Water Journal June 2004

AUSTRALIAN WATER ASSOCIATION

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Volume 31 No 4 June 2004 Journal of the Australian Water Association

Editorial Board F R Bishop, Chairman

B N Anderson, G Finke, G Finlayson, G A Holder, B Labza, M Muntisov, P Nadebaum, J D Parker, F Roddick, G Ryan, S Gray, A Gibson, P Masse ', Water is a refereed journal. This symbol indicates rhar a paper has been refereed.

OPINION 2 Governance Reform Will Open Doors; Has Recycling Come of Age?; My Point of View, Dealing with the Drought in Sydney, E Walder ASSOCIATION ACTIVITIES 6

INTERNATIONAL 8

Submissions

AWA Establishes Water Education Unit Including IWA Australia Report

WATERAID

lnmucrions for authors can be found on page 8 of chis journal. Submissions accepted at: www.awa.asn.au/publications/

MEMBERS' FORUM

Managing Editor

12

10

Water Aid-Styled Charity in Australia Does Size Matter? C Fenron

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Peter Stirling

14

Technical Editor

Details of courses, classes and other upcoming water events

CROSSCURRENT

EA (Bob) Swinton

4 Pleasant View Cres, Wheelers Hill Vic 3150 Tel/Fax (03) 9560 4752 Email: bswinton@bigpond.ner.au

16 17

Water Production Hallmark Editions

PO Box 84, Hampton, Vic3 188 Level I, 99 Bay Srreer, Brighton, Vic 3186 Tel (03) 9530 8900 Fax (03) 9530 89 I I Email: hall mark@halledir.com.au

Industry news

CONFERENCE REPORTS National AWA-CSIRO Workshops on Water Recycling; Quantum Leap in Membrane Research Symposium

FEATURE: DROUGHT AND WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT 18

WATER DIRECTORATE DROUGHT MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES, NSW Technical and operational advice to 99 NSW regional councils. G Micchell, D McG rego r

26

PER CAPITA WATER USE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR DEMAND MANAGEMENT Statistics show that per capita use is still rising. R Beacry, S O 'Brien, B Scewarc

National Sales Manager: Brian Rault Tel (03) 9530 8900 Fax (03) 9530 891 l Mobile 04 1I 354 050 Email: braulr@halledir.com.au

32

WATER ACCOUNTING AND LEAKAGE MANAGEMENT AT YARRA VALLEY WATER If you measure flows you can manage them. R Beacon

Water (ISSN 0310 - 0367)

37

is published eight times a year in the months of february, March, May, June, August, September, November and December.

FEATURE: DROUGHT AND WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT

Graphic design: Mitzi Mann

Water Advertising

WaterWorlcs ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED BY THE WATER OPERATORS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

61

YARRA VALLEY WATER'S PRESSURE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Selective reduction of pressures pays dividends. R McCoy, S Pearce Higgins, I Filby

PO Box 388, Artarmon, NSW 1570 Tel +G I 2 94 13 1288 Fax: (02) 9413 1047 Email: info@awa.asn.au ABN 78 096 035 773

66

URBAN RAINWATER TANKS: COMMON SENSE UNDER THREAT The practical pros and cons of domestic rainwater tanks. M Collins-Roe, D Davies

President

72

REGULATING SPECULATION IN WATER ENTITLEMENTS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA The regulations for water trading in Western Australia - do they meet the aims of COAG? H Ku rz

76

SELLING EXCESS YIELD FROM URBAN WATER SOURCES Selling excess water to irrigators will incur costs. A break-even value? M Lukin, P Aldridge

Australian Water Association

AWA

R od Lehmann

Chief Executive Officer C hris Davis

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ASSOCIATION

Australian Water Association (AWA) assumes no responsibility for opinions or statements of faces expressed by contributors or advertisers. Editorials do not necessarily represent official AWA policy.

Advertisements arc included as an information service ro readers and are reviewed before publication to ensure relevance to che water environment and objectives of AWA. All material in Water is copyright and should nor be reproduced wholly or in part without the written permission of the Managing Editor.

REGULATIONS 79 83

EDUCATION 85

Subscriptions

WATER BUSINESS 88

NEW PRODUCTS AND BUSINESS INFORMATION

OUR COVER: Climate change is with us, whatever the cause. The predictions for southern

Visit the Association

EDUCATING THE AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ABOUT WATER

The results of the AWA national survey. D Deere, G Collier, C Porter, I Jarman

Water is senr to all AWA members eight rimes a year. It is also available via subscription.

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LANDMARK SAFE DRINKING WATER LEGISLATION FOR VICTORIA The development of the new legislation. B Labza IRRIGATORS AND WATER ALLOCATION POLICIES Unscrambling eggs can be a messy business. J Hamparsum

HOME PAGE

and access news, calendars, bookshop and over 100 pages of information a t

http:/ /www.awa.asn.au

Australia are for less rain and more evaporation. Maybe it won't be as bad as the drying up ofLake Mungo 30,000 years ago, but we have had a foretaste in our current drought. Our short-term reaction is reducing demand and exploring alternative sources, but in the long term we will have to come to grips with a much more severe scenario.

from the president

GOVERNANCE REFORM WILL OPEN DOORS You may have or may not have picked up on the debate going on in A WA at the moment about "governance" .

This is all about how we manage our business to best meet the needs of our members. We are trying to streamline the management of the Association to get the best value out of the resources we have.

Ensuring that the branches and national office work as an integrated team, for the good of the Association, is an imperative. We are also trying to enable the branches to be more d irectly involved in setting directions and policy for the Association at a national level. Instead of the Board and the Executive running the Association as in the past it is proposed that the Board be reduced in size to a more manageable level and that the branch Presidents take a more active role in advising the Board on resourcing, strategies and policy issues.

Some people have interpreted this as a move to downgrade the Branches' role bu t that is wide of the mark. In my view, the branches will take a more prominent role in setting directions and initiating policy under the proposed arrangement.

rush the agenda if we have not resolved the issues of concern to branches. What we do want is for members to consider the issues being debated and provide feedback to the task force responsible for the review. You can send any comments through to this email add ress: cdavis@awa.asn.au. We have already extended the review period to give branches more time to discuss the full implications of the proposed changes.

Consultation so far has shown a desire by our branches to retain control over local activities . One respondent used the term 'Sydneyfication ' to describe his fear of a centralised, uniform approach to management. We hear chat and we are wo rking to ensure that the positive benefits of coordinated management are achieved, but char the ability of each branch to decide what it does for its members is not constrained. Rather than 'Sydneyfi cation' I see it as 'Unification' and b ranches caking control of their fu tu re.

Readers may not be aware that A WA is a not-for-profit organisation registered as a company. The Board is elected to manage the affairs of AWA and carries all the legal

Instead of the Board and the Executive running the Association as in the past it is proposed that the Board be reduced in size to a more manageable level and that the branch Presidents take a more active role in advising the Board on resourcing, strategies and policy issues.

We have embarked on a consultative program with the branches to review the proposal and to provide feedback - I am very pleased with progress so far. Whilst a timetable has been proposed to cake the issue forwa rd , we do not have co

2 JUNE 2004 water

responsibility for the activities of the branches. AWA m ade the decision some years back to establish a si ngle company rather than one in each branch.

Experience with ocher noc-forproftt organisations has shown that those who grow and

flourish have adopted the same mo del. I believe that this enabled the strong growth that we have experienced over the last two years.

Education project takes off I am glad to see that, as I write, applications for the job of our Community Education Program Manager have been streaming in and the calibre of applicant looks very good. This is going to be a flagship project and there's clearly an unmet need around Australia for those engaged in education (community, school, vocational and tertiary) to be able to communicate and to share ideas and resources. The role of the Community Education Program Manager will be to steer the whole project and create a vibrant network.

Education is a challenging area and doubly so for largely technical organisations. T he ongoing drought and potential climate change issues sp ur on the movements for water conservation, alternative sources, recycling and the implementation of integrated water cycle management and water sensitive urban design.

All of these demand more from educators in all the fields, so it's really timely chat o ur project is now caking shape.

Subscriptions to increase By the time chis issue comes out, subscription notices will have reached members,

flagging an increase. We agonised long and hard over chat increase, knowing that members have been accustomed to AWA's historically modest fee structure. However, in the increasingly costly and competitive world of delivering the services chat we do, an increase had to be faced.

I am personally convinced chat the value which AWA offers to members is much ¡ greater than the new subscription, at $170 per year fo r individuals. As the o nly association focused on the broad water industry, A WA delivers a unique combination of services and adds value in many ways - witness the new education initiative. At $170, AWA's subscription is still at che low end of che range and, thanks to our extensive and effective branch structure, we're in touch with needs and able to tailor our products to SUit.

l hope nobody finds the new fee too challenging and that everyone is renewing righ t now.

Rod Lehmann

water FUTURE MAJOR FEATURES AUGUST - Reclamation and Reuse of Sewage and Stormwater SEPTEMBER - Risk Management and Performance Benchmarking (Comparison with the mining and food industries)

NOVEMBER - Membrane Applications in Water and Wastewater incl Alternative Treatrnent Systems DECEMBER - Simulation and Modelling

NATIONAL AWA-CSIRO WORKSHOPS ON WATER RECYCLING Australian Water Conservation & Reuse Research Program (AWCRRP) W hat a H erculean effo rt for the lead speaker and o rganiser, D r Peter D illo n, of C SI RO Land & Water and C oo rdin ator of th e A WCRRP program, and fo r David Ell is, Program M anager! T hey travelled to all eight capitals over a th ree-week period in May, to d eliver eight wo rkshops fo r rh e A W C RRP project.

Reports fro m Stage I of A W C RRP p rovid ed a n u mber o f interesti n g and surprisin g insights into the 12 projects.

Of particular interest to rhe Syd ney audience was the literature review o f factors influencin g pu blic p ercep tio ns o f water re use by M u m i Po, J ul iane Kaerch er and Blai r N an carrow . T h eir re po rt exam ined fir st, success fu l projects in U S, Australia and Singapo re fo llowed by an exam inatio n of controversial and d iffi cult reuse projects. In the latter instance, and desp ite carefu lly plann ed and well d elivered pub lic educatio n program s, med ia negat ivity and/ or p oli ti cs driven by ind ividuals underm ined in itial supp ort based on lo gic and science. Legislative roadblo cks exte nded p roject d elivery times and resulted in increased cos ts.

T he costs and ben efits of using recycled water was anoth er area in wh ich there was m uch interest. T he report by D arla H atton MacD o nald o f CS IRO's Policy and Econo mic Research U nit was also well rece ived. T his report provides a comprehensive fram ework fo r p rici ng potable, first- use water, recycled water and sewage. As p are o f this full cost approach , it incorporates externalities such as u n in tentional dam age to other users - a prime example bein g the extraction of water fro m th e River M urray

fo r use in irrigation o r as drinking water w ith the res ult that less is availa ble fo r en vironmental flows and dow nstream use.

MacD o nald 's re port explains that there are two ways that water can b e priced: d irect p ricing and indirect pricin g.

D irect p ricing involves the setting of prices and charges payab le by tho se who use, re use and d ispose of water. Indirect pricing relies o n t he use of a wide array o f mechanism s that reveal the coses o f using water and associated resources .

T o quo te from his sum m ary: "Re use projects init iated by th e private sector arc often driven by a need fo r water o r a perceived marketi ng ed ge.

Projects initiated b y wastewater ucilities are ofte n driven by a need to meet a reuse ta rget and to avo id water based d ispo sal as per environm enta l gu ideli nes ."

Accordingly, a number of reuse projects p rice water at a co nsiderably lower level than po table water, ostensib ly to overco me negative publ ic perceptions and even tho ugh rhe associated infrastructure, planni ng, implem entati o n costs an d communi ty engagement just ify a p rem iu m. An outcome - at least in t he Sydney W ater Rouse H ill project - has been the over-use of recycled water.

A su mmary of the o utcomes fro m the W o rkshops is to app ea r on t he C SIR O website fo r A WCRRP h rrp: //www. clw .cs i ro.au/ p riori t ies/ urban/ awcrrp/ on 30 June 2004 .

represented Australi a. W arren Jo hnson (M emtec) had to cancel his attendance owing co a co n fl ictin g a pp oin tment.

QUANTUM LEAP IN MEMBRANE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

• the stare of the art of mem brane research

T he Pacifi c Rim Quantum Leap in Membranes Symposium was held in H o nolulu, H awaii from 29 to 3 1 M arch. I r was o rga nised by the N atio n al W ater Research Inst itu te (N W RI) o f th e USA, wh ich is a p ri vate research fund ing o rgan isati on (fun ded by a bequest). Delegates fro m Au stralia, Singa po re, C hin a, Ja pan and t he USA were invi ted to attend. Dr Stephen G ray (CS IRO) , ProfTon y Fane, Pro f To m Davis and Prof Greg Leslie (U n iversity NSW )

Each d elegation was asked co talk on the fo llowing topics:

• the challenges facing research today • fu tu re research needs req uired to move the tech n ology fo rward by quantum leaps not in crem entally, and • novel and u nconven tio nal meth od s and ap plicati ons.

A key outco m e was the m ain o ppo rtun ities id entified fo r ad va nces in m em branes: • Novel m ethod s for d esalinati ng seawater • Manufactu ring o f isopo rous memb rane materials, and • M aking m emb rane tech no logy more accessible to d evelop ing countr ies .

T he W orksho ps also provided an o ppo rtun ity for state governmen t policy on water re use to be showcased and for in itiatives su ch as Water Proofing Adelaide and the

Smart Approved Watermark strategies to be exp lained and discussed. Fo r m any atten d ing, this was the first o pportunity to see how their state's policies and progress fi tted in an d compared with others and the natio nal re use in it iat ives .

An excellen t attendan ce was ach ieved in all bu t o n e of the main centres and m any id eas fo r Stage 2 Dem o nstratio n P roj ects were put fo rward .

T hey left Peter and D avid with a lot of wo rk to do to p rovide a sum mary and a priority ran king fo r all those m eeting defin ed criteria.

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WATER DIRECTORATE DROUGHT MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES, NSW G Mitchell, D McGregor Summary The Water Directorate is a professional association of 99 NSW regional councils chat operate water and sewer businesses.

T he W ater Directorate has been operating for over five years providing tech nical and operational advice co its m ember cou ncils.

I n response co che prolo nged harsh drough t cond itions p revailing in NSW since 2002, the Water D irectorate considered that it was essential fo r regional water autho rities co have cools available co ch em co manage water shortages and supply. A Drought Management Workshop was held and the preparation of industry applicable guidelines was initiated. The G uidelines were subsequently distribu ted in Janua ry 2004.

T he Guidelines were designed co assist member councils prepare th eir own Drought Management Plan. Sections of the guideli nes could be adopted by a council as a stand-alone operational policy document includ ing amendments co the specific

Technical and operational advice is provided to 99 NSW councils. The latest is a set of tools to manage water shortages and supply in drought conditions. circu mstances of the council. This docu men t could then be used co comp lement an existing Drough t Management P lan or form a co mponent of an overall Water Supply Emergency Managem ent Plan.

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m ember councils in Jan uary 2004.

D eveloped as one of che high priority actions of the Water D irectorate's Executive Co mmittee, chis docu ment is a best practice collation of documents from councils across NSW, och er relevant Authorities, and extensive research . Special recogni cion is given co che work of che NSW D epartment of E nergy, U cil icies and Sustainability and che US based N ational D rough t Micigacion C enter.

The Water Di rectorate, working in collabo ratio n with the Local Govern ment Association of NSW and Sh ires Association of NSW (LGSA) and the Australi an Water Asso ciation (AWA) is seeking co improve cu rrent drought managem ent practices by develop ing these Guidelines. To dace, a consistent approach co d rough t management, and particularly stan dardised water rescriccions, has still not been implemented across N SW.

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The Water Directorate discribuced the

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Consistent Water Restrictions for the North Coast (prepared by the Northern Councils

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Drought Management Guidelines

Preparing a one-size-fies-all model fo r drought management as well as balan cing che vari ous interest grou ps, such as cown water users and farm users, is d ifficulc.

