In August 2016 the town of Havelock North, New Zealand, witnessed the worst recorded waterborne disease outbreak in the country’s history. The incident occurred after a period of heavy rain involving a groundwater source that was believed to be secure. The outbreak resulted in more than 5,500 individuals becoming ill from Campylobacter jejuni. More than 40 individuals were hospitalised, and 3 deaths have been attributed to the outbreak. The management of the water supply system and responsibilities for public health protection in the region are complex and the initial media response and blaming for the outbreak resulted in confusion amongst the residents. Conclusions from multiple investigations showed that sheep manure from a farm located close to the drinking water supply caused the outbreak.

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Port Macquarie Hastings Council (PMHC) uses membrane filtration for the purposes of potable water treatment with additional membrane filtration plants at sewage treatment plants and a reclaim water facility. There are several necessary monitoring and maintenance procedures regarding the proper operation of a membrane filtration plant including, but not limited to, simple observations, parameter adjustment, recovery cleaning, membrane repair and even membrane replacement. Several membrane replacement projects have been undertaken in recent years with a variety of challenges posed from plant to plant.

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Pallamallawa has two town supply bores, one of which was failing. Moree Plains Shire Council (MPSC) decided to drill a replacement bore to ensure water security for the town. Department of Primary Industries Water Division instructed MPSC to conduct a hydrogeological study of the surrounding area to assess the new bores impact on the aquifer and surrounding bores. MPSC engaged Geo9 to perform this study through a seismoelectric and electrotelluric geophysical survey. This survey involves the strategic placing of electrodes on a grid pattern in the area surrounding the proposed bore location and around existing bores. Metal plates are struck on the ground, sending seismic Pwaves into the subsurface. Interaction of seismic energy with the mineral-water interface produces an electric field, which is recorded at the surface with a digital recorder. Digital signal processing of allows 3D maps of hydraulic conductivity and water quality to be produced from these recordings. The resulting map reveals a palaeochannel network, and the interpretation of the groundwater system and the interconnectivity between existing bores. With this data MPSC was able to target a new location for a bore that would not affect existing water supply bores.

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This paper discusses case studies developed as part of the Water Research Australia project ‘Assurance measures to manage potential contamination risks from pipeline repair or renewal (Stage 1)’. The research involved in the project helped to identify and assess the extent of microbiological contamination risk from pipeline renewal and repair works in Australia and identify measures to manage these risks. Identification of current management practices was undertaken through case studies and an online survey distributed to Australian water utilities.

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Some cracking failures can exacerbate acid attack by allowing accumulation of acid inside the failure. While sheet collapse, there is a risk of water flow blockage in channels at the bottom of the asset which can result in high emergency repair costs. Some surface coatings can be very sensitive to surface water, humidity and dust on the surface during the application process, risking early life failure. Salt content that has penetrated a surface, called white metal, has a strong negative effect on the adhesion of polymer coatings, but assists in the adhesion of some chemical barrier coatings such as PROTECTA-Mag™. Repair or replacement of a failed protective coating ranges from simply water washing through to an expensive confined space entry with hot work and manual handling to remove the coating. This can be particularly difficult when the coating has collapsed inwards and blocked the outlet of the asset. This whitepaper investigates the end of life decommissioning costs of the protective coatings available in the market to determine the whole of life cost of application of a type of coating.

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The cleaning of sewer pipes and the clearance of sewage blockages has seen an increasing reliance being placed upon High Pressure Water Jetting (HPWJ) systems to complete these difficult work tasks. The use of high pressure water is a serious business undertaking for any water utility or service contractor. Any HPWJ activity can potentially result in injury or death when appropriate safety precautions are not followed, especially when undertaken by inexperienced or untrained operators. HPWJ operators who handle dangerous and expensive equipment should be trained and certified to meet the Australian Standard AS/NZ 4233.1:2013 – High Pressure Water Jetting Systems Part 1: Safe operation and maintenance. AS/NZ 4233.1:2013 describes two different classes of high pressure systems. Class A = Low pressure & Class B = High pressure. The standard also stipulates that operators of Class B equipment shall be appropriately trained through an RTO in accordance with the HPWJ “Units of Competency”. In recognition of these requirements and Safe Work Australia’ “Guide for Managing Risks from High Pressure Water Jetting, the Sydney Water Corporation has recently implemented a training program for its HPWJ sewer cleaning staff. Having a certified workforce also reduces the risk of damaging expensive HPWJ equipment or sewerage assets. This paper will outline the requirements of the HPWJ standard and provide a case study of SydneyWater’s recent and ongoing training and competency program for HPWJ operators.

