I hope readers of this blog will accept a short interruption to our normal programming for a brief blatant advertisement.
I have spent a fair chunk of my time during the last few months organising the 3rd Australian Water Association Conference on Water Reuse & Recycling. The conference will take place at the University of New South Wales during July 16-18.
While any interested person is welcome to attend, the registration fees are unfortunately clearly prohibitive for most private citizens. Accordingly, the vast majority of attendees will participate on a professional basis, -funded by their employers. No speakers are being paid to present their papers and all are required to register to attend.
The aim of the conference is to bring together researchers, regulators and practitioners in fields relevant to water reuse and recycling. I hope that we will be able to generate some productive dialogue regarding the drivers for change in water management in Australia, technical capabilities and limitations, understanding our communities, best management practices, and future research priorities. With this aim in mind, I present the following program of presentations, which we have assembled during the last few months.
Having had the privilege and honour of the role of Chair of the Scientific Committee, I have read all of the papers associated with these presentations. Accordingly, I know that there is a lot of excellent research and many extremely interesting developments to report. Undoubtedly, I will draw upon some of the papers and subsequent discussions for future blog posts. In that way, I hope that I will be able to make new information and ideas available to a wider audience.
Water Reuse & Recycling – UNSW, July 16-18, 2007
Oral Presentations
Milestones in the Reuse of Municipal Wastewater
Takashi Asano - University of California.
The State of Indirect Potable Reuse in the United States
Jorg Drewes - Colorado School of Mines.
Drinking Recycled Water – National Guidelines and Regulatory Oversight
David Cunliffe - Department of Health, South Australia.
The New ‘Class A’ for Water Recycling: Opportunity or Obstacle?
Hamish Reid - South East Water
Recycling Industrial Wastewater for Irrigation of Agriculture and Horticulture – What are the Major Risks?
Anne-Maree Boland - RM Consulting Group
Application of National Guidelines for Water Recycling 2006 to Existing Class C Recycling Schemes – Health Risk Management
Michelle Carsen - South East Water
Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme - The largest Recycled Water Scheme in the Southern Hemisphere
Eric Owens - Veolia Water
Water Reuse for Golf Course Irrigation – A Case Study Within the Ku-ring-gai Local Government Area
Peter Davies - Ku-ring-gai Council / Michael Muston - Muston & Associates
A Review of Agricultural and Municipal Reuse (Dual-Reticulation) Schemes and Innovation in South Australia
Stephanie Rinck-Pfeiffer - United Water International
Staying Ahead of the (Recycling) Game
Stephanie Gillespie - Western Water
Sydney Water Gold Sponsor Address
Kerry Schott - Sydney Water Corporation
Recycled Water and Sustainable Urban Water Management.
Peter Dennis - Hunter Water Australia
Comparison of Risk of Unplanned Versus Planned Water Reuse Based on the National Reuse Guidelines.
Greg Leslie - University of New South Wales
How Public Information and Outreach before Consultation Can Help Improve Understanding
Rod Lehmann - CH2M HILL
Australia a Leader or Laggard in Water Laws for Recycled Water?
Jennifer McKay - University of South Australia
Communication Strategy of the Queensland Water Commission
Gerald Tooth - Queensland Water Commission
Diversity and Decentralisation for Water Cycle Management: Reflections from the Hawkesbury Water Recycling Scheme.
Roger Attwater - University of Western Sydney
Recycled Water for Drinking - What are the Necessary Pre-requisites?
Peter Donlon - Water Services Association of Australia
Indirect Potable Reuse: Identifying Factors that are of Public Concern
June Marks - Flinders University Adelaide
The Important Role of Stakeholder Communication when Delivering Recycled Water to Pimpama Coomera
Darren Hayman - Gold Coast Water
Additional Behavioural Change Methods for Building Community Acceptance for Recycled Drinking Water
Janet A Saunders - Janet Saunders Consulting
Religious, Philosophical and Environmentalist Perspectives on Potable Wastewater Reuse in South Africa
Zoë Wilson - University of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa)
Chemical Contaminants in Water: Can we Measure Everything?
Frederic Leusch - CRC for Water Quality and Treatment
Virus Removal – A Pivotal Element of the New Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling
Tony MacCormick - Memcor Australia
Effect of Antioestrogenic Compounds on the Total Oestrogenicity of Treated Effluents
Anu Kumar - CSIRO Land and Water
Application of Results of Endocrine Disruptor Research to the Western Sydney Recycled Water Initiative
Adam Lovell - Sydney Water Corporation
Advances in Water Recycling in Australia 2004-2007
John C Radcliffe - National Water Commission
The R&D Challenges of Water Recycling – Technical and Environmental Horizons
Jeff Foley - University of Queensland
Water Recycled in Australia: A Bench Mark for 2006
Bridget Wetherall - Earth Tech
Adapting to Climate Change with Water Savings and Water Reuse
John Anderson - Afton Water Solutions
Multiple Uses of Wastewater: A Methodology for Cost-Effective Recycling
Gayathri Mekala - University of Melbourne
The Challenges of Recycling Schemes for Non-Potable Use
Anthony Davey - Earth Tech
Risk Management of Alternative Water Sources – A Key Element for Sustainable Cities
Peter Holt - Ecological Engineering
The Reuse Dilemma-Changing the Accepted Paradigm for Reuse
Ian Reimers - North East Water (Vic).