Depending on the fl exib ility and sp ecific circumstances of Councils, che Water Directorate believes seven nom inated restriction levels could be implem ented across the Stace, very m uch in line with che model o utlined in the Proposal for

f:!'!J McDonnell & MIiier

1s JUNE 2004

The Gu idelines are also in tended co assist water authorities co co mply with the Drough t Managem ent Best Practice C riteria requ ired by the Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability.

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A request for input fro m Water D irectorate member cou ncils p roduced a n um ber of policies, procedu res and practices across regional NSW. T hese

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examples p rovided both a valuable contribution and a sou nd basis for the subsequent Guidelines. Four of the best Drought Management Plans provided by NSW councils are available at h ttp://www.waterd irecrorare.asn.au. Ir is recommended that councils when putting together a Dro ugh t Management Plan (DMP) review these examples.

In addition, rhe informat ion gathered at the joint AWA/ Water Directorate Drough t Management Workshop in September 20 03 was particularly relevant.

Eleven speakers shared their experien ce of droughts, case studies and strategies co manage drought conditio ns. Speaker presentations are avai lable to download at http://www.warerdi rectorare.asn. au/ news/ D rough t_Mgr_03 .hrm T he Water Directorate strongly urges councils to develop and implement practices to assess the effects of drought, develop drought contingency plans, mon itor drought development, and im plement these plans to mi n imise th e impacts of drought on th eir communities.

20 JUNE 2004

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Some Findings of the Workshop - The Drought Risk Defining drought is d ifficult. Ir depends on differences in regions, needs, and disciplinary perspectives. I n the most gen eral sense, drought o riginates from a deficiency of precip itation over an extended period of rime, resul ting in a water shortage for some activity, grou p, or environmental sector. T he Macquarie dictionary succinctly defines drought in terms of dry weather, lack of rain, and scarcity. In the context of the Guidelines, drought is also scarcity of water brought on by contamination or tech nical fai lure.

W hatever the definition , drought should not be viewed solely as a physical phenomenon. Drought is a temporary aberratio n. Ir differs from arid ity, wh ich is restricted co low rainfall regio ns and is a permanent feat ure of cl imate.

Australian drought policy incorporates an understanding of normal climate variability into its definition of drought.

Financial assistance to farmers is provided only under "except io nal drought circumstances," when drought conditions

are beyond chose char could be considered part of normal risk management.

Declarations of exceptional dro ugh t are based on science-driven assessments.

Councils are conscious of the need to identify the beginning, end, and degree of severity of a drought. Many aspects of drought are outside a counci l's control, and advice from the Bureau of Meteo rology (BoM) m ust be rel ied upon. Thresholds are usually established somewhat arbitrarily, rather than based on a precise relationsh ip to specific impacts.

The Area Under Consideration The area over wh ich these Water Directorate Guidelines apply is the Local Govern ment area of the Council as gazetted and as extend ed fo r water supply purposes in conjunction with neigh bouring councils.

A council will need co have avai lable and accessible commu nities' plans derailing: • T he avai lable water sources and storages incl uding capacities.

• T he supply mains.

• Those communities serviced by the reticulated water supply, chose with private

reticulated water services and those with no reticulated water services.

• All water supply schemes in rhe service area.

• Water efficiency/demand management strategy.

Councils are advised to have access to a database to identify: • Properties & businesses char may seek water in ti mes of drought, together with their minimum water needs.

• Water dependent industry & businesses and their minimum water needs.

• Historical data including perfo rmance of rivers, storages, bores and rain faj]/ evaporation.

- Lack of rain for rainwater dependent urban areas.

- Demand exceeding capacity of the system to supply.

• Reduction in water allocation by regulatory authority.

Influencing Factors In Developing The Guidelines In co nsultation with practitioners, the fo llowing issues are listed for consideration in developing the Guidelines: • A one-size-fits-all model for drought management is difficult. However, there is general agreement chat any council can

implement comrols over the same number of sim ilarly described levels.

• Every region and valley is di ffe rent with particular differences between coastal/inland NSW .

• A small number of councils and at least one Region have been developing documents with four to seven levels of water restrictions.

• Some agricultural areas will need access to water regardless of any restrictions in place because of the importance of agriculture to the local economy.

• Some businesses may need access to water regardless of any restrictions in place

Triggers for Implementation Demand Management or Emergency Response may be triggered using these Guidelines under any of the following situa tions: • Authoritative advice on an adverse climatic forecas t.

• Seasonal conditions, (hot, cold, holiday periods) .

• Past experiences.

• Consumption target not achieved.

• Widespread comamination of rhe water source or supply (incl uding blue-green algae incursions) .

• Subsramial loss of water treatm ent capacity.

• Critical loss of pum ping capacity, (pum p or power failure).

• Majo r system fai lure.

• Urban restrictions in sympathy with adj oining agricultural drought.

• W ater source deterioration in capacity through: - River flow fa1ling below the minimum flow allocated by the Department of Infrastructure Planning and Natural Resources (DIPN R) for town water supply on regulated screams.

- No-flow conditions in unregulated streams supplying town water.

- Water table reduction below town water supply bore pump service level.

- Depleted storage level.

water

JUNE 2004 21

because of che importance of chat business to the local economy.

following widespread destruction of vegetation by fi re.

• AAA water saving devices may encou rage less demand on town water supplies .

• Water restrictions are a fundamental component of system design that reduces cost.

• Water restrictions for towns are different to those for farme rs and there is a need to strike a balance between the two.

Sometimes restrictions are not necessary for towns but they can be imposed in solidari cy wi ch the farmers.

• The Scace Government has a priority to supply water to the environment, stock and domestic, high security irrigation and then supplemen tary users.

• Restrictions need to clearly and consistently communicated across council boundaries.

• Any 'odds and evens' system should clarify mulriple house numbers and how it is used on rhe 3 1st of rhe month.

• Use of sprinklers or hoses should avoid high evaporation hours (8am to 4pm during Standard Time and 9 am to 6pm, Daylight Savin g Time) .

• Restrictions need to be policed.

• Business may require less restrictio n co allow ongo ing operations and to p revent staff layo ffs.

• Swimming pools need to be kept fi lled for structural stability.

• Special consideration is needed for the elderly or infirm.

• Occupational, Healrh and Safety (OH&S) is a factor, particularly fo r elderly people earring water in buckets.

• There is a need for accurate Asset Registers.

• The value of water audits.

• The need to work with catchment managers to monitor and control exposure to erosion in th e catchmen t and sediment transport to water sources, especially

• Plans need to be: - Flexible enough to be adjusted to match changing circumstances.

- Sufficiently robust to handle longer drought periods.

- Flexible to h andle wild cards (flood s, fire, storms, accidents, stream fl ow changes and water reforms) .

Outcomes sought include the fo llowing issues: • Co-operation on restriction levels with neighbouring water utilities.

• C larity and consistency when d evising communication strategies.

• OH&S and health (including grey water) issues addressed.

• The restrictions need to be applied and enforced equitably, however the largest user during d rought situations is domestic gardens and chis is where restrictions should co ncentrate.

• Policy and procedures should be socially and politically acceptable, simple and enforceable.

General Requirements Councils should take all necessary steps to reduce the impact of drought on its ability to source, su pply and deliver water n ecessary for the survival of all its communities. I n doing so, a council should co-operate with all water users and stakeh olders within the supply area and with neighbouring and State water authorities.

T he following procedures are recommended to achieve an equitable d istribu tion of the limi ted water resource.

Procedures

Councils should assess the risk imposed by drought.

In assessing the risk, a council should co nsider rhe following issues and document the ou tcomes of any assessment: • Application of rhe processes derailed in AS/NZS 4360 Risk Management.

• Economic: - Agriculrural areas having access to water regardless of any resrricrions in place.

- Industries having access to water regardless of any restrictions in place (e.g. machinery and fertiliser manufacrurers, food processors, dairies) - Cose of new or supplemental water resource development (bores, dams, pipelines).

- Cost of water cartage or transfer.

- Access of public lands for grazing.

- Exposure to fires, both urban and rural.

- General Rate and any Water Charges income levels in rhe light of reductions to industry or property income resulting from rhe drought.

• Infrastrucrure: - Exposure of fixed level pumping station intakes.

- Exposure of pipe crossings of non-tidal nvers.

- Exposure of p ipelines (including those above ground) to unauthorised connections.

- Exposure of storage dams, weirs and reservoirs.

- Cross con nection and backflow contamination.

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22 JUNE 2004

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- Effects on Council's Works Programme (e.g. road construction)

• Emergen cy and supplementary water supplies, such as bores.

- Impact of restrictions on consum ption.

- Daily water qualiry.

- D eterioratio n of parks and gardens.

• Dual water supplies.

- Completeness of Asset Register.

• Rainwater ranks.

- Impacts upstream and downstream from the water source.

- System leakage and pressures.

• Environmencal: - Opportunities for the development of toxic blue-green algal blooms.

• Retrofitting (toilets, showers, taps) at cost or at subsidised rates to consumers.

• Smart sewers.

- Disease.

• Sewer mining.

• Aquifer storage.

- Water quality (salt concentration, acidity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity)

• Pressure control.

• Alternative fire fighting water source.

- Minimising impacts on river aquatic habitat; fish and platypus; and riparian vegetation.

• Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) for stormwater including storm water harvesting.

• Social impact within the community: - Health related low-flow problems (e.g. diminished sewage flows , increased pollutant concentrations) - Increased conflicts (e.g. water users, political, management, social) - Loss of cultural sites.

- Perceptions of inequity in relief related to socio-economic status, ethnicity, age, or gender.

- The latent stage of any potential media crisis.

- Educating and supporting the community to use water differently recreation ally.

- Mental and physical stress that might be accenruated during drought (e.g. anxiety, depression, loss of security, physical con fl ices)

Recommended water demand management initiatives include: • Monitoring of Flows • Determining base flows - Loss and Leakage.

• Quantifying the various uses of water.

• Benchmarking.

• System inspections.

• Reviewing Operational practices.

• Reviewing Maintenance programmes.

The Guidelines also recommend that major user groups, such as the following, should be closely monitored: • Hospitals; • Food processing plants; • Clubs; • Hotels/morels; • Schools; • Shopping centres or large retailers; • Large air-conditioned facilities.

Timely evaluation of existing schemes should be undertaken with provision as necessary for: • Storages of adequate capacity to accommodate a 1 % (1 in 100 year) drought with restrictions using the 5: 10:20 rule.

24 JUNE 2004

water

• Financial incentives (rebates, loans) • Tariff reform.

• Policy reform.

Grey water use, and issue of guidelines • Recycled water.

Effective public awareness and education programmes are important elements of a Drought Management Strategy. Suggestions in the Guidelines include: • Referring the results of the drought risk assessment to the local Emergency Management Committee for consideration with other hazards in accordance with the Implementation Guide.

• Engaging the community in consultation using suitable media tools, caking into account the four stages of a potential media crisis (Latent, Emerging, Hot, and Residual).

• Clearly and co nsistently communicating derails of water restrictions within and across council boundaries.

• Preparing joint and consistent communication strategies and campaigns.

• Signage, including - Installing and maintaining Droughr Monitor Indicator Boards.

- Signs on entry roads to towns.

- Providing Council signs at recycling sites.

- Sires with any exemptions approved and registered.

Implementation of demand reduction and water conservation programmes is recommended. Suggestions in the Guidelines include: • Ensuring demand reduction by the implementation, monitoring, and policing of water restrictions at the appropriate Level; • Reviewing water conservation programmes regularly.

• Consideration of the merits of installation of AAA water saving devices on existing developments subject to compliance of backflow and cross connection prevention requirements; • Inserting flow restrictors or disconnecting water services if warranted for repeat offenders.

Councils should ensure that they have the resources, or immediate access to resources to enable: • Timely repairs to failed systems.

• Advice on contaminants including toxic Blue-Green Algae.

• Cartage of water.

• Access to water for fire fighting purposes.

(The Fire Brigade/s has a corresponding responsib ility to ensure they have immediate capacity to fight fires and a reserve supply.

Council will probably also need to provide for conflict resolution that may arise from water use within its iurisdiction. The Guidelines provide some useful steps to bring about conflict resolution.

Councils must be able to implement drought contingency plans which may involve the following steps: • Contingency Planning; • Demand Management; • Supply Management; • Water Delivery Operation s, Including Loss Management And Leakage Detection;

• Imposing fines in accordance with

• Communication;

Penalty Notices - Fixed Penalty Handbook for Local Councils (prepared by

• Compliance;

Infringements Processing Bureau, NSW Police Service) as amended from time to nme.

It is important to ensure that the appropriate level of technical resource is available for: • Policing of water restrictions imposed.

• Monitoring - Daily demands.

- Daily status of the water source(s).

• Implement demand management and water restrictions when triggered, focusing on a 7-scage system of water restrictions.

• engage the community and encourage voluntary observation of wise water use prior to the activation of the first level imposed.

• Supply the necessary information to enable the community to respond in the most appropriate manner.

Measures of last resort may include:

• intermittent operation of main supply.

• Standpipes in lieu of ho use services.

• Reticulate brackish water if available (and supply 10 litre bottles fo r d rinking, cooking) .

Other strategies councils may consider include: • Apply the same water restrictions across the whole Local Government Water Utility area or part thereof where water sources differ for different communities.

• Allow two consecut ive days per week watering on a roster basis.

• impose on the spot fin es.

• Impose licence conditions in lieu of exempt ions.

• Require D eveloper Control Plans (DCPs) to address d em and management.

• Impose permanent Level 1 restrictions.

• D efin e watering periods to m inimise wateri ng duri ng daylight hours.

• Control overn ight wastage.

In the preparation of their drought co ntingency plans, councils should also: • Understand the relatio nship between dam releases and river heigh ts at river intakes, particularly transmissive water losses in extreme low fl ow events.

• Co nsider methods to lower inlets to maximise extraction efficiency in ext reme low fl ow events. This allows the dam operator to minim ise releases thereby max imising retained srorage. If dam operators are fo rced to m aintain receiving waters at a high level co accommodate pum p inlets, then large volumes of water may be unnecessa rily lost

Conclusion In January 2004, the Water Directorate

Acknowledgements The Drought Management Guidelines were p repared by Jeff Austin , Directo r of Scarabworks P ry Ltd, under the direct io n and peer review of the Water Directorate's W ater Subcommittee. T he completion of the Guidelines would nor have been possible without che assistance of the following voluntary subcommittee members: • Kent Boyd, Parkes Shire Council

Drought Management Guidelines were

• Wayne Beatty, O range City Council

mailed to Gen eral Managers of m ember councils. T his forty page docum ent endeavours to gather together policies, practices and proced ures from across the NSW local government water industry.

Add itional copies are available ar $70 to member councils and $ 140 co nonmembers.

• Murray Nash, Riverina Water Coun ty Council

The co ntinuation of the drough t across most ofNSW in 2004 vindicates the considerable effort expended in developing che Guidelines. Regio nal water authorities wi ll now also have a templ ate available to them co prepare a Drought Policy char co mplies with Best Practice C ri teria set by the NSW D epartment of Energy, U ti lities and Sustainability.

• Jim Fear, North Coast Water

The Authors Gary Mitchell is a C ivil E ngineer and is the Execut ive Officer of the Water Directo rate, Level 12, 44 7 Kent St, Syd ney 2000, Tel: 02 8267 3010, Fax: 02 9283 5255, email: gm itchell@waterdirectorate. asn.au; Daryl McGregor is a Civil Engineer and is th e Chair of the Water D irecto rate and Manager Albury Water, Albury City Council , PO Box 323 Albury, NSW 2640, T el: 02 6023 8220, Fax: 0 2 6023 8 139, email: dmcgregor@ alburyciry.nsw.gov.au

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PER CAPITA WATER USE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR DEMAND MANAGEMENT R Beatty, S O'Brien, B Stewart Abstract 800 , - - - - . - - - - - . - - - - - . - - - - . - - - - . -- - - , - - - - - - , - - - - - - . - - - - - - .----,- 800

W hile many water ucilicies are currently using constant or fa lling per capita use in their baseline forecasts, there is a growing body of evidence chat suggests chat per capita water u se is currently increasing, and will continue co increase in che shore and medium term. This paper examines the data from a number of different water utilities and studies in an attempt co shed some light on the issue and explores che implications for our demand management efforts.

