In some areas (e.g. warm climates), locations (e.g. near the sea) and fields (e.g. water treatment, chemical), it is critical that power and data services are well-protected against humidity, corrosion and outdoor exposure. Therefore, it is highly relevant that cable trays and other conducting elements provide a good protection to the cabling and therefore, guarantee a reliable installation.

Cable management systems made of insulating materials are unaffected by corrosion and ensure good protection against outdoor exposure, the UVs and chemical agents. This resistance is ensured by the raw material in itself; it is not achieved by applying a coating to the final product.

Moreover, they help to improve electrical safety (complete insulation), do not require grounding and there is no need to upkeep the installation, as the product remains stable in the course of time. This leads to big savings during execution, inspection and maintenance.

This paper starts from resistance against corrosion to develop all technical aspects regarding installations in harsh environmental conditions, focusing on own-formulated raw materials, international standards, quality marks, approvals (UL, Bureau Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd, etc.), most performing applications and a selection of references backed-up by over 35 years’ experience in this type of installations.

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In early 2014, a breakpoint chlorination project was undertaken to improve water quality in a supply zone at the end of the supply network. There were known water quality issues due to nitrification and low chloramine residuals in the upstream supply. This was compounded by problematic/complex disinfection stations along the supply path to this area. In addition, planned mains cleaning had not been performed in the area for some time due to the millennium drought.

The area had a high frequency of dirty water events. A ‘proof of concept’ was initiated to address these water quality concerns through breakpoint conversion of the zone’s drinking water from chloramine to free chlorine using a portable dosing station. The pilot project was successful and has provided valuable long term benefits in future applications. An additional benefit has been the development of a chemical dosing philosophy to maximise the effectiveness of a chloramine residual and minimise the occurrence of nitrification.

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This paper is written a little ‘tongue in cheek’ and I hope it is taken with the light hearted spirit it has been intended. I would ask that you indulge me and try to recall your initiation into the industry or even your first job and enjoy this brief overview of my experience.

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The last three years have seen Queensland experience widespread change in the public sector with cost saving strategies of the like not seen for many years. The water sector is one area under scrutiny. This has been triggered by the cost to supply safe drinking water to the community which has been influenced by the debt invested in drought proofing South East Queensland. This has contributed to the state being in a situation where the cost to service debt interest was outweighing revenue eg we were having to borrow to pay our repayments – an unsustainable situation that with the current prediction we won’t be out of until 2018.

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Concrete sewer assets are corroded in situ by acid produced in the sewer. Stricter pollution norms and changes in our dietary habits has increased the rate of corrosion substantially over the last 2 decades.

Tens of billions of dollars worth of sewer assets in Australia are today under threat due to corrosion. Rehabilitation of these sewer assets will not only cost hundreds of millions of dollars but will also result in immense operational challenges.

One of the solutions to stop corrosion is by spraying Magnesium Hydroxide Liquid (MHL) on the surface of concrete sewers. Compared to exsiting corrosion protection technologies like plastic lining, MHL spray coating is 7 times cheaper over the life cycle of the asset and does not require flow diversion or man entry for application. This technology has been tested and used as a mainstream corrosion protection mechanism over the last 12 years in the USA and Australia.

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Health Based Targets (HBT) for microbial safety provide quantitative definitions of safe drinking water. While the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines provide values for hazardous chemicals it does not include corresponding targets for pathogenic micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and protozoa. The Health Based Target Manual was produced by the Water Services Association of Australia and is based on the World Health Organisation target of disability-adjusted life years. Tweed Shire Council recently participated in a trial implementation of HBTs using this manual. The manual was found to be a well structured and useful tool for assessing the pathogenic safety of drinking water and compliments the recently developed Drinking Water Management System. A number of improvements were identified that were expected and consistent with an existing improvement plan. The most significant and unexpected improvement required was the requirement for additional process steps such as UV disinfection to increase protozoan reduction.

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This paper will present the reasons why the Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) built a new water treatment plant to supply the townships of Crows Nest and Hampton in the Northern districts of TRC, and highlight some of the short comings of the existing water treatment plants located at Crows Nest and Hampton. The paper will also cover some of the operational issues associated with the commissioning and proving of the new water treatment plant, including water quality results from this period and optimisation of a brand new water treatment plant with technologies and automation levels that some of the operations staff may not have previously been exposed to.

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A history of under-resourced, poorly trained staff, a remote location and disjointed record keeping and plant failure, all contribute to poor water quality. A solution is revealed by simple observations of a recently educated new operator.

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Treatment plants with enhanced biological phosphorous removal provide a stable, high quality effluent for safe environmental discharge. Some downsides of this process include high phosphorous levels in recycle loads post digestion, reduced dewaterability of biosolids and the formation of struvite, which causes mechanical issues within pipework, pumps and sludge treatment systems.

It is possible to precipitate the struvite under a controlled reaction using a magnesium based chemical, and to produce struvite as a by-product, that can be sold as an enriched fertilizer. Furthermore, there is a reduction in phosphorous within recycle loads by 80% and an increase of 2 – 4% dry solids in dewatered biosolids. The removal of phosphate from the biosolids results in a drier cake with less polymer demand.

This paper discusses a process for controlled phosphate removal, and the benefits of applying this technology at a full scale installation in Germany. Savings in operational costs due to the process are presented.

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The author has been involved in failure investigations, pipeline performance and condition assessment for more than 25 years. Businesses he has managed have assessed more than 3,500 km of pressure water and wastewater pipelines, in Australia and South-east Asia. During this time he has been involved in Quotation, Design, Implementation and Interpretation of Condition Assessment Projects and Programmes. The success of these programs have largely been determined by the Design and Methodology required to produce a “Useful” outcome.

