September 2013 Queensland Branch Newsletter

Transcription

1 September 2013 Queensland Branch Newsletter This newsletter has been compiled from information supplied, hence AWA cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy of any information so supplied or for any loss or damage which may arise from errors or omissions.

2 Presidents Report By Col Lewis Wow we are already two thirds of the way through the year and so much has happened. Committee We have just been through the annual election of half of the committee and it was great to again see so much interest with 20 nominations for the committee and it is terrific to have three new members on the committee, Tom Jamieson Unitywater, Richard Savage GHD and Antony Domanti PB s, the balance made of existing committee members being re-elected. We welcome the three members and look forward to their contribution and would also like to congratulate all the other successful candidates and I am sure as a team we can continue to deliver a meaningful and relevant program for our members. The new Committee is: President Colin Lewis Vice President Matt Dawson Jr Vice President David Nixon Secretary/Membership John Betts Treasurer Grahame Simpson Committee Annalie Roux, Tom Jamieson, Bill Todd, Anthony Domanti, Jenny Danslow, Richard Savage, John Graham, Kevin Flanagan, Steve Tansley, Sandra Hall and Jeff Ballard. congratulate the winners and the finalists with the winners being put forward as part of the national awards in It is certainly encouraging to see so many nominations and to see the momentum building each year and I would like to encourage all the Industry to see what opportunities there are to submit a nomination for next year s awards. Strategy and Policy Committee Our Strategy and Policy subcommittee has been very busy so far this year preparing submissions to the State Government on various issues they have been seeking Industry input into. I would like to thank all those on the subcommittee as well all the other members both individual and corporate who have provided invaluable assistance in preparing our submissions. National Initiatives On a National level it is great to see the Board commit to implement 3 policy areas for further work and implementation Water Usage in the CSG industry, implementing the Murray Darling Basin Plan and Skills improvement in the Water Sector. Upcoming on our program is our NQWater conference in late August, with again great support from across the industry and in November QWater. Planning is continuing for OZWater 14 in Brisbane with a workshop for the organising committee to be held in Brisbane in October for program development. Outgoing Committee Members Also I would like to thank the outgoing committee members, Garth Bellingham, Lee Foster, Alan Hoban and Jim Fear who have over the years contributed to the success of our branch. Gala Dinner We held our Gala Dinner and Awards night in July and it was another successful event with so many nominations for the various awards. I would like to 2

3 Central Queensland Technical Seminar On Wednesday 31 July, Fitzroy River Water (part of Rockhampton Regional Council) graciously hosted AWA's inaugural CQ Technical Seminar. The event was well attended by approximately 20 delegates. The timing of the event was timed to coincide with the Qldwater Central Queensland mini conference in Rockhampton the following day and AWA is very appreciative of the support from Qldwater in helping coordinate the two events. Delegates from Rockhampton, Mackay, Biloela, Gladstone and SEQ joined the seminar which was excellent for this inaugural event. The delegates were treated to an excellent program of speakers with a particular focus on energy usage in wastewater treatment: Cameron Staib from MWH discussed "Driving Energy Efficiency and Reducing Operating Costs at WWTPs". Cameron outlined the connection between technical optimisation opportunities, risk appetite and human behaviour in identifying opportunities, committing to them, implementing them and then making benefits stick. Simon McKenzie from Tenix presented on the "Whitsunday STPs Upgrade Project" with a particular focus on the application of Infrastructure Sustainability Rating. Simon's presentation outlined a well delivered project which both Council and Contractor can be proud of. Ian Kikkert from the Water and Carbon Group gave a talk on "Low Energy Integrated Infrastructure Solutions". His talk highlighted the use of ecological infrastructure (such as high density treatment wetlands) as part of an overall treatment solution and encouraged the serious consideration of such options but only as part of a robust process design process. AWA hopes to establish a semi regular group meeting in the CQ Region to discuss both local, state wide and broader technical content. This could be in person presentations combined with use of recorded technical sessions from the Technical Program held in Brisbane. Evan Davison from Fitzroy River Water has kindly offered to help coordinate future events in the region so if you have any feedback on the event or ideas for events in CQ please drop Evan an on evan.davison@rrc.qld.gov.au. Part of the Qld Branch Committees focus for 2013/14 will be to follow on from the success of our Technical Program and conferences in SEQ and NQ with the delivery of more value for members in other regional areas. We all know about the tyranny of distance in Queensland but the committee would love to hear ideas and feedback on potential events in areas which may be convenient to attract surrounding water professionals. Kevin Flanagan from Toowoomba RC is coordinating this effort in Regional Queensland so please feel free to drop Kevin a note on Kevin.Flanagan@toowoombaRC.qld.gov.au with any ideas. The group also viewed of a recorded Technical Program event from earlier in the year in Brisbane on "Infrastructure Delivery Models". 3