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Figure 1. Historical Water Use - Sydney 1944/45 to 1990/91 (Montgomery Watson 1995).

measures were discontinued , no new demand management or source substitution efforts were initiated and water prices were held ac current real levels.

There appears co be some disagreement amo ngst A ustralian water ucilicies as co whether th e per capita baseline should be rising, static or fall ing. A number of plan nin g studies and water futures documents display a range of views. Some such as M elbourne (Victorian Government, 2003) and Sydney (lSF 1998), seem co have formed che view chat che per capita baseline will most likely fall. Ochers such as Hunter Water, are assuming chat the baseline is

Statistics show that per capita use of water is still rising, despite restrictions. It seems to correlate with rising income.

26 JUNE 2004

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fu ture balance b etween supply and demand.

A key component of such planning approaches is the baseline or "do nothing" demand. This is che demand chat would result if all existing demand management

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le has now become almost routine for water utilities co plan using an in tegrated resources planning framework (often referred co as "Least Cost Planning"), where a range of demand management, source substitution and supp ly amplification measures are considered in planning for a

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Introduction The last two decades have seen some significant changes in the Australian water ind ustry. These changes have centred on che need for prices co more truly refl ect che cost of che water resou rce and an increasing awareness of the environmental impacts of water extraction and use.

F rom the ti me chat records have b een kept until the 1980s and 1990s, most water utili ties saw strong growth in per capita demands (Figu re 1) . Ac the rime of the implementation of pay fo r use pricing, water u tilities recorded a distinct and "one off" downturn in water demands (Montgomery Watson 1998) . Since elm rime, there appears co be some uncertainty as co the future for per capita demands.

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almost static (Hu nter Water, 2002). In che recent publication Water Proofing Adelaide, che South Australian government is suggesting chat per capita demands are currencly rising (SA Government, 2003).

The Factors Influencing Water Demands There are a large number of factors influencing water demands. The "arc" of fo recasting is co gain an understand ing of che h istorical influences on demand with a view co extrapolating their influence on future water use. le would be fair co say chat, in spice of their large customer base, most water utili ties do not have a solid understanding on how their produce is used and how fu ture use can be expected co change. A notable exception is the Water Corporation of Western Australia, which has conducted two detailed studies of residential water end use published in 1985 and 2002.

A number of ocher studies have collected info rmation on internal and external water use, and th e Australian Bureau of Statistics holds a rime series of ownership of some water-using fi xtures and appliances. For che most pare, however, there is no clear consensus amongst utilities as co the fa ctors currently influencing d emands and, as a consequence the future fo r per cap ita use is u nclear.

T he recent pricing reforms and rhe impact of water restrictions in many parts of Australia have hampered the efforts of water urilicies rhar are trying to improve their understanding of dema nd trends.

Ri1,0Wilter Harvesting Greywuter Re-Use Stom'l'Ncll81' Re-Use

Econornic Outpul Industry Typo WalerF>rice

Effluent Re-Use

Tourism

The Links Between Rising Incomes, Lifestyle and Resource Use Ir is well-accepted chat as communi ties become wealthier they consume more resources. T he increased use of laboursavi ng devices and machi nery, which rely on water and energy in both their man ufacture and use, leads to increased water and energy use. On the ocher hand, at the present time there is also a widely held view chat because the comm unity is becoming more environmentally aware and resource-using technology is improving, water and energy use can be expected to fall in the short and medium term, as people choose more environmentally-friendly products and services.

An exam in ation of recent data on resource use unfortunately does not lead us to the conclusion rh ac resource use is falling. D uring a period where environmental awareness has arguably been at it highest level in human history, resource use is increasing. Per capita energy

Community Educaoon Relrofit & Reba:te Me.l$Ures

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Figure 2. Facto rs Influencing Water Demands.

use by households is rising (ABS 1998, 2003), fewe r people are using public transport to co mmu te to their place of work (ABS, 2002), road transport energy use per capita is risi ng (ABS, 2003) and water use per capita is increasing (ABS, 2000). The data suggests a society rhar wants to make changes, bur is tied to the

increasing levels of conven ience and comfort provided by higher levels of resource use. Moreover, as com munities become wealthier, rhey seem to find new and interesting ways to use, rather than save, resources.

A num ber of studies into rhe impact of income on water use bear this our. Cross-

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sect ional regression analyses of residential water use in Melbourne and Sydney have clearly shown that even when caking into account d ifferences in household size and lot size, household income is significant in explaining different levels o f water consumption in different communities.

(Montgomery Warson 1985 , AWT 1998a, AWT 19986). In addition, the Perth end use study (Warer Corporation , 2003) clearly shows char while in- house water use was similar for househ olds wirh different levels of inco m e, there was a significant difference in the level of outdoo r use. Much of chis difference could be explained by the use of automatic reticulation systems in wealthier households (Water Corporation 20 03). Ir is also interesting to note chat water savings from the propagation of dual f-1ush roilecs were largely offset by increased water use in clothes washers.

A survey of water use in Syd ney cond ucted by rhe Australian Bureau of Statistics points ro another fa cer of water use (ABS, 2002). The study calculated the direct and indirect water requirem ents of households through an examination of their consumption patterns. Indirect water use is the amount of water consumed in the manufacture and supply of rhe goods and services used by a household. This indirect water use is in addition ro rhe water used d irectly by a household. They showed char as household incomes increased, they consumed larger volumes of goods and services rhar in creased their indirect per capita water use.

The research examined above suggests chat if we can expect incomes to rise in the futu re (and there is a consensus chat chis is a reasonable assumption) rhar water use will also rise, and nor j usr in rhe residential sector. It is likely that water use in ind ustry and commerce associated with household consumption of goods and services will also n se.

While the concept and implications of p rice elasticity have wide accep tan ce in the water industry, the concept of income elasticity appears to be poorly understood.

This is in spire of the fact that it is easier to m easure an d is given equal status to price elasticity in economic theory. While price elasticity is notoriously difficult ro estimate given char rhe water charges are generally uni versal across a uriliry's supply system, incomes vary signifi cantly from place ro place and by marching census data to water use, we can readily estimate income elasticities of demand. Furthermore, if we assume char a change in real income is equivalent to a change in rhe effective water price, we could well use su ch cross-sectional techniques to infer price elasticities.

28

JUNE 2004

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Current Per Capita Trends in Australian Water Utilities

number of facto rs putting downward pressure on demand.

W hile it is clear chat resource use is increasing and chat chis can be related to rising household incomes, there are also a

Appliance ownership figures for dishwashers, clothes washers and toilers show that there is a natural tendency for

more water efficient fi xtures and appliances co increase in popularity (Wilkenfeld 2002). This trend cowards increasing appliance efficiency is ancicipaced co continue into the future. These expected increases in efficiency would result in changes in household water use. Examples of estimates of the impact on usage are shown in Figure 3 co Figure 5 (MWH 2004).

To test the historical impact of the propagation of more water efficient appliances, a hypothetical model of water co nsumption per household was developed over che period 1990 co 200 1. T he model contains information on che changes in appliance ownership and estimates of the impact of these changes in water consumption. Assuming a scarring residential demand of approximately 280kL/annu m, che consumption per household over che period 1994/95 co 2000/01 could reasonably be expected co fall by approximately 25 kL over chat period (Figure 6). Fall ing household sizes and increasing urban population densities would be expected co increase che size of ch is downturn.

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Figure 6. Expected Impact of Increased Ownership of Water Effi cient Fixtures a nd Appliances · 1993/94 to 2000/01 .

A review of household water consumption data fo r major water util ities th roughout Australia over che period (WSM, 1999 - 2003) shows chat there is no downturn in demand over the same period. For chose uci licies wich stable water

pricing, ic appears rhac che only signi ficant impacr on demand has been che recent imposition of restrictions on water use by util ities experiencing drought conditions.

Aside from the recent impact of water restrictions, there is strong evidence rhac

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overall, water demand per household has actually risen . T his is over a period with many water utilit ies intensifying demand management efforts. While the impact of the propagation o f warer efficient appliances is no doubt reducing water use in so me areas, ocher water uses must be increasing to offset rhe impacr.

It shou ld also be noted that many Austral ia n water utilities have embarked upon quite comprehensive demand management programs. It could well b e that a rising per capita baseline has been masking the impact of such programs lead ing to lower than actual est imates of water savings.

The Implications for Demand Management Efforts The find ings above have some important implications for effons to provide a future balance between supply and demand.

Firstly, water utilities currently using a declining per capita baseline in their fu ture water resources plan ning may nor be adequately providing for futu re investment in the bundle of demand management, source substitutio n and supply augmentatio n measures. If current water

GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION

UPDATE On 19 May 2004, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its Water Account for Australia for 2000/01. The results sh ow that household water use per cap ita and per household again increased from 1996/97to 2000/0 1 as it did between 1993/94 and 1996/97. T he recent result is a cause for concern because the increase in demand cam e over a period where: â&#x20AC;˘ Many water milities have been most active in their promotion of water conservation and efflu ent re-use; and

measures are likely to be less cost-effe cti ve than those currently envisaged , then the revenue from increased consumption will not offset the additional revenue required.

Secondly, water uti lities will need to take a closer interest in demands in key sectors.

Co nsumption data routinely held by water utilities provides a tremendous amount of information on trends in water use. Any an alysis will need to include the removal of climate influences, which can make it difficult to recognise trends in the short term.

T his serves as an additional confirmation o f the h ypothesis o utlined in this paper that the im pact of lifestyle and income must be taken into account in futu re water resources planning.

T h irdly, there needs to be a concerted effort to better understand how water use is changing w irh time. This will m ost likely involve a co-operative effort amongst a number o f water utilities, to collect detailed water use data in both the res iden tial and non-residential sectors. D ata such as lot size, ex-house area and swimming pool ownership wo uld also be useful to provide an understanding on the influence of key d rivers on demand.

prices are set at what is perceived to be the long-run marginal co st of the next increment/s of supply, and additio nal

Lastly, there will need to be an increased em phasis o n cargerring water use that is growing. If, for example, per capita garden water use is expected to increase in the futur e, then measures that specifically target

â&#x20AC;˘ Annual average rainfall in 2000/0 1 was greater than that experienced in 1996/97.

chat area of use, such as educatio n efforts and the ma ndatory use of recycled effluent and rainwater, are likely to be more cost effective than first thought.

Conclusion While many water uriliries are currently using co nstant or falling per capita use in their baseline forecasts, there is a growing body of evidence chat suggests rhac per capita water use is currently increasing, and wi ll continu e to increase in rhe short and medium term. This is at odds with a common ly held view chat due to improved technology and increasi ng environmental awareness amongst consumers, per capita use can be expected to fall in the future. lf it is indeed the case chat per capita demands are increasing, dem and management efforts becom e increasingly important and urgent if the environmental impacts associated with urban water use are to be minimised. Th is wi ll include rh e move to whole of water cycle integration, and rhe delivery of an urban environment rhac is more sustai nable, yet at the same time meeting the lifestyle aspirations of consumers.

It is clear that chere should be an emphasis on improving our efforts in understanding how water is used and tracki ng how ir is changi ng with rime.

This info rmation will allow better targeting of water conservation efforts and will no doubt improve the accuracy of future forecast of water use.

Australian Water T echnologies (AWT) 2000a, A Review of che Facto rs I nAue ncing Dry W eath er Sewe r Flows.

The Authors

Hunter W acer, 2003, Integrated \X'arer Resource Pl an.

Russell Beatty is Leader Water Sustainabi lity, Shane O' Brien is Manager, Planni ng an d Brett Stewart is Senior Planning Engineer, all with MWH Australia, 39-41 C handos St, St Leonards, NSW, 2065. Contact email: russell.beatcy@mwhglobal.com

References Australian Bu reau of Statistics (ABS) 2000, Water Account for Australia 1993/94 to 1996/97 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2002, Australian Social Tre nds, People and the Environmen t, Use of Resources: H ousehold Ene rgy Use. Australian Bureau of Scaciscics (ABS) 2003, Year Book Aust ralia, 2003

Australian W ater T echno logies (A WT) 20006, South Eas e Wate r Demand Forecasting M odel , De mand Analysis Repo rt.

Wilken fe ld 2003, A Mandatory W ate r Efficie ncy Labelli ng Sche me fo r Aust rali a

Inst itute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) 19 98 , Syd ney W ate r Lease C ose Planning S tudy, Phase One Re port.

Victorian G ove rn ment 2003, 2 1st Cencury Melbo urne, A Wate r Smarr C ity.

Montgome ry Watson, Aus tralian Wate r T ech no logies (MWH ) I 998, G old C oas t W ate r Pricin g Impacts Study Montgome ry W arson 1995, Sydney W ater Su pply Strategy Review - De mand Study MWH 2004, Parkes I nregra ced W ater Cyc le M anageme nt Pl an, De mand An alys is and Forecasting Re port W arer Services Association of Australia (W SAA) J 99 9 - 2003, W SAA Faces SA Governme nt, 2 004, Water Proo fing Adel aide - Explo ring the Issues, A Discussion Pape r.

Odour Technologies Providing Molecular Odour Elimination - Sustainable Natural Odour Control Solutions A break through technology Sewage Pump Station Odour Vent Capping Wastewater Treatment Plants Waste Industry Compactors Rising main ve nts General Odorif erous Indust ries

Memcor Australia Pty Ltd l Memtec Parkway South Windsor NSW 2756 Australia Ph: +61 2 457706800 Fax: +61 2 45775870 Contact David Pratt or Mark Thompson

USFilter â&#x20AC;˘ info@memcor.com.au â&#x20AC;˘ www.usfilter.com

P.O. Box 3591, Loganholme, Qld 4129 Telephone: (07) 3287 7020 Facsimile: (07) 3287 6398 Email: beetham@gil.com.au

water

JUNE 2004 31

WATER ACCOUNTING AND LEAKAGE MANAGEMENT AT YARRA VALLEY WATER R Beaton Abstract

NRW has reduced by 57% since 1995196.

Striving to be truly sustainable Yarra Valley Water has set ambitious targets including substantial reductions in water consumption and leakage.

H aving reduced no n-revenue water by 57% since 19 95, the challenge offu rrher significant reductions requires improved measurement systems and paradigm shifts in management.

To meet these challenges a comprehensive zone metering p rogram has been completed to account for water delivered to 1. 6 mill ion people in over 100 water supply zones. T h is program has been augmented with targeted leakage and p ressure management programs.

An overview of the water accounting and leakage management program is provided along with implementation issues and expected benefits.

Key Words Sustainability, water consumption , water accounting, zo ne metering, leakage, non revenue water, pressure ma nagement, Yarra Valley W ater

Introduction - Melbourne In Drought Melbourne is in the 6th year of d rought.

In regional Victoria 2003 reservoir levels were at an unpreced ented low. Eildon reservoir held a meagre 6%. Melbourne's 2003 reservoir levels dropped to 40.2% and stage 2 water restrictions were implemen ted. The community and the water utilities have a heightened awareness of the need for water co nservation .

I n 2003 Yarra Valley Water sec the following targets: • To implement water conservation and recycling strategies to help customers reduce co nsumption by 15% by 20 10 (in 20 04 the target has been increased to a 20 % saving)

60.0 •

D

Forecast

04/05

05/06

AciJal

50.0 ·

40.0 ·

::i'

e. ~

30.0

a:

z

20.0

10.0

0.0 95196

96197

97/98

98/99

99/00

00'01

01/02

02/03

03/04

06/07

I n 1995 T he Metropolitan Water I ndustry of Melbourne was reorganised from a single vertically integrated organisation responsible fo r Water, Sewerage, Drainage and Parks into five separate o rganisations as follows: • Melbourne Water: wholesale water, sewerage and drainage services 22

• Parks Victoria: parks management

I

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155

165

ns

i&s

195

ros

21s

Litres per property per day

water

09/10

• City W est Water: d istribute and retail water and sewerage services to the Melbourne CBD and western suburbs • Sou th East Water: distribute and retail water and sewerage services to the south eastern suburbs • Yarra Valley Water: distribute and retail water and sewerage services to the northern and eastern suburbs

Organisational Arrangements

~

32 JUNE 2004

08/09

Figure 1. No n-revenue wa ter (G L) .