Towards Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling Via Managed Aquifer Recharge
Peter Dillon - CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country
Managed Aquifer Recharge in the Botany Sand Aquifer – Part of the Treatment Train for Water Reuse?
Wendy Timms - University of New South Wales
Overview of 265 MLD Water Recycling Facility at Orange County California, USA
Dale Rohe - MWH Americas (USA)
Groundwater Replenishment of Very Highly Treated Wastewater to Deliver a Major Drinking Water Source for Perth
Nick Turner - Water Corporation of Western Australia
Water, Wastewater, Energy and Greenhouse Gasses in Australia’s Major Urban Systems
Steven Kenway - CSIRO Land and Water
Asset and Business Management Challenges in Implementing Urban Water Reuse
Warren Adams - MWH Australia
Critical Success Factors for Private Sector Participation: Reflections from Willunga Water Reuse Scheme, Adelaide
Ganesh Keremane - University of South Australia
Industrial Effluent – A Valuable Resource: Effluent Recycling Case Study
Chris Conway - GHD Consultants
Security Through Diversity - Deciding on potable use in the ACT
Gary Bickford - ACTEW Corporation
Adopting a Multiple Barrier Approach to Aquifer Recharge – An Example of Indirect Potable Reuse.
Chandra Mysore - Metcalf and Eddy (USA).
Operational Application of Quantitative Microbial and Chemical Risk Assessment in the Field of Water Reuse
David Roser - University of New South Wales
Quantifying Microbial Health Risks for Non-Potable Reuse of Stormwater
Susan Petterson - University of New South Wales
Hold the Salt: Innovative Treatment of RO Concentrate
Jacqueline Kepke - CH2M HILL
Risk Management and Cross-Connection Detection of a Dual Reticulation System
Michael Storey - Sydney Water Corporation
Diagnostic Analysis of the Technical Feasibility of RO Desalting of Treated Wastewater
Adva Zach-Maor - Victoria University
UV/H2O2 as a Barrier to NDMA and other Micropollutants at Bundamba and other Water Reuse Facilities – Application and Case Studies
Christian Williamson - Trojan Technologies
Why has SEQ decided to drink purified recycled water?
Ted Gardner – Queensland Natural Resources & Water
Fast-Tracking the Development of Recycled Water Schemes
Cameron Evans - Veolia Water
Assessing the Feasibility of Integrated Water Cycle Management in Coolum Ridges
Phil Selmes - Parsons Brinckerhoff
AWA Water Recycling Forum Position Paper: Water Recycling to Meet Our Water Needs
John Anderson – AWA Water Recycling Forum
Treatment of Highly Polluted Paper and Pulp Effluent using Combined Treatment Processes including a Continuous Ion Exchange Process
Thomas Dahlke - Orica Watercare
Challenge Testing of Medium Pressure UV Disinfection at a Recycled Water Plant
Mark Angles - Sydney Water Corporation
Effects of Organic Fouling on the Removal of Trace Organic Contaminants by Nanofiltration Processes
Long Nghiem - University of Wollongong
Advanced Oxidation Technologies for Removal of Micropollutants in Indirect Potable Reuse Schemes
Heather Coleman - University of New South Wales
Poster Presentations
Assessment Tools for a Sustainability Framework for the Australian Water Industry
Greg Peters – University of New South Wales
Class A+ Effluent from a Single House AWTS – Miniaturized MBR Technology
Craig Timms – Econova
Mass Spectrometric Identification of Organic Chemicals Comprising Fouling on used Reverse Osmosis Membranes
James McDonald – University of New South Wales
Membrane Bioreactors in Australia: Forecast is for Growth
Stephen Chapman – MWH Australia
Determination of Antibiotics in Wastewater for Recycling
Nhat Le-Minh – University of New South Wales
New and emerging water treatment technologies; View on Contaminant Removal Mechanism
Shubha Sudheendra - National University of Singapore
Rejection Capabilities of RO membranes to Notification-Level Chemicals and Selected Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
Mohammad Helmy – CH2M Hill
From Pollution to Solution – Renewed Water from Contaminated Groundwater
Fred Barendregt - Kellogg, Brown & Root
Health Risk Assessment for Recycling for Replacement River Flows
Stuart Khan – University of New South Wales
Using MF-NF-RO pilot plant to produce designer recycle water for agriculture irrigation
Linda Zou - Victoria University
Exergy Analysis of Wastewater Reclamation with Reverse Osmosis
Robert Kempton, Greg Leslie, Satinder Ojha & Matthew Brannock - UNSW
Evaluation of Membrane Bioreactor Performance via Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling: Effect of Membrane Configuration & Mixing
Matthew Brannock, Heleen De Weever, Yuan Wang & Greg Leslie - UNSW & VITO (Belgium)
Water Research at the Particles and Catalysis Research Group of Chemical Sciences and Engineering
May Lim - University of New South Wales
Workshop: Community Engagement and Indirect Potable Reuse
This will be a highly interactive workshop and expected to be of significant interest and value to all delegates.