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The NSW Health Drinking Water Monitoring Program, implemented in 2001, includes the NSW Drinking Water Database to store the drinking water quality results from samples taken around the state, and provide reporting to NSW Health, water utilities and other stakeholders. Until 2017 the Database could only store results from the testing of drinking water monitoring samples collected in distribution networks.

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Concern over the dependence of NSW sewage networks on irrecoverable, imported filter media to control the emission of odorous gases has generated a demand for a more sustainable alternative. Recommendations from the University of NSW and a subsequent feasibility study revealed titanium dioxide has catalytic properties for the control over majority of typical sewage gases. Titanium dioxide requires activation, which is commonly sourced from photons of wavelengths under 400 nm, though doping the catalyst makes it active using visible light. To determine whether sunlight conditions typically found in NSW would be capable of activating titanium dioxide, a sample of nano-sized particles were tested in November of 2017. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles coated onto an aluminium surface proved capable of oxidising a solution of methylene blue on a typical summer day. A titanium dioxide coated photoreactor, which could be retrofitted into pre-existing networks, could therefore be a more sustainable alternative to current filter media.

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This paper discusses how online instrumentation was used to fine-tune the alum dose at Grahamstown WTP (GTWTP). The WTP employs conventional treatment processes including coagulation, sedimentation, granular media filtration and disinfection using chlorine to treat surface water and/or bore water. GTWTP had been operated in an “enhanced coagulation” mode to maximize removal of contaminants including pathogens since April 2015 in response to the East Coast Low (ECL) incident that led to an increased pathogen challenge in source water. The alum dose was set to 90 mg/L as product to achieve a coagulation pH in the range 5.9 to 6.0 as there is no dedicated pre-lime dosing in the process. Later the alum dose was reduced to 75 mg/L with a coagulation pH around 6.2. The GTWTP continued to achieve filtered water turbidity targets when the alum dose was recently optimised at 60 mg/L.

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The aeration system at the Westdale Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) was nearing its life expectancy and performance was beginning to wane. With every minor failure in equipment another bank of diffusers was needed to be turned off which reduced the plants aeration capacity. The grommet attachment style diffuser was deemed to be inadequate. An Expression of Interest and a Tender was called for to replace the diffusers. It was decided that our operations team would install the new diffusers. There were a few challenges encountered during the installation process, however we overcame them all and now have a completely new set of aeration diffusers operating successfully.

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Kempsey Shire Council (KSC) operates seven sewage treatment plants (STPs) across the Macleay Valley with different treatment process trains. Traditionally STP sludge, or biosolids, was transported to Fredericton Sanitary Depot (or nightsoil disposal yard) and later to KSC landfill waste disposal site. Due to stringent Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) requirements and associated cost implications, KSC looked at options. KSC Sewer Process Team proposed land disposal as a viable option to use biosolids as a soil conditioner in cattle grazing paddocks. In collaboration with an organic recycling entity and a local farmer, KSC disposes all its biosolids since 2010 in compliance with EPA guidelines and licence conditions. The disposal process is challenging at times due to sludge removal and dewatering scheduling, technical hiccups caused by the nature of the sludge and dewatering, and difficulties in biosolid disposal due to weather conditions, etc. Different demographics and commercial operations contributes to certain chemical compositions of biosolids. However, routine and targeted quality monitoring, ongoing communication with regulatory authorities and a well-managed mutually beneficial collaborative arrangement can ensure a smooth operation.

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In the water industry, operational staff have a direct influence on water quality and, consequently, may have an impact on environmental and public health outcomes. A water business that can demonstrate their people have the skills and knowledge to safely and competently carry out their roles in water industry operations provides assurance to regulators, communities and the users of drinking water and recycled water. Recent major public health incidents (e.g. Flint Michigan, USA, and Havelock North, NZ), and the outcomes of subsequent investigations, have highlighted the critical importance of technical competency in the water industry. This recognition of the level of risk posed by poor management of water treatment and networks has reinvigorated interest in the development of industry licensing and certification schemes for water operations professionals worldwide. This paper is intended to communicate examples of good practice in implementing technical competency in water industry operations.