• To achieve a 25% reduction in non revenue water per household by J une 2008.

T his is an edited version of the presentation at Enviro 04 .

07/08

Financial Ye«

Figure 2. Leakage levels compa re w ell wi th oversea s bench ma rks.

22s

235

2ts

D

~>

ressure Management

Leakage

Prompt Repai rs

Active Leakage Control

1/l

I"!

I

Zone

Quality Assets

D

3

Figure 4. Zone consumption = 1 - 2 - 3

Figure 3. Leakage reduction activities.

The government owned retail companies including Yarra Valley Water purchase water from the wholesaler and distribute it to cheir customers.

Yarra Valley Water provides water and sewerage services to about 565,000 res idential and 40,000 business custo mers in an area covering 4,000 sq km in the north and ease of Melbo urne. As such we service over 1.6 mill ion people out of Melbourne's coral population of 3.5 mill ion.

The Water Balance If you can't measure it you can't manage it!

In 1995 Yarra Valley Water commenced paying Melbourne Water a fixed and variable charge for bulk water purchases of about 180 to 200 gigalirres (G L) per annum. The variable charges were based on measured volumes th rough existing meters previously installed for operational purposes.

Like most water utilities in Australia, Yarra Valley Water derives its revenue from customers based on fixed charges and variable charges chat rely on customer metering. Up until 1995 replacement programs fo r customer meters were nor optimal.

In 1995, non revenue water at Yarra Valley Water amounted to an estim ated 27%.

In the period from 1995 to 2002 significant effort was put into implementation of rigorous customer and

Figure 5. Insta llation of ultra son ic fl owmeter .

bulk water meteri ng programs. As a result non revenue water has decreased by about 57%. (Figure 1) While coses decreased significantly and revenue increased it is fair to say char margi nal savings were made in real water losses.

However, by J une 2002 we understood co reasonable accuracy the high level water balance at a company level on an annual basis.

The successful program to account for water at a zone level has led to targeted non-revenue water and leakage management programs: ifyou measure flows, you can manage them.

In 2003 Yarra Valley Water set a target co reduce 200 l /02 non revenue water by 25% per household by June 2008. (Figure 2) In 2002/03 non revenue water was about 12.4% of bu lk water purchases or 23.2 GL. Real losses including leakage are estimated to co mprise about 80% of non revenue water, 9.6% of coral bulk water purchases or 18.3 GL. Having already reduced non revenue water by 57% since 1995, the challenge of further significant red uctio ns requires improved measuremem systems and parad igm sh ifts in operations management.

Reducing Real Losses Best practice methodologies suggest char real losses can be addressed on fo ur key fronts.

water

JUNE 2004 33

1. Maintaining good pipeline and asset management including installation standards 2. Maintaining prompt quality repairs 3. Manage and/or reduce system pressure 4. Undertake active leakage control Asset management audits suggest chat items 1 and 2 are more th an satisfactorily covered with the application of Water Industry Codes of Practice, quality assurance programs and an extremely fast repair service.

Items 3 and 4 offer the greatest opportunity fo r Yarra Valley Water to red uce real losses as leakage is our largest component of non revenue water. W hile Yarra Valley Water leakage levels compare favo urably to ochers in the industry on a number of benchmarks (e.g. kL/km/day, licres/properry/day, ILI). We expect to reduce leakage by 5.4 GL per year through active leakage control (2.4 GL/year) and pressure management (3.0 GL/year) (F igu re 3).

Print Dete: 23-Jun-03 5:55 r:m

Leakage and Demand - Monthly Report

Yarra Glen (WDZ198l From 1 May 03 to 31 May 03 tllirinun lll<'Jt f low Rate (A)

Pw k Flow Rate (B)

I

@,701/s

Time §:::::]

Ttrre~O!Sam

p801/s Date

~

Date §30511

Conncctiors (II<):

I I I

Total Pipe Leni,:n (Lrr,: EstirratedOuemght Usage(U):

Pressose (P):

' 2

11 11~ km 1 I/comect,onlh

81 m etres

LEAKAGE IIIDICATORS

ESTIMATED LEAAAOE

l69 l itreslcomectlonday

ESTIMATED LE.-ll<AGE:

12356 litresil<Jn/dily

INFRASTRUCTURE LEl'KAGE INDEX:

D~ !!,W I!! ltlDICAIQI§ Zore Demand (over the 31 days) 14.554 ML

\(A ( ( U'Ne ) /3600 )) ' 60'E0' 24) / Ne

( ( A - ( ( U • Ne ) I 38)() ) ) • 60 ' 60 • 24 ) I Lm

_lo_.64_ __

CAR L ~ UARL 79 835

Average Dail y Demond

Per Comedian (O"ierthe 31 days)

633 1/connection'day

19615 litres

D Bllilnd ( litres)

Date

Mn Hight P""k Fl ow Rate O/s) Flow Rate Ols)

Zone

Per Connec1ion

2003.05.01 200305.02

0.9J 0.80

417975 404625

: 545

: 12.10 : 12.90

$3

( A- (( U 'Ne) /3600 ) ) '60 ' 60 ' 24 (( 18' Lln )+ ( 0.8'Ne) ) 'P

Peok Dem end 2993 1/eomectiorvday

Average f low Rates lnt e,polated All Ols) tlight(l/s) Dot o (% ) 4.84 4 68

164 143

13.29% 9 38%

Figure 6. Zone metering reporting tool.

The pressure management program is reported by McCoy, this issue.

This paper reports on che leakage reduction program.

Zone Metering With company wide leakage levels as low as the best UK water company (Figure 2), and with over 8,000km of pipes in over 100 water supply zo nes, where do you Start?

Firsdy we divided our system into Zones.

Figure 4 illustrates the basic water balance in a zone, enabling us to calculate the NRW in char zone.

T o help target our effort, bulk water meters have been installed on all our water supply pressure zones. (Figure 5) T hese meters provide us with real rime information via our SCADA (System Control and Dara Acquisition) system.

(Figure 6).

Reporrs incl ude an analys is of night flows and leakage estimates converted to key leakage indicators including the Infrastructure Leakage Index (ILI).

Where leakage rares are high, as shown in Figure 7, zones are targeted for active leakage investigations.

Zone meters can be used for other benefits: • a better understanding of the relationship between water pressure and customer water usage • linked to pressure reductio n devices they provide the opportun ity to airer pressures and flows in response to demand • water balances can be conducted at a zone level on a quarterly basis 34 JUNE 2004

water

Z o n es

Figure 7. Leakage can be targeted .

• non revenue water programs ca n be monitored for their success • significant leaks can be identified and investigated pro-actively rather than hoping for a customer call.

Active Leakage Control Following a review of best practice active leakage control Yarra Valley Water recenrly commenced active leakage trials using various leak detection technologies and fieldwork methodologies.

T he first rwo zo nes incl uded an inner urban zone with high density housing, a relatively high proportion of commercial/industrial properties and high night flow characteristics, and an isolated rural zone with a mixture of medium/low

density housi ng, a high proportion of private trun k services and relatively low night flow.

The methodologies and technology rested have included strategic deployment of noise correlating loggers, and acoustic ground survey using ground microphones and listening sticks, followed by final survey using leak noise correlators.

Results to dace have provided valuable information on the cost of active leakage investigations in our area and the expected benefits from such programs. We have identified efficiencies by tailoring the methodology to sui t the pipe material being reseed.

Ar the moment active leakage control including fi nd and fix (Figures 8, 9, 10) is

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• Unti l you measure it you can only guess where the water is go ing.

• Leakage reduction can be an effi cient water conservation measu re even if your indicators appear excellent.

• Set challenging targets and you will find a way ro achieve them.

Conclusion I am confiden t that zone metering coupled with active leakage control will make a significant contribution ro Yarra Valley Water's amb itious target ro reduce water consumption and non revenue water.

Acknowledgements

Figure 8. Noise loggers cost $4O-5Ok, but detect beyond human range. Attach at valve, leave overnight.

one of the best value fo r money investments for us to realise our water conservation and non revenue water targets.

Further leakage trials are scheduled in 2003/04 for high leakage zones where past investigations using traditional methods have been unsuccessful in identifying losses.

Going forward we are planning to survey about 1,000km of water main each year with an expected saving of about I ML/km.

T his program will be reviewed and modified as we learn.

Key Lessons • We can learn a lot from o ur interstate and overseas colleagues.

• Experience counts, and there are plen ty of peopl e willing ro help.

• Use overseas benchmark performance as a guide only.

• Don't underestimate the work involved and logistics of a zone metering program.

Many people have assisted in the development and implemen tation ofYarra Valley Water's strategy to conserve water and reduce non revenue water including leakage.

Figure 9. Correlators: used to pinpo int detected lea ks .

Noc all can be acknowledged but the following deserve special mention: • Tony Kelly, Managing Director, Yarra Valley Water fo r his view char "If you can't measure it you can't manage ic! " • Allan Lambert, Ron McKenzie and their colleagues for early guidance in measurement and accounting for water, and strategies for reducing leakage.

• The teams at Yarra Valley Water and their contract partners chat have improved bulk and customer metering, implemented zone metering and conducted the active leakage trials.

• Water industry colleagues at Sydney Water, Wide Bay Water and Sou th East Water, Australia and overseas at Anglian Water UK and East Bay MUD San Francisco USA for sharing their experience.

The Author Ray Beaton is M anager Business Strategy ar Yarra Valley Water, Phone 61 3 9872 148 1, Fax 6 1 3 9872 130 5, rbearon@yvvv.com. au

Figure 10. Liste ning sticks. Cheap, but labour intensive and need experienced operators.

References Allan Lambert, Stephen Myers & Stuart T row 1998 - Managing Warer Leakage, published and distributed by Financial Times Energy 1998.

WATERCAD FOR WATER DISTRIBUTION MODELLING THE #1 CHOICE FOR WATER UTILITIES WORLDWIDE Founded on 15 years of continuous development and refinement, WaterCAD is the proven market leader and the best software of its type in the world today. For more information about this water distribution modelling software, see the inside front cover of ~ter Journal visit our website at www.haestad.com/tryit and enter code 5639, or e-mail us at australia@haestad.com.

36 JUNE 2004

water

YARRA VALLEY WATER'S PRESSURE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY R McCoy, S Pearce Higgins, I Filby Water Supply System

Abstract Yarra Valley Wacer has developed a Pressure Managemenc Scracegy co manage and operace ics wacer supply assets within preferred pressure ranges while concinuing ro meet our cuscomer service levels. Based on che resulcs of case studies and trials, the scracegy involves che creacion of 64 new pressure zones in rhe northern and eascern suburbs of Melbourne.

T he Srracegy includes a $32111 capical works program over che nexc 6 years and is expecced deliver up co a 10% red uccion in bursc races and up co a 3.0 GL pa reduction in no n revenue wacer. T hese savings will play a key role in meeting che Scace Govern men r's cargec of a 15% per cap ita reduccion in wacer usage by 201 0. The firsc new zones are expected co be im plemented

by J une 2004.

Selective reduction of pressures pays dividends.

Three successful trials have led to progressive installation ofPRVs to reduce both leakage and bursts.

Introduction Yarra Valley Water is one of three retail water companies in Melbou rne and an nually purchases approximacely l 90GL of wacer from our wholesaler, Melbourne Wacer. We supply retail water and sewerage services co 616,000 cuscomers, comprisi ng 569,000 domescic cuscomers and 47,000 industrial and commercial users. Of rhe l 90GL of water purchased, abouc l 64G L are metered supplies co ou r cusco mers, with che remaining 24GL or 12.4% as 'No n Revenue Wacer'.

Yarra Valley Water's water supply system comprises a coca! of 8,643 km of wacer mains of which 7,823 km are recicularion mains of size less chan 300mm diameter

This is an edited version of a paper presenced at Enviro 04.

y

...,,

,,.,.hUâ&#x20AC;˘~

Figure 1. Water Supply System Overview. and 820 km are distribution mains of 300mm diameter and above.

Approximately 80% of Melbourne's water comes from the procecred fo rests in che upper Yarra River and T homso n River catchments. T he water is transferred from che Thomson dam (l,068GL) co the Upper Yarra Dam (20 I GL) and chen co Melbourne via che Silvan Reservoir (40GL) (Figure 1).

Melbourne's coca! syscem sco rage capacity is l ,767GL compared co Melbourne's coral annual supply of abouc 480GL. Silvan Reservoir is rhe key reservoir for discribuci on of water co syscem seasonal reservoirs including Cardinia, Greenvale and Yan Yean. Silvan Reservoir also supplies water co many of Yarra Valley Water's I 06 pressure zones from Melbourne Water's cransfer network and ocher local tanks/reservoirs.

>120m(2) 100-12!) m (1) 8D- 1oom1291 !IJ - 80m (3a) ~ < fl) m (23)

YVW AVERAGE ZONE PRESSURE

Figure 2. Average Pressures in water sup ply zones.

water

JUNE 2004 61

Yarra Valley Water's system has high pressures co mpared to many other system s.

Although che pipe networks were o riginally d esigned and co nstructed to accommodate chese h igh pressures, as che pipe assets age and nacurally d eterio rate their d eclining residual strength results in increasing bu rst rates and associated repair and replacement costs.

T he varying topography across Yarra Valley W ater's area from che hills in the east to che lower inner suburbs means che p ressures across and fro m zo ne to zone range from 20m to a m aximum of 140 111.

T he average p ressure fo r all customers is 73 m wh ich is very high by comparison with ocher systems. The average water pressure of supp ly zones is shown in Figure 2 .

Service Reliability to Customers Yarra V alley Water experiences th e second h ighest burst rate in Australia for large water supply sysrems, as show n in T able 1 (W SAA Facts 200 3. Extract: Burst Rates fo r Retail Water Co mpanies, p 6) .

This h igh bu rst rate is attributed to the variability o f soils rypes, particularly expansive clays, the fa ct that the pipes were not sand bedded p rio r to 1970 , the high pressure of supply and the type and age of pipe materials.

The relatio nship between bu rsc rates and supply p ressure in Yarra Valley's system is illustrated in Figure 3. As expected, with increasing pressures the burst rates rise u p to 4 01100km pa at p ressure of about 50m.

Beyond 50m p ressure the burst rate remains relatively stable, but this is considered attributable to Yarra Valley Water's ongoing water main renewals program. T he p rogram targets mains with th ree or more bursts in the preceding 12 months. Th is effectively flattens th e curve as poorer perfo rming assets are retired .

T he graph also shows the burst rates experienced by 20 large metered districts within a UK W ater Co mpany with diffe rent average network pressures published by Al lan Lambert.

T he UK experience shows that as che water pressures increase for water supp ly areas so does the burst race; similar results have been illustrated aro und che world and published by che International Water Association W ater Losses Taskforce.

Water Conservation at Yarra Valley Water T h e V ictorian Go vernm ent has recencly

62 JUNE 2004 water

Table 1. W SAA Burst Rate Comparison / 100km pa.

98/99

99/ 00

00/ 01

01 / 02

02/ 03

cww

77

70

58

56

103

YVW Sydney Water Brisbane Barwan SEW SA Water Water Corp

42

42

56

41

57

43 32 53 24 31 11

41 36 19 26 25 12

38 37 28 26 25 13

38 38 24 21 22 13

51 39 32 29 24 13

50 (II

a.

E

.II::

0 0

...

40 30

---Ill 20 ~:::,

m 10

-

UK Water Company

-

vvw

0 25

0

50

75

100

125

150

Pressure (m) Figure 3. Yarra Va lley Water Burst Rate Vs Pressure Profile . released a W ater Resource Strategy fo r Melbourne which outli nes a number of key water conservation strategies to be p ursued to ensure that Melbou rne's existing water reso u rces will be able to m eet customer warer requirem ents thro ugh to che year 2050.

The Government has also set a target fo r che Melbourne water companies to achieve a reduction in water consumptio n per cap ita of 2 0% by 2010. Yarra Valley Water is p ursuing a num ber of initiatives to ach ieve chis target which includes the

0

500

I

I

1000

SCALE <ml

red uctio n of non- revenue water (N RW) from our current level o f25G L (or 14 % o f all water purchased) in 200 1/02 by one quarter by 2008.

