Handheld devices were trialed in-house with existing remote access and SCADA technologies. After successfully trialing these devices, they were issued to staff throughout Cairns Regional Council, this included treatment plant and reticulation staff.

The main goal was to allow portable remote access to the SCADA system, especially for on call, after hours support. There was also an additional benefit found after deploying these devices to larger plants. This is that staff can take the SCADA system with them throughout the plant instead of having to return to a control room.

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As Seqwater was formed from multiple local authorities, who all had different standards of operations and asset management, a need was recognised to implement a set of operational documents so the water treatment plants can be operated to a uniform standard. This task involved the development of site procedures and work instructions. These documents would then be categorised into sub folders to form an online set of documents in a broader management system available to staff at all sites. As I had previous experience developing and writing work instructions I was asked to take on this task.

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Conventional oxidation processes are used in water treatment to disinfect water, to reduce toxins, odour and colour or to reduce manganese and iron levels in potable water. These processes may not destroy all toxins and have the potential to create dangerous disinfection by-products (DBPs). Advanced oxidation process (AOP) utilises the strong oxidising power of hydroxyl radicals that can reduce organic compounds to harmless end products such as carbon dioxide and water. For many water treatment plants this level of treatment is currently not deemed to be necessary to meet statutory requirements. However, this situation may change driven primarily by concerns over water quality arising from the retention and accumulation of recalcitrant organic compounds in water systems.

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Safe, effective, economical and environmentally responsible odour control and asset protection in sewerage collection networks has long been the bane of Councils and Water Authorities in Australia and other parts of the world. Masking agents, corrosive chemicals, non-performing “snake oils” and expensive solutions have all entered the market making various claims in one form or another.

Published studies and articles by various companies, organisations and individuals comparing stabilised Magnesium Hydroxide Liquid (MHL) with other chemical alternatives for dosing sewer networks, has proven MHL to be the safest, most cost effective and environmentally responsible to use for odour control of H2S gas and long term protection from collection system corrosion.

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The Moura Water Treatment Plant (WTP) is a conventional water treatment plant comprising chemical dosing, clarifiers and media filters. There were some extensions made to the original plant in 1974 to accommodate increased population in the town, but no major works have been undertaken since.

The raw water is sourced from the Dawson River and the raw water quality can be extremely variable, particularly in times of flooding. This puts extra strain on the treatment plant to continually provide good quality treated water.

This paper covers the investigation into the chemical dosing configuration and chemicals used at the Moura and other WTPs. It discusses a variety of trials which confirmed the benefits of changing and outlines the cost savings in both chemical and labour resulting from this work.

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In December – January of 2010/11, Bundaberg experienced its worst floods in 60 years with floodwaters from the Burnett River inundating hundreds of homes.

The floods had major impacts on the capability of the six (6) Bundaberg Regional Council (BRC) coastal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) consisting of – (Bargara, Coral Cove, East, North, Thabeban & Millbank). Average Dry Weather Flow for each respective WWTP is shown in Table 1. This paper focuses on the Millbank Wastewater Treatment (WWTP) as it was the most affected and provides an overview of the impacts, the recovery process, costs and improvements.

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One year on from the filling of Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) surface water storages, dam levels have fallen and risen on numerous occasions corresponding with the various rain events throughout the year. This has caused some significant changes in the raw water quality and the impacts on the operation of the Mt Kynoch Water Treatment Plant.

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Following the commissioning of the Pimpama WWTP in September 2008, optimisation activities have ensued. Sludge dewatering and removal costs constitute approximately 20% of the plant operating costs and are consequently a prime focus for optimisation.

The Pimpama biological treatment process is currently loaded at one third of capacity; the bioreactor is operated at an exceptionally long sludge age to bring the solids concentration up to an acceptable level, averaging 2700 mg/L. Bioreactor mixed liquor is wasted directly onto belt presses with an integrated gravity section. Powder poly is batched and dosed at an average rate of 2.6 kg poly / dry tonne solids (kg/dt).

The dewatered cake total solids have averaged 14.3%, which is acceptable in comparison with other installations, however the solids capture rate has been exceptionally poor at 73%, failing the performance criteria specified for this equipment.

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In this paper we will look at a case study of how to obtain C-Tick compliance and will therefore at the end be able to answer the questions: C-Tick.

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Chisholm Institute has established a National Water Resource Training Facility at their Cranbourne Campus. The establishment of this facility is a leading step when it comes to Water and Wastewater Operator Training. The facility will be fully accredited and offer numerous curriculum for the Water or Wastewater Operator.

Clean TeQ, as the technology partner, was proud to be a part of the development of this exciting new facility which puts a focus on water and wastewater recycling, sustainable management of water and water as a resource. The first stage of the facility development has been aimed at water treatment processes with a planned secondary development to focus on wastewater treatment. Water treatment is an area where technology is advancing rapidly due to ever increasing quality standards. New technology is more complex with more intensive instrumentation and control and so the training aspects are very important. Melbourne’s Wonthaggi Seawater Desalination Plant is an example of the current state of the art in water treatment. This type of multi-process operation is a huge advance on the simple sedimentation / clarification and filtration plants that are still commonly found in rural Australia.