4 AWA North Queensland Regional Conference From the 28th to 30th August, Townsville turned on the predictable beautiful late winter weather to host over 100 delegates for this year's NQ Conference. Townsville Water and Townsville City Council were wonderful hosts for this event (the sixth annual running in its current format) and it was great to see momentum continuing in spite of challenging conditions around the industry. An optional site tour was hosted by Townsville Water on the afternoon before the main conference. The group reviewed the recent upgrade works at the Mt St John WWTP and Douglas WTP and there were some great discussions about the unique challenges of water and wastewater treatment in the dry tropics of NQ. Attendees also got up close and personal with the innovative team and excellent facilities at Townsville Water's laboratory hearing about the services which the lab offers to a range of clients around NQ. The program itself lived up to the NQ Conference reputation for variety and relevance to NQ. Delegates heard about a range of topics including: The big picture of water availability across Northern Australia, An up to date picture on the challenges to the health of the iconic Great Barrier Reef Views on opportunities and challenges of potential collaborative arrangements in NQ Challenges in managing fatigue in our operational workforces and in engendering a safety culture in the water industry Applying a strategic view to procurement to keep up with evolving requirements Moving beyond compliance requirements and creating useful management tools Demystifying some of the legal concepts relating to climatic challenges in construction and operational contracts How regulatory requirements are driving capital investment in treatment systems and also some of the ongoing efforts to optimise energy and chemical usage in operating plants. The importance of getting water in the right place at the right time...from source to customer tap. Private sector innovations in optimising delivery and operation of infrastructure as well as building sustainability into projects. At the conference dinner attendees heard an "around the grounds" update of the big picture issues from key water directors in Cairns (Paul Utting), Townsville (Keith Parsons) and Mackay (Jason Devitt). As well as hearing from Jason who has been a tireless champion of AWA in NQ for a number of years, it was great to welcome Paul and Keith to the AWA NQ fraternity in their respective new roles. A particular treat for those who survived the dinner festivities was the site visit to James Cook University. We met a passionate group of researchers who are using cultured algae to treat water, sequester carbon dioxide and create a mind boggling range of commercial products. The energy of the team and the potential positive impacts of the concepts at a commercial scale were very impressive. Congratulations go to the Townsville City Council and TRILITY team who won the best paper with a presentation on "Upgrading and Optimising Treatment Plants" which covered both collaborative delivery models as well as technical optimisation concepts. A big thanks must go to all sponsors and exhibitors. All in all the hard work of Sharon Ible and the organising committee has raised the bar again. We look forward to NQ Regional Conference 2014 which will be in Mackay at the slightly earlier time of July next year...so get those abstracts started!

5 Dick Went Dick graduated in civil engineering in 1975 from the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education in Victoria, before it became part of Monash University. On graduation he continued working with the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works where he had been working for a number of years initially as a drafting assistant and then during the Christmas vacation periods. His initial experience as an engineer with MMBW was in water supply network design and at that time was obliged to use an externally linked IBM mainframe computer for network analysis. After a couple of years he left Melbourne and found a job in Townsville with consulting engineers McIntyre and Associates working mostly on the Charters Towers and Ayr Sewerage Schemes. Moving on from Townsville in 1978 he stumbled upon a job as deckhand and then boat skipper on tourist boats operating around the Whitsunday Islands. After a couple of years enjoying that lifestyle, better sense told him that he should return to reality and he managed to secure an engineer position with Gold Coast City Council in 1980 where he has been ever since through all its transformations. He has held various positions in Gold Coast City Council/Allconnex Water/Gold Coast City Council. He was Manager Bulk Water Supply from , Manager Treatment Services and Manager Operations and Maintenance He was appointed Director of Gold Coast Water when Shaun Cox departed for Melbourne in It was during this period as Director of Gold Coast Water that Dick considers to be the most rewarding, particularly the piloting of the Gold Coast Water team into the new Allconnex Water structure. As well as that, one of the projects that he still fondly remembers was the construction of an emergency pipeline from the Tweed Shire to the Gold Coast in 1987 when he was Water Supply Construction Engineer. The pipeline was required to supplement supplies to the Gold Coast as a result of a severe drought. The pipeline was constructed in four months including all planning and negotiations with the Tweed Shire. Outside of work Dick is a keen traveller and country music fan. He admits to attending ten Tamworth Music Festivals, and numerous Gympie Musters and Woodford Folk Festivals. He has three grown-up children which now gives he and his partner Denise the opportunity to roam around Australia when leave accrual permits. He has already visited the Kimberleys and Central Australia on these camping sojourns and is planning a further trip to Cape York next year. Other acknowledged passions are beer (brewing and drinking) and AFL football noting proudly that he is a foundation member of the Gold Coast Suns. 5