Many large gains in reducing NRW fro m 22% in 1995/6 have b een achieved through m eter replacem ent programs to p rovid e fo r accurate b ulk and customer metering, the installat io n of metered filli ng statio ns fo r water careers and leakage detection programs in areas with known high leakage rates. These existin g p rograms are being continued and in som e areas expanded , h owever one new key ini tiative for achieving the Government's water con servation target is to im plement a large scale pressure management strategy across our water su pply area.

Benefits of Managing Pressures

EASTER/I JS0. 5ÂĽ

HA/IP

s,

110

SU9PE"r HILLS

RE"SERv'OIR

,.;:,thÂŁ

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Figure 4. Pressu re Management Trial Area in Kew.

Pressure management as an approach fo r red ucing bu rst and leakage races and extending pipe asset life, is not a new concept. le has been widely implem ented throughou t che UK over the past decade. Som e of che mo st recent exam ples of its application have been in San Paolo, Brazil, the W aicakere

City Council in New Zealand and Cape T own , South Africa.

60,------------- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~

Pressure Management Trials

50

Yarra Valley Water has undertaken three trials over rhe past 3 years to quantify potential benefits and coses of pressure management as a water conservation and asset management strategy.

T hese trials were as fo llows: • The pressure management trial in Kew involving two subject areas: a co ntrol area remai ned on the normal operating pressures and an adjacent area where pressure was reduced by installation of rwo pressure reducing stations. (Figure 4).

• T he Yallambie area where rhe pressure co a number of customers was reduced by changes in the zone boundary to a neighbouring zone of lower pressure.

• T he Ri ngwood East area (Dublin Road) where zone pressures were reduced by changing from fixed speed pumping to variable speed drives.

Based on these trials, sum marised in Tables 2 and 3, ir is clear rhar managing pressures to lower levels does yield significa nt savings in the for m of reduced burst rares and thereby improved servi ce levels to customers and water loss reductions from pipe failures. The tru e impacts on reduced consumption, network capacity, fire services, pipe leakage reduction and increased pi pe asset expected life span were not quantified ch rough these trials.

Kew Pressure Management Trial T he Kew P ressure Management T rial was a study specifically designed to collect and analyse data on the effects of pressure management and included a contro l area for baseline referencing. T he data from the ocher trial areas tended to be collected and analysed after an operational change had been made fo r other purposes, ie improved pu mping efficiencies, and was nor considered a completely 'clean' data set. An updated analysis of rhe burst data fo r a period of 22 months befo re and after pressure reduction in the Kew trial area produced results as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

Figure 5 shows char the ratio of bursts due to soil movement was similar for both the co ntrol and pressure reduced zo ne (PRV zone) for the 22 months before and after rhe implemenracion dare.

However, Figure 6 shows chat there was a 58% reduction in pressure related bursts for the Kew PRV Zone whilst over che same period there was a 38% increase in the co ntrol zone.

l - - -~ - --

~ - - - - - - -.j___ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ r-;; 0 "7 Kew =,; PA "V ';, a,:: ,no 7 --i • Kew Cort rol Z.one

40-1----- ---l

30 -1-------1

20 -1-------1

101- - --1

Dec 2000

22 Months Bek>re

22 Months Afl er

Figure 5. Soil Movement Related Bursts (Broken Backs) / lOOkm pa .

• Kew PAV Zone • Kew Control Zone 120

100

Oe c 2000

22 Mon:hsBelore

22 M>nthsA.ller

Figure 6. Pressure Rela ted Bursts / 100km pa.

Developing a Pressure Management Strategy Based on the positive results from the in itial pressure management trials of Kew, Yallambie and Ringwood East (Dublin Road), Yarra Valley W ater has developed a Pressure Management Strategy which has the potential to provide the following benefits: • im proved customer service levels by reducing unpl anned interruptions; • enviro nmental water conservatio n benefits through reduced leakage and some savings in indi vidual consumption; and

• savings to Yarra Valley Water via reduced maintenance costs and renewal deferments.

The stra tegy provides for managing and operating our water supply assets within preferred pressure ranges to achieve che savings and benefi ts while continuing ro meet our customer service obligations under our customer charter.

Selection Criteria for Defining a Pressure Management Area The fo ll owing design criteria were developed fo r identi fying and designing che

Table 2. YVW Pressu re Management Tria l Param eters.

Zone Kew Control Kew PRY Ya llambie Dublin Rd

Start Dec-2000 Dec-2000 Apr-200 1 Feb-200 1

Properties 1,200 1,200 1,800 1,500

Length of Main (km)

Old P Ave (m)

New P Ave (m)

~p

20 15 25 19

105 105 119 89

105 75 75 64

0 25 44 25

water

(ml

JUNE 2004

63

creation of pressure management areas (PMA's) across Yarra Valley Water's water supply system:

1. T he PMA must have a size from 1,000 to 10 ,000 customers; 2. The PMA need s to exclude large clusters of fi re services or commercial customers; 3. The PMA must have rwo or more sources of supply; 4. The zone's pipe network must ensure that for a 1 in 20 year peak day, the peak hour pressure is greater than 20m across the zone; 5. For a 95 percentile demand day the peak hour min imum pressure should be greater than 30m; 6. Seek a maximum static press ure at any point across the zone of 60m and an average static pressure of 50m; 7. The PMA design must ensure network capacity across the zone is adequate to maintain supply with the failure of a critical element ( PRV or distrib u tion main); and

Figure 7. Map of Potential Pressure Management Areas.

Stage Two· Initial pressure and flow analysis and selection of areas for pressure management

8. The PRVs may be operated with time, flow and remote pressure modulation to achieve the above criteria and will be linked to YVW's SCADA system with real time monitoring.

These criteria have been met via the use of hydraulic modelling assessments of each potential PMA by our consultants Montgomery Watson Harza, utilising a four stage p rocess as ou tlined below.

The consultant undertook pressure and flow analysis for both the 95 percentile day demands and the 1 in 20 year peak summer day d emands for a 25-year design d emand horizon and reported on the following information: • Any supply deficiencies where the peak hour pressures were below 20m; • Where static pressures were greater than 60m; • Where any pipe headlosses were greater than 10m/1000m at peak hour demands;

Stage One · Review of Hydraulic Model & Data Provided The adequacy of the relevant water supply zone hydraulic model was reviewed and the consultant certified that the model was satisfactory for the purposes of designing the PMAs . Yarra Valley Water has been build ing and calib rati ng its 49 hydraulic models for its 106 water supply zones since 1996. The access to calibrated hydraulic models was essential to investigate and define areas suitable to be pressure managed and to scope out the relevant infrastructu re requirements to meet the above d esign criteria.

than 2 m/sec; • If the hiscorical fire service pressure and flow requirements are contravened and to provid e recommendations as co how co correct such deficiencies; and

A sensitivity analysis was undertaken co assess various demand sensitivities (low, medium & high) for the 2 5-year design horizon.

• If the Yarra Valley W ater's charter/contract was contravened, co provide recommendations on system improvemen ts.

Pressure management areas were selected u tilising the resulcs from the pressure and

Unplanned Customer Interruptions pa

Pre

Post

Pre

Post

Kew Control

18

25

977

645

331

Kew PRV Yallambie Dublin Rd

20 30 40

10

1005 1349 1010

224 519 565

781 830 445

64 JUNE 2004 water

5

A minimum of three functional d esign options for different water supply arrangements co supply the PMA was undertaken co identify the preferred functional design . The selected solution was based on the practical ity and least cost for establishing and maintaining the pressure management area co meet the above requirements.

Stage four - Sensitivity Analysis

Pressure Burst Rate/ 100km pa

25

Stage three · Functional Designs

• If there were any pipe velocities greater

Table 3. YVW Pressure Management Trial Resu lts.

Zone

flow analysis on a 95 percent ile day and the peak summer day over the 25-year design horizon co achieve the above 8 design criteria.

Reduction in Unplanned Interruptions pa

Potential Pressure Management Areas A coral of 64 Pressure Management Areas have been identified which cover 46 per cent ofYarra Valley Water's cuscomers and 34 per cent of the coral length of water mains or 38% of reticulation mains, as shown in Figure 7.

These PMAs will have an average reduction in pressure of 25m and this will reduce the average pressure across Yarra Valley Water's water supply system from 73 m co 63m.

The management of p ressures will be implemented over a period of 6 years and it is estimated that savings o f up to 3.0 G igalitres per year in reduced leakage will be achieved.

The first areas co be pressured managed during 2003/04 will be within the suburbs of Ashburron, East Malvern , Hawthorn, Ivanhoe, Kew and West Heidelberg. The co nstructio n and commissioning of these pressu re managed areas (PMAs) commenced after rhe completion of ou r customer consultatio n process. Figure 8 ill ustrates typical a facil ity including pilots moun ted in an above ground cabinet for improved OHS and maintenance benefits.

Consultation Process Yarra Valley Water is implementing a consulrarion process char covers rhe followi ng key stakeholder groups: • Key stakeholders including rhe Minister of Water, rhe releva nt Government Departments (DSE), the Ombudsman, rhe Fire Fighting Brigades (M FB and CFA), Fire Protection Association of Australia (FPM), Building Commission, Municipal Building Surveyors, Plu mbi ng Ind ustry Commission (PIC), Local Councils and other Melbourne Water Companies.

• General media releases with availability of Managing Director for a presentation.

• Internal communicatio n across rhe business fo r staff awareness. This included team brief article, questions and answers and facrs sheers, information on rhe internet and inrraner and briefin gs to rea m and divisional meetings.

• Communications co each pressure managed area on a case by case basis. T his includes advertising in rhe local press and letters sent co non domestic custo mers with follow up support ro resolve issues associated with custo mer's fi re and general services and service levels.

Economics of Implementing Pressure Management The key elements of rhe economic evaluation are che in itial capital cost of building pressure reducing stations, installing new boundary valves, expected replacement of old mai n to meter service pipes and remedial works co fire services. An allowance must also be made for ongoing maintenance of PRVs and loss of revenue, bur offsetting this are rhe savings from reduced burst rares, leakage and asset renewals.

The economics of the $32m strategy depend on rhe assumptions relating co the amount of benefits to be achieved, particularly relating co rhe reduction in pipe burst rares and the associated deferral of water main renewals. T he actual benefits of the strategy wi ll be established over rhe 6-year implementation period. Based on a number of assumed benefits rhe strategy is estimated to have a positive net present value ofberween $3.0m and $9.3m.

Figure 8. Standard PRV Station Design.

• ••• ••• • ' "-i ,1:-:.

Figure 9. Standard PRV Station Design.

Conclusion Yarra Valley Water has determined from three rrials char there are water conservation and custo mer service reliability benefits from reducing pressures of supply. Yarra Valley Water has developed a Pressure Management Strategy char it will implement over a 6-year period co reduce its overall average supply pressure from 73 m co 63m. T his strategy provides for establishing 64 pressure managed areas covering 46% of customers and 36% of reticulation water mains at a cost of $32m and a positive net present value of between $3.0 and $9.3m.

Acknowledgements Yarra Valley Water and the authors would like to rhank Mr Tim Waldron, Chief Execurive Officer of Wide Bay Water and Mr Alan Lambert, Member of the International Water Association W ater Losses T askforce, for their advice and assistance in the investigations and development of our Pressure Management Strategy.

Special thanks go to:

• Ray Beaton ofYarra Valley Water for his foresight in introducing rhe idea of pursuing pressure management across our supply system; • T im Moulton and Darryl Knox ofYarra Valley Water for their ti reless efforts in developing rhe strategy and managi ng the various modell ing consultancies; • Fiore Di Pietro and Milan Simic ofYarra Valley Water for developm ent of the conceptual design for a standard PRV station; and • Montgomery Warson Harza for rhe extensive hydraulic modell ing and fu nctional and derailed design work associated with rhe project.

The Authors Rod McCoy is Manager Network Operations, ph (03) 9872 2405, email: rmccoy@yvw.com. au; Simon Pearce Higgins is T eam Leader Growrh Planning, ph (03) 9872 1535, email: shiggins@yvw. com.au; Ian Filby is Water Specialist Network Operarions, ph (03) 9872 1666, email: ifilb y@yvw.com.au.

water

JUNE 2004 65

URBAN RAINWATER TANKS: COMMON SENSE UNDER THREAT M Collins-Roe, D Davies Abstract Rainwater ranks may become a threatened species b efore they even gain a foothold on the Australian urban environment if common sense does not prevail fo r issues such as encouragement to install them and advice on installation requirements.

Introduction Many councils and water agencies are now openly encouraging the use of rainwater tan ks. Development Control Plans are providing the rainwater rank as the prime water efficiency rool fo r sustainable urban development. The community has also been driven by issues such as water restrict ions, recen t bushfires and a growing environmental awareness to rake up rebates or investigate rainwater tanks.

Rebate schemes have had limited success and current legislation and codes can make installing a rainwater tank a co nfus ing and costly exercise. A lack of information for residents in urban areas on rainwater ranks, installation, suppliers and even plumbers with experience and understanding of rainwater tanks, discourages many from installing rainwater tanks and ensures rhar those that do, h ave found it frustrating.

Urban water cycle management is a systems approach recognising the relationship between rainfall, potable water supply, srormwarer and wastewater in an urban environment. The app roach also aims co maximise resource utilisation and mitigate impacts from the changes ro the natu ral water cycles as a resu lt of the urban environment.

volumes of scormwater discharged co creeks and streams in the catchment. This also reduces the velocity or energy of water en tering creeks and streams, which reduces downstream scour, sed imentation and riparian vegetation removal. In effect rainwater tanks reduce rhe freque ncy of high velocity and volume events in creeks and reduce peak flows.

Why We Need Rainwater Tanks

Water Conservation

Urban Stormwater

The eastern coastal strip of Australia receives a h igh annual rainfall and is also the most densely populated area with a high demand for water. In the years leading up to this paper a combination of lower than average rainfall and increased population has resulted in the enforcement o f water rest ri ctions by many water authorities over the summer period, which is also the peak water usage rime.

Urban areas increase the impervious su rfaces in a catchment, impairing the catchment's ability co absorb any rain; chis generates larger volum es of runoff.

Traditional stormwarer systems in urban areas have been focused on removi ng srormwarer efficiently ou t of the urban catchment to protect against flooding. T h is results in accelerated runoff and increased peak discharge, which has impacted on creeks and rivers in rhe followi ng ways: • Large amounts of sediment are released from creeks in response to increased ru noff from urban areas. T his can be in excess of 90% of the coca] sedi ment load fo r che catchment (Ormerod, 1998) • Deposition of sedi ment loads in

The practical pros and cons of domestic rainwater tanks. Buying a tank is easy. Installing it correctly is a minefield of conflicting regulations.

Rainwater ranks have been identified as a rool to help mitigate srormwacer impacts, conserve potable water and better utilise a wasted resource. Rainwater ran ks can help red uce srormwarer impacts by reducing th e volumes and the velocity of runoff from urban areas. When used in association with ocher water conservation techniques rainwater tanks will reduce the amount of water taken from water srorage dams, and in effect bank water for periods of low rainfall.

To be effective the rainwater rank needs to be connected to water uses in the home so char water from the rank is continually used and there is availab le space in the rank for ram wacer.

This is an edited version of a paper presented at Enviro 04.

66 JUNE 2004

water

downstream reaches can generate significant maintenance costs • Removal of m orphological featu res associated with a healthy creek and habitats • A disconnection of creeks from floodplains can occur due co incision • Downstream habitats are smothered as sediments are deposited, severely impacting on biod iversity • Contami nants are transported to downstream reaches and water bodies, including wetlands and beaches Rai nwater ranks have been shown to significa n tly reduce che number of runoff events from urban catchments inro the srormwater system (Coombes et al, 2000).

By retaining rainwater and detaining stormwarer, rainwater ran ks reduce the

Dam water levels were as low as 49% in Coffs Harbour during December 20 02, (North Coast Water,2003), 58% in Wollongong (Turk,2003), Sydney dam levels an average of 57% (Sydney Water,2003b) and 48% of coral on the Gold Coast in September 2003, (Warne-Smith ,2003).

Many water supply authorities curren tly have en forced some level of water restriction even before rhe summer period begins.