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The Internet of Things is here. According to some spruikers, it will change the world we live in, connecting every conceivable sensor to the internet and making data available to all who want it at next to no cost. Communications network providers claim that their network is the best, the only one we’ll ever need to achieve great things using vast amounts of data that will cost next to nothing to gather from the field. Sounds too good to be true? It probably is. When it comes to new technology, there is always a degree of hype around what can be done and, inevitably, it will take time to sort out what’s real from what is just the enthusiasm of the marketing department. This paper seeks to highlight some aspects of the hype and reality associated with the use of the Internet of Things in some aspects of the water industry. Following a quick introduction to IoT and its components, it will discuss some of the elements around which there has been a degree
of over-exuberance.

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Operating and maintaining a continuous flow water filtration plant with strict quality specifications for a long term requires the plant to be robust and reliable. With the original design and construction aimed at providing an efficient and effective process, there is always room for improvement and with good systems and a stable workforce, the opportunity for improvements to the plant and process emerge. This paper explores the process of identifying and implementing modifications over 20 years, aimed at improving safety, process, chemical handling, maintenance, quality control and many more parameters. Over 500 modifications have been identified, investigated, implemented and logged since the plant commenced operations in 1996. The resulting reliability of the plant assisted in the decision to extend the 25-year BOO contract by 14 years, taking it through to 2035, converting to a BOOT contract.

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This paper outlines the process of identifying re-chlorination site(s) for the Camden Haven section of the Port Macquarie Hastings Water Supply Scheme. The idea of a secondary chlorination site in Bonny Hills will allow for the maintained residual in the Transit Hill Reservoir in Port Macquarie to be reduced from ~2mg/L, furthermore it will allow the rezoning of the Lake Cathie reticulation from Transit Hill to the Bonny Hills reservoir. This will alleviate issues in Lake Cathie due to the high chlorine levels and remove the need for the zone to be fed off the trunk main and Pressure Reducing Valves (PRV) providing a much more stable water supply. The determination of the location for the site at Bonny Hills was based off the use a chlorine decay model through the software program Mike Urban. The model uses the water rates data from the network, water quality and chlorine decay rates to predict the behaviour of the water throughout the distribution network. The Gas Chlorine site at Bonny Hills was commissioned in February 2018 and has allowed for the decommissioning of the Sodium Hypochlorite dosing at the North Haven Booster pump station. Through the methods outlined in this report, the next location was found to be Lakewood Reservoir with the subsequent decommissioning of the Sodium Hypochlorite dosing at the Kew/Kendall Booster pump station.

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This paper is a case study on operational changes recently implemented at the John Gilbert WTP in Dubbo. The plant typically experiences very hard water. A lime-soda softening process is in place to ensure that treated water hardness is maintained below 120 mg/L which satisfies Dubbo Regional Council’s customers. To achieve this, a large amount of slaked lime and soda ash are dosed into the plant’s clarifiers to maintain a pH of approximately 10.4. During a recent site visit, the plant operators were very focused on the fine tuning of the clarification process. Hunter H2O identified that raw water hardness at the time was actually very good and the complications arising from the softening process could be eliminated by moving to a conventional treatment strategy when raw water hardness is low. Additionally, it was recommended that during times of moderate raw water hardness, a lime only softening process could be implemented. The outcome is that significant operational cost savings will be realised, and operators have better control over what is a very complex process.

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Liverpool Plains Shire Council’s (LPSC) utilisation of the Hydroplus Fusegates© system in the safety upgrade at Quipolly Dam has enabled significant cost savings on traditional constructed solutions, whilst at the same time, facilitated an increase in storage capacity of more than 55%. The increased storage is now forming part of a bigger water security strategy for LPSC’s towns of Quirindi, Werris Creek and Willow Tree. But, the next phase of the project faces a lot of challenges due to variable raw water quality.

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There are documented horror stories when the balance between the burden of Telco infrastructure on water assets and the LWU’s need to manage its water supply integrity favour the Telcos. Whatever the case may be, there is now a stronger need for LWUs to understand and exercise their legislative rights to meet water supply and governance requirements, reduce their business costs imposed by Telcos facilities, and to highlight any legislative deficiencies so things can be fixed. This need is further compounded by TPG Telecom’s announcement (April 2017) to become Australia’s fourth Carrier operator, and the Australian Government releasing its strategy (October 17), to support the timely rollout of 5G in Australia including “…streamlining arrangements to allow mobile carriers to deploy infrastructure more quickly…”1.