6 Dr Sarah Schroeder Sarah was awarded the Young Water Professional of the Year Award in She gained this award because of her contribution to the AWA mentoring program. This program has been growing from strength to strength and has received good feedback from the membership. She is currently the Vice President of the Queensland Branch of the Young Water Professionals. Sarah completed a double degree in business and science in 2003 at the La Trobe University. She then went on to do her PhD under Professor Bob Seviour whilst still at Latrobe and completed it in Her thesis was Microbiology of a novel aerobic P Removal Process. Sarah and her husband, Gordon, then went to the US where Sarah completed a one-year post doc at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Despite the opportunity they did not get to see much of the country as the course was fairly intensive. Gordon who was a teacher by profession had applied for a work permit, however this did not come through until they were about to leave the US. They had both always wanted to move to Queensland and whilst still in the US both were applying for jobs in Queensland. They had decided that they would relocate to wherever in Queensland the first was awarded a job. Gordon was first to secure a teaching job in Ipswich and they relocated to Brisbane early Sarah initially did some work for Dr Helen Stratton but subsequently found full time employment at the DERM working on water supply regulation under Dr Heather Uwins. She then was offered a two-year contract at Griffith University, lecturing in microbiology. On completion of the contract she was offered a job at the Queensland Urban Utilities as a Senior Water Quality Officer, taking up the job in June this year. She says that she likes working in water and enjoys the work she is currently doing which is ensuring that drinking water quality standards are achieved with a catchment to tap approach and a strong customer focus. Out of work she is a mad-keen runner having taken up running only ten years ago. She says that she has run about six half marathons and likes to put in about 80 km a week to keep in shape. She ran her first full marathon, the Brisbane Marathon, in August this year in a time of 3:06:36 (Net time). She ran second overall in the women s section, which is a substantial achievement. One ambition is to run in the London Marathon but no date has been set as yet. 6

7 Project News Seqwater Dam Restoration Project Over the past 18 months Seqwater has carried out a review of its 26 Referrable Dams. The review work has been done in accordance with ANCOLD Guidelines on Risk Assessment and the Qld Dam Safety Guidelines. The review has involved an assessment of flood capacity, dam stability under various operating conditions and an assessment of the downstream consequences for the assumed failure modes. The outcome of the review has been the identification of 12 priority dams that will need to be upgraded over the next years, with the upgrades delivered in stages, if possible. Seqwater is implementing a risk reduction program, including increased monitoring, safety reviews, short term lowering of storages where appropriate and liaison with the Counter Disaster Committees set up by the relevant local authorities. The project has enabled Seqwater to provide Emergency Authorities with improved GIS mapping showing flood inundation areas downstream of the dams to assist in emergency planning. As part of this program, Seqwater has completed a significant upgrade of Ewen Maddock Dam. The upgrade involved the installation of relief wells and a weighting berm at the toe of the embankment. This work followed the results of a safety review of the dam in 2010, which identified a risk to dam safety from the alluvium material in the foundation of the dam. The risk was confirmed by monitoring piezometers during the flood in This indicated a change in hydraulic pressure in the downstream foundation, which mirrored the rise in water level in the dam. Next year, the upgrades of Maroon and Moogerah Dams will commence. At Maroon, the upper part of the embankment will be strengthened and upgraded by rebuilding the abutments, extending the existing grout curtain and providing new filters. At Moogerah, works will be carried out on the dam toe and, depending on final assessments, additional works may be required to increase the spillway capacity. Both Wivenhoe and North Pine Dams will also need to be upgraded in the current priority program. 7

8 + Aratula and Helidon Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades Queensland Urban Utilities has recently upgraded both the Aratula and Helidon Wastewater Treatment Plants. These plants were taken over by QUU following the amalgamation of Brisbane, Ipswich, Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley and Somerset Councils in Both plants utilised lagoon systems for treatment however high algal growth in the final lagoons made it difficult for the plants to achieve the total suspended solids effluent discharge limit. For both plants QUU decided that the best approach was to provide a polishing wetlands or reed bed system prior to discharge to the local creek. The Helidon WWTP was first to be augmented and used an in-house design for a sub-surface flow reed bed. Three reed beds were constructed each approximately 150 sq m in area. The reed beds are constructed using washed gravel and a single reed species. The average dry weather flow through the reed beds is about 115 kl/d. The design and construction of the Aratula WWTP was contracted out. A wetland system was adopted with two wetlands provided each approximately 0.3 ha in area. Similar to the Helidon reed bed system the wetland system is a subsurface flow system using sand as the flow through media. Five different species of plants have been used. The average dry weather flow through the wetland system is about 42 kl/d. Both systems are now constructed and performing well. BOD 5 is usually less than 5 mg/l whilst TSS is in the range mg/l. The result for TSS is particularly pleasing as the augmentation has significantly reduced the variability of the TSS and significantly lowered the median value. There has also been a significant improvement in the total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in the effluent releases. Both systems require minimal operator attention but it is expected that the reeds and wetland plants will need to be periodically replaced or refurbished with new plants although the interval between such replacement/refurbishment is expected to be the order of years. 8

9 Upcoming Events Wed, 11 Sep 2013 Fri, 13 Sep 2013 Wed, 09 Oct 2013 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 Sat, 09 Nov 2013 Wed, 27 Nov 2013 QLD - Flood Resilience - Monthly Technical Meeting Brisbane, QLD QLD Brisbane River Walking Tour Brisbane QLD - SunWater Kenya to Chinchilla Weir Pipeline Project - Monthly Technical Meeting Brisbane, QLD QWater'13 Conference Sunshine Coast, QLD QLD End of Year Celebration Brisbane, QLD Australian Water Association PO Box 1148, Wynnum QLD 4178 Contact Sharon Ible Telephone Mobile sible@awa.asn.au We are Looking for articles on your projects. Please contact Sharon Ible