Many water supply catchments currently receive little rainfall wh ile urban areas on the coast receive significant rainfall. By utilising the roof area of the increasing urban area as a "catchment" to collect and then retain water fo r use, rep lacing mains supplied water ro each house, the demand on water in dams can be reduced and water can be left in the dams for periods of low rainfall.

Coo mbes et al (2000) demonstrated that using rainwater tanks co supply outdoor, hot water and toiler flushing demand in the Lower Hunter can d elay construction of new water su pply headworks infrastructure by up to 34 years and reduce annual regional water demand by up to 24,700 ML. Building new dams has impacts associated with flooding native forests, reduction of other river flows and the com munity costs.

Installing a rainwater tan k forms an evident link between water supply and water use for residents. W h ile water supplied from

a dam is out of sight and somewhat out of mind a rainwater tank is an on site reminder.

The potable water supplied to homes is created to drinking wacer sta ndards despite the face chat less chan 5% of domestic water is consumed for drinking (Savewater, 2003) .

Rainwater can be used as a supplementary water source fo r coilec flushing, laundry and garden watering.

Rainwater tanks utilised for outside uses together with toilet, hoc water and laundry uses can give significancly more benefit in reducing potable water supplied to hom es chan individual demand management strategies such as AAA showers or cap fi xtures.

Rainwate r tanks by themselves are not the only answer. However, when used in association with ocher demand management techniques such as water efficient fixtures and water sensitive urban design practices, a reduction in che ongoing average water demand is achievable. le is important to remember chat to be most effective a rainwater tank needs to be conn ected to water uses inside che home.

T his ensures chat water from the tank is

continually used, guaranceeing chat th ere is available space in che tank for rainwater so chat maxim um water saving and stormwacer benefi ts ca n be realised.

If used fo r garden watering, washing machines and to il ets ic has been shown chat rai nwater tanks ca n save anywhere benveen 35% to 78% of potable water supplies (Coombes eta/ 2000, Coombes eta/2001 , Essery 2002). Variations are experienced due to cl imatic cond itio ns including rainfall, roof area util ised, number of occupancs in the house and their water use behaviour.

What Has Been Done So Far? Development Control Plans (DCPs) Rainwater tanks have become mandatory for new residential developments as pare of their DCPs. This has been viewed as an accempc to remove che red cape for home owners.

Some NSW Councils such as Hastings, Grafton and Maclean have implemented or plan to implemenc a water efficiency points or index system for new developm ents.

Rainwater tanks are pare of a range of options and receive a high number of points towards the total.

State Environmental Planning Policy No 4 This is the Development Without Consent and Miscellaneous Complying Development SEPP which has been amended to allow installation of a rainwater tank up to I 0,000L in capacity without requiring development approval.

Rebates Rebates have been offered for rainwater tank installacion for new and ex isting homes. These rebates have offered an additional rebate if the rainwater tank is connected to internal household uses such as toilets and laundry. Sydney Wacer, Gosford C ity Cou ncil and Wyong Shire Cou nci l have all offered rebates typically of $150 for tanks 2,000 - 3,999L, $400 fo r ta nks 4,000 - 6,999L, $500 for tanks 7,000L and bigger and an additional $150 is avai lable if rainwater tanks are connected to internal household uses. Alternatively Byron Shire Counci l offers a saving of $63 a year off ics annual fi xed water fee for new and existing rainwater tanks. T he rebate schemes are designed to encourage people to install rainwater tanks where che most rainfall occurs, on che coast. Syd ney Water's rebate scheme has approved only 794 households and only 4.3% co nnected their tank to

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JUNE 2004 67

internal water uses (Sydney Water, 200 3a) resulting in a potentially small impact on water conservation and scormwacer benefits.

Plumbing Codes The hazard level placed on water from a rainwater tank and the interpretation of the plumbing codes by water supply authorities currencly have a bearing on the requirements that each have placed on rainwater tank installations. At present, dependi ng on your water supply authority, rainwater may be classified as a high hazard or a low hazard.

The need for a secure water supply means chat many people wane the ability co switch back to the mains water supply if their pump fa ils, electriciry fails or the rank needs co be cleaned. This requires what is defined in the plumbing guidelines as a cross connection or direct connection. D ue co the hazard racing of water from a rainwater rank some council and water au thorities require a testable back.flow p revention device co be installed when there is a cross connection.

These testable backfl ow p revention devices cost app rox $300 plus firring, with an annual testing fee of an estimated $1 00, and are the responsibili ty of the house owner.

Some NSW and V ictorian water agencies are adopting a flexible approach and interpretation of plumbing requirements chat suit the individual household requirements and adequate degree of protection to the potable water supply system. T he provision for either cop filling of the rainwater tank for backup supply, or an indirect connection by way of a manual 3-way ball valve or approved automated control device, could negate the requirement for the testable back.flow device considering the low hazard rating of rainwater.

Reality of Installing a Rainwater Tank Many rebate schemes do not include any specialist advice beyond Fact Sheets. Many people are installing rainwater tanks for the first rime and even plumbers in some areas have not had experience installing rainwater tanks and are not fami liar with the p roblems and guidelines associated with tank installation. This results in the incorrect installation of tanks, problems with pressure from the tank, installation not meeting guidelines and over charging for installations (plumbers figu re it out as they go).

There is no method for residents co gee specific information about che litcle problems and changes chat need co be made co household water appliances when using water from a rainwater tank supplied by a

68 JUNE 2004 water

pump rather than mains water. For example, removal of h igh pressure seals from washing mach ines and toilets or opening the tap which supplies water ro the toilet cistern further. W hile some residents may be aware of thi ngs like pressu re seals, many would not.

The up front or ongoing maintenance costs for any householder are very important in their satisfaction with the rainwater tank installation. Additional costs for resrable devices or other extra plumbing requirements negate any water use savings the householder may make, extending the pay-back period for a rainwater rank beyond the 30 years (Grant & Hallmann, 2003) .

Retro fitting a rainwater tank roan existing house and connecting only selected water uses is also shown co be more expensive than connecting all water uses in the house co the rainwater tank.

Anecdotal evidence from the Sydney Water Rebate Scheme suggests chat people are using their rainwater tanks co score water instead of using ir to replace mains water usage (SMH, 2003). As a result there is no water conservation or scormwacer benefit from chis scenario as rainwater is nor replacing mains water usage and the rainwater tank is fu ll when it rains, which means the tan k will overflow immediately and simulate normal runoff from a residential house.

High demand for rainwater tanks has meant chat they are hard co source and supply in most urban areas and it can be upwards of a 2 month wait until tanks can be delivered, and prices have also increased.

Common Sense Solutions Rebate schemes and requirements for rainwater tanks in Council Development Control Plans need co be accompanied by information or even trained plumbers co assess a residential block and give residents information on tanks, plumbing, gutter options and changes they may need to make to household ap pliances. Whether this is a service provided by Council or water supply

The pleas expressed in Michele's paper have already elicited responses: â&#x20AC;˘ Rodney Wade of Rainwater Harvesting has published a complete handbook. â&#x20AC;˘ Frank Smith of RainSaver Gutters runs workshops for both architects and plumbers â&#x20AC;˘ Gary McDonald of Green Plumbers is caking seeps to include these matters in his training packages.

Some of these will be reviewed in a future issue. Ed.

authorities for a fee, or an information pack which covers both existing urban and green fi eld developments this information needs co be provided .

Another important issue is training and education of "city" plumbers. Many plumbers have not had any experience i nscalling rainwater ranks and are not altogether familiar with the relevant guidelines governing their installation or the characteristic problems and issues associated with rainwater tank systems. A short trai ning course offered co plumbers, which allows chem co be listed as a "Rai nwater Tank Plu mber" similar to the "Green Plumber" accreditation system once they have completed the training workshop would not only aid plumbers but assu re customers that they are getting sound advice, have ranks that are connected according ro the guidelines and any typical problems can be avoided during installation.

Councils and water authorities need co offer a yard and plumbing assessment and information service to residents interested in installing rainwater tanks. The service should involve a sire inspection of the resident's premises and discussions co establish practical tank size, location, water uses, costs and plumbing/guttering requirements. T his service should also p rovide residents with information on the maintenance of their rainwater tank and roof catchment and how to use the tank co gee the best water efficiency and environmental benefits. Follow up ad vice is also important in terms of helping residents iron our any initial problems that they may have and adjustments that may need co be made co household appliances and fixtures co make their rainwater tank supply system work efficiently.

The above mentioned assessment and information service could form part of a rebate scheme. A small fee for the service could be charged wh ich can be redeemed if a rainwater tank is installed on cop of the standard rebate. This would mean that residents are better informed and educated about their rainwater tank and how co use it.

Clarification of AS3500 hazard racing for water from a rainwater rank needs co take place. The racing should be refl ective of the true hazard of rainwater and be raced as a low hazard, (which may have been the intention of che inclusion of "premises with rainwater tanks" in the hazard rating cable in AS3500) . A low hazard racing would mean char a cross connection do es not require a testable device, resulting in a simple con nection system and lower connection and ongoing costs for residents.

10

Steps to Rain Harvesting Sustainable Water

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Ensure that the catchment surface is approved for potable water collection: The following are the most popular roofing materials in the order of preference: Cotorbond® Steel Sheet , Zincatume® Steel Sheet, Glazed Tiles, welt fired, Concrete/cement tiles, Clay Tiles & Composite Tiles. Some of the tile types mentioned are occasionally made specifically for potable water collection. If in doubt, talk to the manufacturer, not the installer of the roof, and ask for a certificate of classification for the roofing material. All pipes and fittings used within the system must also be approved for potable water collection.

Fit roof gutters to the appropriate Standards with the regulation fall to the outlets: For Australia - ASI NZS3500.3.2:1998 AS/NZS2179.1:1994

Building Code of Australia: Clause 3.5.2.4 Installation of gutters. (a) Gutters must be installed with a fall of no less than (i) 1:500 for eaves gutters unless fixed to metal fascias (ii) 1:100 for box gutters.

Gutters that pond water create a potential mosquito breeding habitat and can be an incubator for bacteria.

Fit a fire proof leaf and debris diversion system to the roof and gutter, that is approved for potable water: Ensure that the screening material ~ Fire Proof, not too fine and does not create a shade house for spiders, allows maximum sunlight into the roof gutter system, and is fitted in accordance with the International Plumbing Code and complies with the following Standards; AS/NZS1530.3 (lgnitability of zero on the scale 0-20) AS1397, AS2179, AS2179, AS2423 1991 .

Fit Gutter Outlets on the underside of the roof gutter to minimise sludge build up: Gutter outlets fitted from inside the roof gutter create up to a 4mm lip at the water outlet point. The build up created by this style of fixing guarantees that the gutter will hold a range of bacteria, heavy metals and pollutants. By fixing gutter outlets on the underside of the gutter there is no obstruction to the flow and the roof gutters drain out and dry out. "Dry" gutters last longer. "Dry" gutters eliminate mosquito breeding habitats.

Fit Rain Heads to Downpipes: The type of rain head that is required depends on the type of system.

Multiple screen rainheads are best. "Wet" systems require rainheads to be fitted with screens that are mosquito proof. In Australia the screens must not exceed 1mm apertures. Rainheads that screen the larger material onto the ground are better than "junk basket" types.

Vector Proofing "Wet" Systems: Fit the entry point of the roof gutter downpipes with rainheads that have vector proof screens. Fit Dual Seal Vector Proof Flap Valves to the end of the pipe system to the storage tank, and to the overflow from, the storage tank. Flap Valves should be vented so as to allow air to circulate. The best type of flap valve is one that has a double seal, is self cleaning, and has a flap that cannot be over rotated and left open .

Vented flap valves will allow a flow of air/oxygen over the surface of the water thus improving its aerobic content and prevents a vacuum when large quantities of water are quickly drawn off from the tank.

Fit an Appropriate Sized First Flush Water Diverter: This is the most important single factor in achieving good quality water.

Assessment of the correct volume to divert is critical. The volume and the type of downpipe system will determine the type, and volume of the diverter. For best results for a · w et" system, the volume held in the pipes should be added to the roof diversion quantity.

Fit Vector Proof Screens to all pipes that hold water and to pipes and openings that have access to water: Mosquitoes spread diseases at an alarming rate and are known to be the world's most prolific vector.

Mosquitoes breed in roof gutters that hold debris and pond water. There is enough condensation off a metal roof at night to sustain a mosquito breeding cycle during dry periods. Vent stacks without vector proof screens are an open invitation for mosquitoes. It is no longer an acceptable option, as suggested by some government departments, to put kerosene on top of the water in the holding tank as a preventative measure.

Draw Water from above the Anaerobic Zone in the tank: The best quality water in the tank is in the uppermost level of the aerobic zone. The closer the draw off point is to the top of the tank the better the quality of water. The best system has two outtake points. One at the bottom of the tank for non-potable use and one 1/3 the way up the tank for the potable water uses. Tank overflows that take the water from the anaerobic zone in the bottom of the tank are better than those that take the aerobic water from the surface. Overflow systems that vacuum out the sludge, from the vicinity of the outtake point at the bottom of the storage tank, are best.

Maintenance: This is one of the most important factors when it comes to water quality. The system should be serviced regularly as one would service an expensive car. With a rain harvesting system it is possible to have water as good as you make it for yourself or as bad as nature will make it, if the system is neglected. A car is registered and a tank should be too, so that Health Departments are aware of the source of water consumed within a community. Non-regulation results in non-compliance. Non-compliance is associated with health risks.

All adults should be responsible for what they and their children ingest.

1"

Conclusion The environmental benefits of rainwater tanks at maximising resource utilisation and m itigating urban stormwater impacts can be clearly d emonstrated, making them an important part of sustainable urban development.

Clarifying plumbing requirements, providing an information service and training urban p lumbers in the local issues and the installation requirements of rainwater tanks, wi ll go a long way to help integrate the rainwater tank into the urban environment.

It is only when residents are given adequate information about how to install a rainwater tank, the process fo r installation has been established both with residents and plumbers and the legislation and codes are standardised, that the rainwater tank will successfully migrate into a significant proportion of backyards across our urban neighbourhoods.

Acknowledgements We thank Hastings Council staff for their valuable input and discussion into the development of a co mmon sense approach to plum bi ng requirements and Development Control Plan issues.

The Authors Michelle Collins-Roe is an Environmental Scientist and David Davies is a Senior Project Engineer at Hunter Water Australia, email: michelle.collinsroe@ hwa.com.au, telepho ne (02) 4979 9709.

References AS/NZ 3500 Coombes, P. J., Kuczera, G. A., Argue, J. R., and Kalma, J. D. (2000) . Costing of water cycle infrastructure savings arising from Water Sensitive U rban Design source control measures. 2nd International Conference on D ecision Making in Urban and Civil Engineering, OMinUCE, Lyon, France, Nov. 2000.

Coombes, Frost and Kuczera (200 I ) "Impact of Rainwater Tank and On Site Detention Options on Stormwater Management in the Upper Parramatta River Catchment"Upper Parramatta River Catchment Trust August 200 l.

Gu idelines Fo r Plumbing Associated with Rainwater Tanks in Urban Areas, C ircular P&D No. 18, Committee on Uniformity of Plumbing and Drainage Regulations NSW (CUPDC).

Essery, C (2002) General Manager Town Water Treatment and Recycling, Departmen t of Land and Water Conservation Presentation "Water Conservation, Harvesting and Supply far NSW Wa ter Authorities. " Grant and Hallmann (2003) Urban Domestic

Water Tanks: Life Cycle Assessment. Wate1; Journal ofthe Australian Water Association, 30 (5) August 2003, pp 36-41.

NSW H ealcl1 Department. Policy on rainwater tanks. Available from: <http://www.health.nsw.gov.aui> North Coast Water (2003) Whizzy's Water Watch. Available from: <http://www.ncwater. nsw.gov.au/whizzy/graph_karangi_levels.htm> Ormerod, L.M . (1998), 'Estimating sedimentation rates and sottrces in a partially urbanised catchment using caesium-137; Hydrological Processes, 12, 1009-1029.

Save Water (2003) H ow can I Conserve?.

Avai lable from: <htt p://www.savewater.com.au> Stephanie Peacling (2003) Water tank scheme in danger of trickling out, Sydney Morning H erald, 21 May 2003.