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Goulburn Valley Water (GVW) is a Statutory Corporation constituted under the Water Act and is governed by a Board of eight Directors appointed by the Minister for Water. GVW provides urban water and wastewater services to a population of over 126,000 in 54 towns and cities from the outskirts of Melbourne in the south to the Murray River in the north, covering an area of some 20,000 square kilometres. The Corporation directly employs over 180 people in operational, engineering, financial and administrative roles.

Greater Shepparton City Council (GSCC) employs over 480 permanent staff in management, technical, financial, recreational and leisure, labouring, and children’s services roles. Greater Shepparton is a vibrant, diverse community located approximately two hours north of Melbourne, in the heart of the Goulburn Valley. Greater Shepparton has a population of about 61,000 and covers an area of 2,421 square kilometres. It is the fourth largest provincial centre in Victoria and one of the fastest growing regions in Victoria.

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I would like to introduce the proposed framework for the national certification of water operators. I have been fortunate enough to become involved in the project called “The Certification Framework for Operators of Drinking Water Treatment Systems”. The certification framework provides an assurance to regulators, communities and consumers that certified operators who treat drinking water are competent to perform the tasks required to ensure it is safe and are capable in identifying and responding to water quality risks and incidents.

This framework introduces a minimum competency standard for operators across all states and territories by aligning skills, knowledge and competency requirements to VET standards. It also ensures there is a requirement for on-going maintenance and development of skills and knowledge. This project has been funded by the National Water Commission and was carried out by Government Skills Australia.

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In this paper we briefly explore how the introduction of penalties under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 for discharges to the environment acted as a catalyst for a paradigm shift in Council’s attitude towards effluent. A number of projects were undertaken with the intent being to enhance the wastewater treatment process to increase its suitability as a resource and enhance biodiversity at the site and in our local environment. In the years after these project’s completion it has been demonstrated that quality wastewater treatment and biodiversity are mutually beneficial at an economic, social and environmental level.

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Concrete has been used as a construction material for water and wastewater treatment and storage structures for over 100 years in Australia. During this time, design and construction of these structures has remained a specialised practise and despite the vast majority of projects operating with no problems, design and construction issues continue to occur.

It appears that lessons from the past have been lost and that designers particularly, do not appreciate the sometimes subtle but always important key differences between normal concrete structures and structures for the Water Industry.

The widespread use of “Design and Construct” in water and wastewater projects has caused cost pressures to over-ride quality concerns and in some cases driven Contractors to find lowest-cost designers who do not have suitable expertise or experience with these structures. When Water Authorities do not have in-house structural engineering expertise to review D&C projects, this can lead to exposure to significant future risk of loss of service or even failures. This paper outlines examples of both successful and unsuccessful Australian water projects.

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The Gorgon project is one of the world’s largest natural gas projects and the largest single resource natural gas project in Australia’s history. It includes the construction of a 15 million tonne per annum (MTPA) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant on Barrow Island and a domestic gas plant with the capacity to provide 300 terajoules per day to supply gas to Western Australia.

Gorgon LNG will be off loaded via a four kilometre long loading jetty for transport to international markets. The domestic gas will be piped to the Western Australian mainland.

At the height of construction, in 2012, there will be 6,000 workers on the island. Those people need to be fed, watered, housed and entertained. Barrow Island is 130km off the WA coast so all the potable water needs to be generated on site and wastewater needs to be treated and disposed of on site. To make things more difficult, Barrow Island is an A-Class nature reserve and therefore the license conditions for all plants are quite onerous.

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Despite the synergies in the type of services provided, the water industry in Australia and New Zealand go about their tasks under completely different Legislative, Regulatory, Training and operationally based environments.

Although not a technical paper in the true sense, this paper will outline some of the differences and similarities that I have observed over my 16 year water industry career working in both countries.

THEODORE FLOODS 2011 Alistair Cumming & Col Kirkegaard – Banana Shire Council

I love a sunburnt country
A land of sweeping plains
Of rugged mountain ranges
Of droughts and flooding rains

And that is how 2010 ended and 2011 started – with the flooding rain bit.

It was water water everywhere and not a drop to drink.

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Sewage infrastructure corrosion costs the Australian Community about $1.5 Billion / annum or around $70.00 per person per year.

The predominant cause of sewage infrastructure corrosion is due to sulphuric acid attack. It is not uncommon to find sewage infrastructure with pH readings below pH 5 and down as low as pH 2 or less. A pH of 2 will corrode 50cm of concrete in just 8 years.

The rate of sewage infrastructure corrosion can be reduced, generally with a substantial return on investment.

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