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The recently ‘enlarged’ Chaffey Dam was filling up fast. No sooner had the construction contractors finished then the rains came – eventually filling the dam. With a capacity increase from 60GL to a ‘full’ 100GL – this provided the Tamworth Region with greater water supply security. However, the water treatment operations staffs were struggling during this period treating the ‘changed’ Peel River Raw Water supply. Changed water chemical characteristics leading to a lighter floc formation and consequently the Clarifiers were not able to ‘settle’ this fine floc as well. This was leading to settled water turbidity more than 3 NTU when usually it would be less than 1.8 NTU. The filters were removing the extra floc but were experiencing turbidity breakthrough on drain down for backwash. The operators either had to drain the filters to waste or manually drain filters very slowly leading to many ‘after hours’ work by the employees. During this period there were major concerns that filtered water turbidity levels would breach the Critical Control Point limit. However, research indicated that media filters should be able to treat settled water with turbidity greater than 3 NTU.

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This paper explores the operation and optimisation of the Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) plant at the Camden Haven Wastewater Treatment Plant over the past six years. MBR’s are a new wastewater treatment process that combines the activated sludge process with a membrane filtration process. MBR’s provide several benefits over conventional bioreactor/clarification systems, including reduced footprint, higher quality effluent/permeate and complete bacteria removal. This was the first MBR plant to be commissioned within the Port Macquarie Hastings Council Sewerage Scheme, and hence provided many challenges due to a lack of experience and familiarity with the recently developed process. One of the major issues with the plant that is explored in this report was severe membrane fouling caused by poor aeration sequences and cleaning frequencies. Through the methods outlined in this report, the team have successfully optimised the MBR treatment process and have improved the longevity of the membranes in doing so.

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Ballina Shire Council launched its Lennox Head Dual Urban Reticulated Recycled Water Scheme in July 2016. This article intends to review the process leading to and following this event. Identifying the issues experienced within the first twelve months of operations and prior decisions made that contributed to the smooth implementation of the scheme.

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Moree Plains Shire Council (MPSC) conducted routine inspections of its sewer network in early 2016. During that inspection, Council identified that one of its DN225 concrete sewer mains had partially collapsed. The original line had been laid in 1950. The main, located in an older, built-up part of Moree was approximately 6 metres deep and serviced 14 houses. Council collaborated with pipeline and infrastructure renewals specialist Interflow P/L, to develop a cost-effective rehabilitation solution that would not interrupt services to residents. The rehabilitation consisted of installation of 140m of DN150 PVC in a high line including connection to affected properties, and then bursting 125m of DN225 and replacing with DN250 PE100 pipe to improve service to customers upstream of the damaged main.

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The presence of drones is well and truly established in both Australia and throughout the world. These highly capable and readily available machines have created a whole new way of looking at and discovering new purposes. Operators within the water industry are likely to cross paths with a drone (also known as RPA or Remotely Piloted Aircraft) sooner rather than later and in many cases, already have. In the hands of a water industry professional, drones can be a powerful tool, that can be used for a range of applications. Operating drones is becoming increasingly simple, however there are many key milestones to consider ensuring their use is safe and legal. This paper will discuss understanding and navigating those milestones, along with some insights on how drones are being used for water asset and infrastructure inspections. The paper will also discuss methods for reporting the findings effectively and making best use of the products drones are able to produce.

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Raw water quality changes can impact all WTPs, however, a DAF plant can specifically be impacted due to its reliance on the attraction between floc and bubble. Bingara WTP encountered issues at the WTP with variable WTP performance due to unprecedented raw water quality changes. Operational support was provided by Hunter H2O through assistance with troubleshooting and identification of the likely cause for the WTP issues that were impacting the overall performance and treated water quality. DAF jar testing was successfully used to identify the likely cause of the issue and identify potential solutions in a rapid and effective manner. It was discovered that a suspected change in the characteristics of the raw water was impacting the strength and hydrophobicity of the Alum floc. This combined with the normal operational sequences at the WTP, resulted in floc detaching from the bubbles and impacting DAF subnatant quality at regular intervals. DAF jar testing was used to quickly determine that a polymer was required to improve the physical characteristics, increase the hydrophobicity of the floc and improve overall DAF performance, while use of a standard sedimentation jar test failed to optimise these conditions.

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North East Water in partnership with the Intelligent Water Network (IWN) and the Totally Renewable Yackandandah (TRY) group have just completed the first solar photovoltaic and battery storage installation to run a water treatment plant off grid. Along the journey North East Water have 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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