Sydney Water Corporation (2003a) ESD indicators and Environment Plan Report Sydney Water Corporation (20036) Media Release, 14 May 2003. Available from: d1 ttp://www.sydneywater.eom.au/html/news media/media_view.cfm?ID= 178> Turk, L. (12 September 2003) Rescue this dam from drought, The Illawarra Mercury.

Available from : d1ttp://www. illawarramercwy.com .au/atticles/2003/09/ 12/ I 063268540723.html?from=storyrhs> Warne-Smith, D. (12 Sept 2003) Whole nation set for water ban, The Australian, 12 September 2003. Avai lable from: <http://theaustral ian.news.com .au/ p ri n tpage/ 0,5942,7237918,00.hnnl>

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water trading

REGULATING SPECULATION IN WATER ENTITLEMENTS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA H Kurz Abstract The paper discusses legislative and policy approaches chat have been adopted in Western Australia to p revent speculation in cradeable water enticlements.

Introduction An im portant element of the 1994 COAG reform framework for water was the inst itution of tradi ng in water entitlements.

COAG again recognised the role of water trading when ic agreed the National Water Initiative (NWI) in August 20 03. A key objective of the NWI is to achieve an efficient water market structure and expand markers to rheir wid est practical geographical scope, enabling increased returns from water use.

The development and expansion of trading markers has lead to community concern chat "water barons" will enter water markers p urely for speculative purposes and manipulate chose markets to the detriment of p roductive users. In announcing COAG's agreement to the NWI on 29 August 20 03, Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson recognised chat as

water enticlement, provided the approval of the Department of Environment (DOE) (previo usly Water and Rivers Commission} is obtained. The public consultation period lead ing up to che 200 1 amendments revealed widespread commu nity and industry concern over the potential fo r speculation (Banyard and Kwaymulli na.

2000). As a result, the amend men ts to the RIWI Act included a number o f provisions aimed at preventing speculation. In addition, the policy of the DOE since trading was introduced has been to entirely prevent any form of speculation. T he various legislative and policy app roaches to controlling speculation are discussed further below.

Restrictions on Who Can Hold a Licence In some jurisdictio ns, water entitlements are being completely separated fro m land.

For example, und er the licensing provisio ns of the New So uth Wales Water Management Act 2000 (expected to come in to force during 2004) the inherent right to the water (known as an access licence) is separated from ri de to the property on

The regulations for water trading in W.A. have been drafted to ensure that 'water barons' cannot buy and sell water licences like stocks and shares. But do they meet the aims of true competition set by COAGf trading markets continue to expand, it will be necessary to develop controls to prevent speculatio n (Anderson, 2003) .

Controlling Speculation in Entitlements in Western Australia I n Western Australia, water resource management is governed by the Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 (RIWI Ace) In January 2001, amendments to the RIWI Act enabled licence holders to trade their This is an edited version of a paper presented at Enviro 04.

72 JUNE 2004

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which the water is used. T he Ace provides for water use and works app rovals, which remain tied to the land and are held by the owner or occupier of the land. Access licences, however, can be held by any person or corporation, including chose who do not own land (H amscead, 2003) .

I n contrast co New South Wales, water enticlements in Western Australia have not been "unbundled" to separate the inherent entitlement to the water and che use of the water. Licences may contain conditions relating to che caking, use and d isposal of water and the environmental impacts of che use of the water (Gard ner, 20 03).

Accord ingly, water licences u nder che RIWI Ace are still linked co land co a co nsiderable extent, which inevitably places a restriction on who may hold a licence. In order co be eligible to hold a licence under the RIWI Ace, a perso n muse be the owner or occupier of che land the which the licence relates or, if the person is not che owner of occu pier o f che land, che person muse satisfy DOE char chey have physical and legal access to the land co wh ich the licence relates The discretion o f DOE under the RIWI Ace to grant or refuse a licence is a broad one and DOE is clearly empowered to refu se co grant a licence on the grounds chat, in che opin ion of DOE, the ap plicant does not intend co use the water for productive activity. In any case, DOE has specific power to refuse to grant a licence if D OE is not satisfi ed chat che perso n has che resources, includ ing che fi nancial resources, to carry o ut che activities to which the licence relates. An applicant is required to make a declaratio n to chis effect and provide a proposed timetable for the development for which the water licence is required.

Fu rther, a condition is included in licences which specifies che time within wh ich che holder needs to scare using the water and DOE will monitor compliance with chis condition. Licence holders who are not using their licensed allocation may need to justify why they should not use their licence. This "use it or lose it app roach" is based on a California model, whereby che licence is a probationary righ t u ntil the holder begins to use the water (NCC, 2001).

Restrictions on What Can be Traded As is the case in most jurisdictio ns, in Western Australia the trade o f a water licence can not occur unless chat trade is approved by DOE. The DOE has broad discretion co grant or refuse the trade and is clearly empowered co refuse the trad e o n the basis chat the transfer is for che pu rposes o f speculation.

water trading DO E's policy on cradeable water entitlements is chat they are intended as a business cool chat provides increased flexibility ro legitimate water users, incl uding allowing new businesses ro establish in fully allocated areas (Water and Rivers Commission, 2001). Accordingly, licensed enciclemencs chat have not been used are non-rradeable and will be recouped and re-allocated by the DOE. T his differs from other Australian states, where trading in "sleeper" allocations has been permitted (Banyard, 2002).

A question chat arises is how DOE will determine whether a particular allocation is dormant. The trading policy states chat where the licensee is able ro clearly establish (ro DO E's sacisfaccion) that genuine extenuating circumsta nces (rather than speculation) have resulted in all or a signifi cant pan of the licensed enricl emenr nor bei ng used, rhe unused component of the entitlement may be traded. T he policy scares that significa nt in vestment in an irrigarion/induscrial project would normally be required ro establish chat the li cence was nor intended for speculation. T his determination is at che discretion of rhe DOE.

A distinction needs ro be made between allocations char are not used because they are acquired purely for speculatio n and allocations chat are not used because of efficiency gains adopted by the licensee.

The policy of DOE is ro allow allocations nor used because of gai ns in efficiency ro be traded. In co mparison, ro dormant allocations, the DOE will nor reco up these unused allocations.

Recouping of Entitlements Under rhe RIWI Ace, DOE has a discretion ro amend a licence if, in rhe opinion of DOE, the quantity of water chat may be taken under the licence has consistently not been taken. In November 2003, DOE released Statewide Policy Number 11 - Management of Unused Water Enticlements. The approach of rhe DO E is co co mpletely prevent speculation in water entirlemencs. Accordingly, the unused enticlemenrs policy shows a clear "use it or lose ir" approach and scares chat che retention of unused enriclemencs should be minim ised (Water and Rivers Commission, 2003).

¡or more information and a local stockist contact Davey on 1300 367 866

Differential Management Approach

C 1 Areas - where licensed entitlements are less than 30% o f the approved allocation limit In C l areas, WRC will not actively pursue unused enciclemenrs. W here an application is made ro renew, transfer, or amend a licence and ic is known chat che requested water enciclemenc is not being fully utilised, the new licence will only be issued for a term of 5 years. Further, rhe new licence wi ll include a condition char the licensee complete the development for which the water is required withi n che term of the licence (Water and Rivers Commiss ion, 2003).

C2 Areas - where licensed entitlements are between 30% and 70% of the approved allocation limit In C2 areas, rhe approach will be sim ilar ro in C l areas. H owever, where a new 5 year licence is issued and water continues ro nor be full y milised, rhe licensee will have ro establish extenuating circumstances ro have that licence renewed for rhe fu ll entitlement (Water and Rivers Commission, 2003)

water trading C3 and C4 a reas - whe re licensed entitlements a re greate r than 70% of the approved allocation limit In areas that are allocated at greater than 70% (C3 and C4 areas), DOE wi ll actively seek our unused entitlements. Where an u nused entitlement is identified, DOE will write to the licence holder and request that the licensee establish extenuating circumstances as to why the entirlement has not been used (Water and Rivers Commission, 2003).

Where a licensee is able to establish extenuating circumstances, DOE wi ll grant a new licence for a 2 year term for rhe full allocation. The licensee wou ld be expected, however, to fu lly utilise the water during char 2 year term. In areas that are fully allocated or over allocated (C4 areas), the licensee would be advised that if the full water entitlement is not utilised within the 2 year term, it would be highly unlikely that the licence will be renewed for rhe full allocation (Water and Rivers Commission, 2003) .

If the licensee were nor able to establish extenuating circu mstances, that unused part of the allocation wou ld be recouped by rhe DOE. In areas that are allocated greater than 70% but are not at full allocation (C3 areas), rhe u n used entirlement is more likely to be recouped at the time of an application for renewal or transfer, rather than during the term of the licence. In fu lly or over allocated areas (C4 areas), however, the unused entitlement could be recouped during the term(Water and Rivers Commission 20 03).

Recouping entitlements acquired through trading In areas that are fully allocated and a trading environment has been established, DOE has stated an intention not co recoup entitlements that were acquired through trading. In exceptional circumstances.

H owever, DOE may recoup entitlements acquired through trade. These exceptional circumstances are stated to be where ic is n ecessary to restrict development, anticompetitive b eh aviour of speculative purposes.

Extenuating circumstances The u n used enciclemencs policy scares chat extenuating circumstances would be for personal or healch reasons, or reasons beyond the control of che licensee such as fluctuation and sudden market changes. If a licensee paid a premium for the licensed enriclement when the licensee purchased the property to which the licence relates, this could also be considered an extenuating circumstance (Water and River Commission, 20 03).

74 JUNE 2004

water

By-Laws Can Prohibit Trade The RIWI Ace makes provision for the M inister, in consulcarion with che WRC and the community, to make by-laws chat are applicable to a particular locality. Bylaws may specify where trades are or are not possible and what conditions (in addition to che chose in RIWI Ace and DOE's trading policy) need to be met for a trade to occur. Accordingly, these by-laws have che potential to control speculation as they may prohibit or restrict trade to certain areas.

Achievement of COAG Obligations The regulatory controls on speculation in Western Australia can be summarised as follows: • legislative restrictions on wh o is eligible to hold a licence; • restrictions on what can be traded, via the DOE policy to refuse trade in "sleeper" allocations; • express legislative power, coupled with policy statements, in relation to recouping unused encirlements; and • provision for by-laws chat may prohibit trade.

In its 2003 Assessment, che National Competition Council noted chat such regulation has the potential to reduce the security in entitlem ents and constrain the movement of water to ics highest value use (National Competition Council, 2003) This is discussed in more derail below.

Restriction on who may hold licences I n Western Australia only people who have access to the land, and have che finan cial resources to undertake the activities, to which the licence relates, are able to obtain a licence to rake water. It is noted char the Victoria government has also foreshadowed restrictio ns on who may hold water entitlements, for rhe pu rposes of p reventing speculation . The Green Paper published by che Deparcinent of Sustainability and Environment proposes that water holdings by a non- irrigator will be limited to 5% on a regulated system (Department of Sustainability and Environment, 2003). As discussed above, chis approach co ntrasts to ocher jurisdictions (such as New South Wales) where access licences are being completely separated from land title.

U nder che RIWI Ace, a perso n can on ly transfer their licence to a person who hold s, or is eligible to hold, a licence of the same kind. Restrictions on who can hold and trade water licences may impact on the entry and activities of agents, brokers and ocher potential participants in the water trading marker, who will not necessarily have access to land or intend to undertake

development (National Competition Council, 2003). Such participants play an important role in faci litating trade and help to provide depth to markers (High Level Steering Committee, 2001).

The increasing concern over che protection of fi nancial institu tions who cake security over water entirlemencs has lead to calls for similar protections to chose chat exist in relation to land, for example che ability to be able to cake possession of a water en cirlement in th e case of default (Carroll, 2003) . Restrictions on who can hold licences could, however, limi t che ability of finan cial inscicucions to obtain ownership of encirlements in cases of d efault.

There are provisions in che RIWI Ace which allow by-laws to be made to allow a person ocher than the owner, occupier or chose who have access to che land to hold a licence. Ar the rime of writing, however, no such by-laws have been made.

The NCC has scared that for the 2004 Assessment, Western Australia will be expected co sh ow evidence char arrangements have been put in place co ensure chat rest rictions on who can hold a water licence do not unjustifiably co nstrain entry and act ivities of agents, brokers and ocher potential participants in the water trad ing market, or che ability of finan cial insricucions to obtain ownership of encirlements in che event of defaulc (National Competition Council, 2003).

Restrictions on what can be traded le is recognised chat in most jurisdictions, regulatory approval is required prior to permanen cly trading a water enticlement (see fo r example, Water Management Ace 2000 (NSW) Pare 2 D ivision 4 and Water Resources Ace 1997 (SA) Pare 5 Division 3).

Western Australia differs from ocher jurisdictions, in that it has issued a Statewide policy ch at unused enciclemenrs which have been acquired for speculative purposes alone will not be allowed co be traded . The position in Western Australia is in contrast co New Sou th Wales, where there is no general policy to preven t unused or "sleeper allocations" from bei ng traded (Hamscead, 2003a).

Under the WA policy, the decision as co whether a particular allocation has been acquired for speculative purposes, and therefore whether ic is cradeable, is at che complete d iscretion of che DOE. This policy could lead co uncertainty amongst licence holders and ultimacely reduce the depth and efficiency of markers.

water trading Recouping entitlements

T he DOE's unused entidement policy indicates char DOE will not allow unused enciclemencs to be traded and chat it intends to actively reco up unused entidements in some areas. In some circumstances, chis discretion may be exercised during the term of the licence.

Nocwichscanding the procedural rights afforded to licence holders (such as the right to be notified and make submissions) DOE's policy in relation ro unused entidements provides significant scope for rhe resource securiry of licence holders to be affected, particularly given char there is no provision for compensation when licences are recouped in th ese circumstances. The National Competition Council has noted chat che policy also has rhe potential to enco urage over-use to protect ownership (National Competition Council, 2003). In che 2004 NCP Assessment, Western Australia will be required to report on the policy, particularly the co nsistency of the poli cy with COAG obligations (National Competition Council, 2003) By-laws that may prohibit trade

Western Australia has stared chat there are no local by-laws which prohibit trade as circumstances have not arisen wh ich require trade to be prohibited. In the 2004 Assessment, Western Australia will be required to report on any local by-laws introduced ro prohibit water trade and the rationale for these by-laws (National Competition Council, 2003).

Conclusion

Banyard R and Kwaymullina A, (2000), T radeable W ater Rights Implem entation in W estern Australia, Envi ronmental and Planning Law journal, Volume I 7 N o 4, pp3 I 5-325 Carroll, S, W ater Reform Access to Finance Issues, Address to the A-Z of Australian W ater Trading C onfe re nce, Sydney, September 2003 Department of Sustainability a nd Environment (Viccoria), (2003), Securing our Water Future, Green Paper, Victoria Government D epartment o f Sustainabili ty and Envi ro nment, East Melbo urne.

Gardner A, (2003), T he Legal Basis for the Em erging Value of Water Licences- Property Rights or T e nuo us Perm issions, Australia Property Law j ournal, Vol ume 10, ppl - 18.

H amstead M, (2003), New South Wales Legislation and Policy, Address to t he A-Z of Australia n W ater Trading Conference, Sydney, Septe mber 2003.

H amstead M , (2003a), Personal com mu nication with Mark H amstead , NSW D epartm ent of Infrastructure Planni ng a nd Natural Resources, D ecember 2003.

High Level Steering Group on Water, 200 1, A N at ional Approach co Water Trading Natio nal Competition C ouncil , (200 I ), Assessment of governments progress in i mplementing the National Competition Policy - West Australian Water Reform, June 200 1(available ar lmp://www.ncc.gov.au) Natio nal C ompetition Council, (2003) , Assessment ofgovernments progress in implementing the N ational Competition Policy - West Australian Water Refonn, D ecember 2003 (available ar http://www.ncc.gov.au) Water and Rivers Com mission (200 I ), Transferable (Tradeab!e) Water Entitlements for Western Australia, Statewide Policy N umber 6 .

Water and Rivers Commission , (2003), Management of Unused Licensed Water Entitlements, Statewide Policy N umber 11.