Facilitators:
June Marks – Flinders University
Snow Manners – Resident of Toowoomba
Amelia Loye – Queensland Water Commission
Stuart Waters – Twyford Consulting
Public Forum: Urban Water Shortages; Who is responsible for finding a solution?
An open discussion on whether large-scale or small-scale solutions can best address urban water supply shortages.
A free event and open to the public.
Field Trips
Water Reclamation and Management Scheme (WRAMS) in Sydney Olympic Park
North Head Recycled Water Membrane Bioreactor Plant at North Head STP
- Stuart Khan
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- I am a water researcher in an Environmental Engineering Department. Topics on which I work include: • Analysis of trace chemical contaminants in aquatic environments • Analytical method development (gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, etc) • Environmental and public health risk assessment of chemicals in the environment • Environmental chemical modelling techniques • Evaluation of water and wastewater treatment processes in terms of chemical fate • Water recycling practices in Australia and internationally • Guidelines for the management of chemicals in water.
11 comments:
That WILL be a highly interactive workshop. This conference must be the first to have such a balanced range of views in a workshop.
Stuart, you acknowledge that "registration fees are unfortunately clearly prohibitive for most private citizens".
If
"The conference will take place at the University of New South Wales"
and
"No speakers are being paid to present their papers and all are required to register to attend."
why id there such a high attendance cost?
Where does the attendance fee go?
Hello Anonymous,
Conferences cost money to organise and run. The University of New South Wales does not provide conference facilities for free. We will be hiring the University’s major special events venue for ‘The Scientia’ for three days. We will be paying for set up, rearrangement and servicing of numerous rooms for the presentations, poster exhibitions, morning/afternoon tea, lunches, etc. We will be paying caterers for morning/afternoon teas and lunches. The major conference dinner is also a significant cost.
However, more significant has been the personnel time contributed by the AWA and UNSW in preparing for the conference during the last 6 months. As an example, my own personal activities have included (with help from others of course):
- organise a scientific committee
- promote the ‘call for papers’
- arrange all papers to be reviewed by at least two scientific committee members
- reviewing papers myself
- coordinate author’s revisions to reviewers comments
- construct the final program
- format final papers according to conference guidelines
- compile conference proceedings (a 554 page book)
- arrange printing of proceedings
- co-ordinate invitations for keynote speakers
- co-ordinate planning for the conference workshop
In addition to my own activities, many others have been involved in organising delegate’s satchels, designing cover of the proceedings book, printing the proceedings book, media and promotion, organising field trips and buses for transport to them, liaising with trade exhibitors and planing for the exhibition, co-ordinating registrations (by AWA), making the conference happen on the three days, etc, etc, etc… All of these costs (including personnel costs) will be charged against the takings of the conference.
After all such costs have been met, we expect (hope!) that there will be some surplus. This will be negotiated between the AWA and UNSW.
If you think it sounds like easy money, you should give it a go.
The conference cost is reasonable and actually much less than other similar conferences. It looks very detailed and would be educational for all attending.
Thanks Jeremy,
It’s good of you to say so and I appreciate it!
Njta said:
Hi Stuart,
Will it be possible to get a copy of the conference proceedings and papers separately, without attending the conference? If so how would I go about it, and what is the expected cost?
Hi Njta,
I expect that the proceedings book will be separately available, however I don’t have any details at this stage.
One thing I will be doing is sending copies to public libraries. If people would like to recommend specific libraries that would be convenient to them, I will try to include them.
Toowoomba's library would be a great spot for a copy.
Thanks for the suggestion Paul,
I pre-empted you on that one and already have them on my list!
Hi Stuart. How did it go? Great success?
Hello Anonymous,
Yes, judging by the quality of the presentations and the feedback I received, my impression is that most of the delegates found the conference to have been a worthwhile event.
Snow Manners (with Amelia, June and Stuart) did a great job with the conference workshop. I was slightly nervous about how this would go, however I need not have been. Snow and the other Panel members challenged the delegates to give some careful consideration to appropriate forms of community engagement when controversial decisions are required. Despite a technical hitch, I think they really succeeded in opening a few minds around this topic. I might write more about it later.
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