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A new Sewage Treatment Plant in an environmentally sensitive area is always going to be difficult. Though in an area such as Maleny, which also has a strong history of community passion for its stance on environmental protection; information and education was a priority.

Community consultation in the past had been a formality for previous water utilities. However, Unitywater demonstrated in this project that an intensive “engaging of the community, traditional owners and regulatory authorities” would provide an outcome that meet everyone’s expectations.

The project would be a combination of two vastly different technologies. We didn’t want to just get everyone’s approval, we wanted to impress them. This benefited and enriched everyone involved. This project also opened a healthy line of communications, for future projects.

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A serious workplace incident affects the lives of all those concerned – the workers involved, their colleagues, families and friends. It also has a significant impact on an organisation.

Following a serious trenching incident in October 2010, Mackay Regional Council has been on a journey to improve its safety performance and to transform its safety culture into one of interdependance.

This paper explores the key learnings that arose from the incident investigation, the preventive actions implemented and the key steps taken to continually improve work health and safety performance at Mackay Regional Council.

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The addition of a spray system on the RAS rake at the Edmonton wastewater treatment plant has minimised scum capture within the screenings. Prior to installation, the screenings bin was being emptied much more regularly than post spraying. The cartage savings have been over $900 per month and forecast to be around $11,500 per year.

In addition to this, we have seen savings in Longpac endless bag used to collect screenings. The reduction of water/weight in the waste bin has significantly reduced the chances of bag failure and possible environmental issues with spillage during storage and transfer.

Ultimately the plant has saved money and reduced both environmental risk and workplace health and safety issues.

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Atherton STP utilises a dual train SBR activated sludge treatment system. Potential for process optimisation was evaluated during Certificate IV Water Operations training onsite. Influent flow control was identified as a key factor which could contribute to process improvement. It was observed that the site had de-commissioned tanks from the old STP, which may be suitable for reinstatement and integration with the currently operating infrastructure. An investigation into the viability of this possibility, both physically and financially was undertaken. Additional factors affecting effluent quality were reviewed and some operational procedures were modified.

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The Western Trunk Water Main (WTM) is one of the critical water mains in the Toowoomba Water Supply Network. The WTM delivers treated water from the Mount Kynoch Water Treatment Plant (KWTP) to the western part of Toowoomba City, to a number of outlying western townships and areas including the Brisbane West (Wellcamp) Airport via the Toowoomba – Oakey pipeline. The WTM operates at a high pressure (up to 2,000 kPa) and was originally designed to distribute water to the western suburbs of Toowoomba.

The WTM comprises mainly DN675 prestressed concrete, rubber ring jointed pipe. Constructed and commissioned during 1969, it has been in continuous service for over 45 years. Most sections of the WTM are located in easements within private properties, however some sections are located in road reserves. The WTM crosses Gowrie Creek via an underground, concrete encased pipeline crossing.

This paper discusses the challenges faced during the repairs of an isolation and scour valve combination at the Gowrie Creek crossing, and how TRC successfully managed to overcome those challenges, by incorporating stakeholder participation to plan and stage the project.

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The Water Industry Worker (WIW) competency training journey began in South East Queensland with a pilot program including 22 staff members from the field maintenance and construction teams of Ipswich City Council, Logan City Council, Redland City Council, Brisbane City Council, Gold Coast City Council and Scenic Rim, Lockyer and Somerset Councils. This pilot program was seen as the first step of a major undertaking, effectively designing a custom industry accepted qualification, organising industry demand, and supporting the training supply market to develop an efficient model that could be replicated across other skill streams.

The strategic direction of the program proposed a journey which commenced by planning and implementing competency-based training for the field-based maintenance and construction stream –flowing on to other technical steams, para-professional, professional and potentially management roles.

In 2014, an evaluation of the WIW Program was undertaken. The purpose for this evaluation was to assess and appraise the WIW training program, to understand the impact of the program on the industry, water utilities and individual participants involved. qldwater has undertaken this evaluation in order to attempt to assess the return on this investment and thus provide evidence to ensure the future of the traineeship funding. In addition, the work seeks to provide a case for other service providers to consider adopting the Program, and encourage investment in other industry skilling initiatives.

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Sustainable Solutions operates and maintains treatment plants across north and west Australia. We have a love hate relationship with checklists that we want to share with you today. Our experience is you have to wrangle the checklist into shape to make it work for you.

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Richmond is a small outback community approximately half way between Townsville and Mt Isa and has since the dawn of time been supplied with water from the great artesian basin via two bores with differing water qualities. The presence of iron and Manganese and the aroma of sulphide were the key issues requiring rectification. It was a long road from conception to implementation of the new water treatment plant which involved some challenging aspects both for council and those who ultimately won the job of developing the process and implementing the system. Beginning with laboratory assessments of process options then upscaling to pilot scale trial to verify the process performance, a simple yet effective combination of treatment options was developed around existing infrastructure the Council had purchased.

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A number of test procedures have been reported in the literature for determination of the specific methanogenic activity profile of anaerobic sludges. Sludge activity measurements can be performed in two ways: 1. An overall measurement which gives information about the whole degradative activity using substrates such as cellulose, starch or gelatine and 2. An activity measurement of each basic stage of the process; for example, to determine the quality of a sludge sample in terms of methanogenic activity a substrate such as acetate is used to indicate how fast a certain quantity of sludge can convert acetate to methane.

This paper provides an overview of the various methods that exist and presents data obtained in the authors’ laboratory for the testing of overall sludge activity using automated biomethane potential test system (AMPTS) using cellulose as the substrate. The case study chosen represents a novel investigation of sludge activity of an anaerobic lagoon treating high strength abattoir waste water.

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