case study investigating the impacts of alternative coagulants on taste and odour in drinking water Tara Callingham – Goulburn Valley Water
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A case study was undertaken at Euroa WTP to determine the impacts of using alternative coagulants on taste and odour in drinking water. A triple bottom line assessment was used as a comparison tool looking at the financial, social and environmental impacts associated with each alternative coagulant. The WTP uses traditional technology of chemical coagulation, clarification and filtration prior to disinfection. Euroa WTP has consistent anecdotal taste and odour issues, which have been attributed to vegetation in the catchment.
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Blackwater 3.0 – The return of organics to the riverland Adam Medlock – Trility
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The ten Riverland Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) have been operational in the Riverland region of South Australia since early 2000. Following a decade of drought conditions and good river water quality, the region was hit with a ‘blackwater’ event in late 2010 that saw a large amount of organic material washed into the river causing subsequent issues with critical treatment parameters such as true colour, Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) and turbidity. Following a second similar event in 2012, water quality challenges subsided and the river was thought to be in recovery mode, with the combination of the two events being considered a ‘1 in 100 year’ occurrence. This was not to be however, with the region being subjected to comparatively its worst blackwater event in recorded history in late 2016 that resulted in significant operational challenges to the treatment plants. Utilising a systematic process approach and lessons learnt from the previous events, the Riverland WTPs emerged from the challenge largely unscathed, even in the face of tighter regulatory performance guidelines.
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Evaluating 10 years of GAC filter performance for taste and odours David Cook – Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water
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Cyanobacteria can produce metabolites which impart tastes and odours which are a problem for the water industry as they can damage customer perception of water quality. Granular activated carbon (GAC) filters can be an effective barrier for the removal of these metabolites; however, like all adsorption processes there is a limited capacity. GAC filters can also be effective biological filters as the surface of the particles offers excellent substrate for biomass attachment. If these microorganisms can degrade the metabolites, the GAC filters have the potential to function indefinitely, despite reduced adsorption capacity over time. At full scale it is difficult to determine the adsorptive/biological removal potential of the GAC. Such knowledge will allow for planning of GAC replacement or that current GAC condition is such that during the next cyanobacterial bloom a taste and odour breakthrough is unlikely. Consequently, tools that can be applied to measure the effectiveness of GAC filters over operational life time are of value for water authorities.
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Cartridge filter performance assessment and optimisation in dual membrane recycled water plant Shanli Zhang – City West Water
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Altona Salt Reduction Plant (ASRP) is an UF and RO (two pass) recycled water plant, owned and operated by City West Water (CWW). ASRP supplies 2000 ML of recycled water annually to CWW’s irrigation and industrial customers. Cartridge filters (5 microns) are installed downstream of the UF for the protection of the RO membranes. It has been observed that the ASRP cartridge filters are subject to biological fouling due to biomass re-growth. As a consumable inventory and process equipment, the cartridge filters contribute a small portion to the plant OPEX cost but have a significant impact on the RO performance and membrane asset life. Developing a method to assess the performance including recognising the trigger signs for cartridge filters replacement, select the right cartridges and optimise the cartridge filter operation would benefit the ASRP operation.
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Temperature phased anaerobic digestion Sam Mahawithanage – South East Water
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The mesophilic digestion system at Mt Martha Water Recycling Plant was converted to temperature phased anaerobic digestion in May 2017. Temperature phased anaerobic digestion (TPAD) is a two-step advanced digestion process where thermophilic digestion (typically at 55°C) precedes mesophilic digestion (at 37°C). This process potentially offers operational benefits that include: a more stable process at higher sludge loading rates, increased volatile solids destruction, reduced risk of digester foaming and increase in pathogen inactivation.
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Improving efficiency with disc aerators at the Hahndorf WWTP Morgan Cartridge – SA Water
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SA Water’s Hahndorf WWTP comprises two oxidation ditches, Ditch 1 and Ditch 2. Originally, aeration in Ditch 1 was supplied by two sets of horizontal brush type surface aerators in a duty standby arrangement, each powered by a 22 kW electric motor on variable frequency drive. The aerators were low in energy efficiency, approaching its design capacity and failed to consistently achieve the required dissolved oxygen target. A trial was conducted in an attempt to improve aeration energy efficiency as well as to increase treatment capacity of the plant. The success of this trial would improve plant performance but also defer capital upgrades of the WWTP. Objectives of this trial also include providing safe and reliable equipment to operate over the design life with minimal maintenance. This paper discusses the trial project, results, observations and the positive impact on plant operation to date supported by plant pre and post installation operating data.
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Addressing water quality with secondary chlorination Peter Murphy & Max Hadzimdimitriou – Yarra Valley Water
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Yarra Valley Water’s (YVW) strategic intent is to deliver exemplary water services to our customers. One aspect of delivering exemplary water is to meet the outcomes set in the Safe Drinking Water Regulations (2015). The regulations were updated in 2015 to include a requirement for tanks to be sampled and for these sample results to meet the defined water quality standards.
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Operator to the future Ryan McGowan – Goulburn Valley Water
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Predicting the future is difficult and forecasts often fall short. However, failing to plan may equate to planning to fail. Following a Back to the Future theme, this paper examines the past and present of water operations to establish a foundation to discuss future challenges for Operators. The challenges will likely come from a number of sources: digital transformation, customer centricity, climate change, regulatory pressures and workforce demographic changes. This paper encourages Operators to take a strategic view of their future, to continue to adapt and help shape it. It is contended this will be achieved by ensuring Operators increase their digital literacy, critical thinking and data analytics capabilities, flexibility, resilience and ongoing professional development.
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Enhancing recreational values and protecting drinking water supplies – Future challenges and opportunities Peter Field – Central Highlands Water
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Water Corporations are stewards of regionally significant land and water assets that provide community services beyond the supply of water. With urban expansion and peri-urban growth, community population is increasing in and around drinking water supplies. Our communities see many recreational values and potential uses of these assets. Some of these uses have industry investment and support whereas other use present hazards to our drinking water quality. All uses need some degree of risk control. The operational monitoring of catchment hazards provides sanitary surveys with real data and this information is the basis for the establishment of health based targets and the selection of future treatment process for community drinking water supplies.
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