Young MD a nd McColl J, (2002), Robwt Sepamtion: A search for a generic framework to simplify registration and trading ofinterests in natural resources, CS IRO La nd a nd W ater, Septembe r 2002.

In comparison to ocher jurisdictions, Western Australi a has taken a stri ct approach to regulating rh e potential threat of speculation in relation to water enritlem enrs. In its 2003 Assessment, rhe National Co mpetition Council noted chat Western Australia's trading arrangements raise questions about rhe co nsistency with COAG trading obligations bur accepted that these arrangem ents did no r currently constrain trade to a significant effect. In 2004, th e National Competition Council will conclude on the appropriateness of constraints in W estern Australia's trading arrangements.

Currently, in many parts of Western Australia, water resources are nor yet ful l allocated and che demand for trading is rel atively low.

H owever, around one-thi rd of Western Australia's resource systems are at highly or fully allocated levels, which provides significant potential for trading to develop in these areas (Nation al Competition Council, 2003). As these markets develop, rhe impact of the regulatory regime on che efficiency of tradi ng markers will become more apparent.

Acknowledgements T he auchor gracefu lly acknowledges the assistance of rhe fo llowing people in the preparation of this paper: Mark Hamsread, Manager, Water Management Ace Produces, DIPNR, NSW; Jason Ricketts, Parmer, Freehills; and M ichael Woolston , Senior Consultant, ACIL Tasman.

The Author Helen Kurz is a solicitor in the Projects section at Freehills, practising in water law. Freehills, QV 1 Building, 250 Sr Geo rges T errace, Perch, WA 6000, email helen. kurz@freehills.co m.au

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References Anderson J, (The H on. Jo hn Anderson, D eputy Pri me Minster and M inister fo r T ranspo rt a nd Regio nal Services), (2003), M edia Release, "Natio nal Water Initiative, 29 A ugust 2003 .

Ba nya rd R, (2002), T ransferable W ater Property Rights, Add ress co Western Aust ralian D ivision of National Environmental Law Association, Perth, 15 May 2002.

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JUNE 2004 75

water trading

SELLING EXCESS YIELD FROM URBAN WATER SOURCES M Lukin, P Aldridge Proposed Scheme to Sell Excess Yield

Abstract AquaGen operates Baroon Pocket Dam which supplies source water for urban consumers o n Queensland's Sunshine Coast. The dam has a nominal safe yield of 38,000 ML/annum, with a current urban draft of only 22,000 ML/annum.

There is, therefore, considerable excess yield available within the dam.

Applications have been made to supply some of the excess to an irrigation scheme.

However, in drought conditions this could lead co restrictions on urban consumers.

This paper models rhe costs of such restrictions in various scenarios and concludes that the break even price for sale of the excess yield would be about $100/ M L ( l0c/kL) compared to the urban reticulated charge of 80 c/kL.

Background Much of the water char services urban development within Maroochy Shire and Caloundra City on Queensland's Sunshine Coast is sourced from Baroon Pocket Dam. This dam, located o n Obi Obi Creek (a tributary of the Mary River), has a 74 square kilometre catchment lying within the Blackall Ranges, in the Sunshine Coasr hinterland.

The dam is owned and operated by AquaGen, a joint Local Authority made up of the constituent Councils of Maroochy Shire and Caloundra City.

having only been commissioned in 1989, and the annual urban demand was still well shore of the calculated safe yield. This excess capacity was evident in the fact that the dam had never drawn down below 75% full, despite the catchment sufferi ng a drought from 1995 - I 998 which was, at the rime, as bad as any in I 0 0 years of record.

In 2002, AquaGen was approached by both farmers and by Sunwarer to release some of this excess yield. Sunwater is a corporarised Scare Government utility that supplies irrigation water to rural producers within the Mary Valley, downstream of dam. After some negotiation, a relatively small allocation of 3,000 ML, or 5% of the dam's storage, was sold to Sunwarer for a nominal fee of $45/ML and released during November and December 2002.

Rains in late February 2003 refilled the dam, effectively ending the drough t in the dam catchmen t.

Contracting to sell current excess urban water to irrigators involves a future risk, with consequent costs.

Modelling the 1¡isk estimates a break-even value.

Other dam attributes include: Storage Capacity

61,000 ML

Safe Yield

38,000 ML/annum

Current Urban Draft

22,000 ML/annum

Annual Average Rainfall 2,000 mm/annum In the lead up to the recent 2000 drought event, it was clear that Baroon Pocket Dam had co nsiderable excess capacity. The dam was relatively new, 76 JUNE 2004

water

The advent of this one-off sale sparked interest in whether or not some ongoing arrangement could be reached to sell excess yield for irrigation purposes until such time as it was eventually required by urban consumers. W hat was unclear was how much of the excess yield could safely be sold, and if so, what was a fair and reasonable price to charge for this water.

Ir is important co realise that although the dam has excess yield available, there is a risk and a potential cost incurred if chis yield is allocated elsewhere. The sale and release of water, even excess water, lowers levels within the dam and increases rhe risk of urban water restrictions in a subsequent dry year. These restrictions will result in a direct loss of income th rough the reduction char occurs in metered usage charges.

Metered charges for urban consumers vary between the two Local Authorities served by the dam, bur are about 80 cents/kL, or $800/ML. Once urban restrictions are imposed, every ML of water saved represents a loss of income.

Nore char in this instance, restrictio ns offer only a small saving in treatment and d istribution coses. T here is some reduction in chemicals used in the treatment process, and some mino r power savings, bur these savings coral only about $1 00/ML. Overall , the major coses associated with treatment are relatively fixed. The loss of income resulting from reduced consump tion was therefore estimated co be about $700/ML. In addition co the foregone income, there is also the di rect cost associated with the implementation of restrictions. This includes public advertisi ng, community education campaigns, demand reduction initiatives, operatio nal changes, enforcement, planning and project management, etc. Early in February 2003, water restrictions were introduced in Maroochy Shire, only to be rescinded a shore-rime lacer following heavy rain.

Nevertheless, approximately $65,0 00 in planning and implementation costs was incurred. On this basis, it is estimated char restrictio ns could cost up to $ 160,000 to implement througho ut the two constituent local au thority areas, with an additional ongoing cost of $40,000 per month during rhe period the restrictions are in place.

The overall cost to the constituent Councils from the imposition of restrictions is therefore the direct loss of income from metered charges, plus the implementation costs associated with restrictions.

water trading A significant aspect to note about restrictions is that, once imposed, they cannot be lifted until the drought threat has cleared. Although the trigger for imposing restrictions might be a dam level of say, 50%, it requires a substantial rise in level say to 75% - before restrictio ns can be lifted safely. As a result restrictions, once imposed, tend to remain in force until the drought abates. This can be months, or even years.

AquaGen's projected annual draft for the forthcom ing fi nancial year was estimated at 22,000 ML. If restrictions were to be imposed, the lost income - assuming a 20% reduction in metered consum ption - would be approximately $260,000/month. This lost income, plus the addition of implementation costs for restrictions, would amount to a total loss of approximately $3.6m over the course of a year.

The income resul ring from the sale of excess yield therefo re needs to be weighed against the potential loss of in co me and costs that arise from rhe possible increased risk of urban water restrictions.

Dam Modelling In order to gauge rhe in creased risk, coses and foregone income that might result from rhe release of excess yield, a model of dam levels was prepared and reseed based on acrnal inflow and level data recorded at rhe dam over a 12 year period from 1991 to 2003.

T he model made the followi ng assum pnons: I. Excess yield was sold in the potentially drier mo nths, July though to Jan uary, bur only if the preceding 12 month rainfall total was less than rh e 66 percentile. In ocher words, ir was assumed rural producers were interested in purchasing supply in two our of every three years.

2. AquaGen set a lower limit on dam level of 65% fo r the sale of water. No sales occur below chis level.

3. AquaGen set an upper limit on the annual amount sold such char rhe total extraction from the dam, i.e. AquaGen's urban draft plus sales of yield do nor exceed 35,000 ML. This is marginally less than rhe nom inal 38,000 ML/annum safe yield of che dam.

4. Restrictions are triggered when the dam level falls below 50% and cease when rhe dam level rises above 75%.

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-Dam Level with Sales and Restrict-

Figure 1. Dam Level Simulation 1991 - 2003 Assuming Annual Urban Draft of 22,000 ML/Y. rhe impact of both sales of excess yield and restrictions on the level within the dam over the course of the modelled period.

T he model sugges ts char during rhe early to mid-nineties, the sale of excess yield could have occurred without unduly drawing down the storage. However, sales leading into both the 95 - 98 and O1 - 03 drought events would have resulted in dam levels falling below 45% and 35% respectively. Ar these levels, restrictions would be triggered and urban demand red uced. The difference in levels created once restrictions come into force is also shown. T his difference represents rhe urban water sales fo rgone by AquaGen. Assuming an annual urban draft of 22,000 ML, the model results over the 12 year period indicate: Volume of Sales 78,800 ML 8,522 ML Volume of Restrictions Foregone Income $5.97 m $ 1.24111 Cost of Restrictions % of T ime in Restrictions 15. 1% From these results it is possible to conclude that rhe price/ML required from rhe sale of excess yield if AquaGen were to recover rhe coses and lose income (T otal $7.2l m) arising from restrictions during drought periods wou ld be about $9 1/ML. Ir is important to realise that chis breakeven cost is an average over rhe 12 years modelled. For seven of the twelve years, AquaGen would reap a considerable

income - over $900,000/annum. For two of the 12 years, no sales would occur because annual rainfall is likely to be sufficient to meet rhe needs of rural producers in the Mary Valley. For the other three years, dam levels would be too low to allow sales, and for two of these three years water restrictions would be in place. Over this nvo year period, rhe foregone income resulting from the reduced metered consumption would offset all the income generated during the seven years of sales.

The sa me calculation was done for proposed sales assum ing an increased annual urban draft by AquaGen of 25,000ML, and 30,000ML. A summary of the results is presented in Table I. Nore rhe apparent anomaly th at the breakeven cost for sales of excess yield appears to drop once Aq uaGen's own draft reaches 30,000ML/annum. This reflects the fact that when rhe urban draft reaches 30,000ML/annum, restrictions are required regardless of whether or nor sales have occurred. In these circumstances, the sale of excess yield is nor rhe cause of restrictions, however it does increase rhe rime during which restrictions are in force.

In broad terms, the model suggested that AquaGen would need to recoup about $100/ML in order to cover the potential cost associated with the increased risk of resm cnons.

Table 1. 12-Year Model Breakeven Costs for Excess Yield Sales .

Model Output Model results assuming an urban draft from the dam of 22,000 ML/year are plorred in Figure 1. This figure illustrates

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25,000 $120

30,000 $93

water

JUNE 2004 77

water trading The price of $ 100 /ML is based on a model constructed from only 12 years of available inflow and outflow dara from the dam. T h is period happens co include what were, in all likelihood, the two worse drough ts on record. Models of longer duration, 30 and 100 years were prepared co check what impact data with proportionally fewe r severe drought even cs might have on che break-even cost.

Modelling Based on Longer Periods of Climatic Data Two ocher models of30 years and 100 years duration were prepared based on scream flow data generated during prior modelling of Baroon Pocket Dam by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and M ines. The purpose of these models was co gauge how the proposed sales regime might p erform if longer-term climatic cond itions were assumed .

The models were run using the same range of urban drafts as used previously. The results, pl us chose of che 12-Year Model for comparison, are sec out in T able 2.

As evident in T able 2, modelling over che lo nger climatic periods results in a substantial reduction in rhe breakeven cost of excess yield sales. The reason is simply

Table 2. 12 , 30 and 100 year Model Breakeven Cost for Excess Yield Sales.

Annual Urban Draft by AquaGen (ML/ a) Model Period

12 30 100

22,000

25,000

$91

$120

$93

$40 $12

$52

$64

$17

$20

ch at, in comparison with the last 12 years, che longer 30 year and l 00 year models have proportionally fewer severe d rought events. Of rhe 10 worse drought events in che lase 100 years, che cwo worse have occurred within che 12 year model, and five have occurred within the 30 year model.

Conclusions

30,000

suppliers, chis will eventually lead co longer and more frequent water restrictions. T h e impositio n of restrictions can resul r in relatively large losses, in both forgone income and in direct implementation coses.

For Baroon Pocket Dam, the present breakeven cost of rh e avai lable excess yield depends very m uch on what assumptions are made about future climatic conditions.

If rhe relatively dry conditions experienced over rhe lase 10 - 15 years are taken as a guide fo r rhe shore co medium term future, rhe cost of reallocating excess yield could be as high as $1 0 0/ML.

Baroon Pocket D am has a nominated safe yield of 38,000 ML/annum. However, recent droughts mean char any formal reassessment of rhe catchment would probably conclude char che safe yield was marginally less, perhaps only 35,000 ML/annum. Even so, with a total urban demand of only 22,0 00 ML/annum, there would appear co b e plenty of excess water avai lable for allocation elsewhere.

Michael Lukin is a Principal Water

However, reallocating excess yield results in lower dam levels, and for urban water

En gin eer with JWP. Email m.lukin@jwp. com.au

The Authors Phil Aldridge is the Manager of AquaGen Water and Renewable Energy.

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Water Industry AHlancc

DESIGNER AND MANUFACTURER OF WATER DISINFECTION AND TREATMENT SYSTEMS ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE -A PROUD AUSTRALIAN PRODUCER

78 JUNE 2004

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LANDMARK SAFE DRINKING WATER LEGISLATION FOR VICTORIA B Labza Abstract Vicroria has developed fa r reaching, landmark legislation covering the management of drinking water quali ty in that Scare. T his paper will describe the main featur es, principles and objectives of chis ground-breaking legislarion, as well as providing information about the manner in which it was developed and the hurdles char were overcome along the way.

Introduction Access ro a reliable supply of good qual ity drinking water is a fundamental req uirement for communi ty health and well being. Regularory reform coupled with the provision of good quality drinking water can therefore be expected ro enhance the quality of life of any jurisdiction and overall business co mpetitiveness of any economy.

Meeting ch is expectati on involves ensuring the safety of drinking water from a public hea lth point of view, assuring the water's aesthetic quality and assuring char the community is informed of and has confidence in its water supply.

T he paradox of assessing drinking water quali ty is that substa nces that make the water unappealing are often in themselves harm less, whi lst the greatest health risk usually derives from micro-o rganisms or chemicals that are nor visible and have no taste.

changes to the manner in which the water supply in that city is managed. T he Longfo rd gas incident in Victoria demonstrated the importan ce of effective incident and emergency management procedures to address communi ty concerns when there is disruption to an essential utility service.

T he Victorian Audi tor-General and the then Regularor-General have borh highlighted inadequacies in rhe previous regulatory framewo rk, incl uding inco nsistencies in the qual ity of drinking water suppli ed arou nd Victo ria and different standards applying to th e metro politan and non-metropolitan secro rs.

T he report by the Prod ucrivi ty Comm ission also revealed that there is considerable scope to improve regulatory processes in Australia and in particular to draw on benefit-cost analysis to identify appropriate standards.

Internacional and national drinki ng water quali ty guidelines have also evolved over ri me, providing advice to practitioners on the levels of the characteristics, co mpounds and consrirnents found in water char can be regarded as consistent with good quality, as well as inco rporating concepts of duty of care and effective risk management.

Effective risk management methodologies are actively used in areas of th e food industry and have in recent years gained considerable application in che drinking water supply industry.

The new legislation involved four stages of consultation.

The result, whilst broadly consistent with most elements of the Australian Drinking \Vtiter Guidelines, will lay down some challenges for the water industry.

Sensitivity about water quality issues and reduced co nfidence in incident management were aptly demo nstrated by the 1998 contamination events in Sydney NSW and the Longford gas explosion in Victori a. In Sydney in 1998, lack of adequate information led to widespread community distress and outrage, resulting in a Commission oflnquiry and significa nt

This is an edited version of a paper presented at Enviro 04.

The drinking water quali ty regulatory fram ework for Victoria was prepared in the co ntext of these issues.

The Safe Drinking Water Regulatory Framework For Victoria The Safe Drinki ng Water regulatory framework was developed during the lace l 990's and early years of chis decade by the Victorian Depa rtm ent of Human Services, the main health agency, and rhe Victorian Department of Narnral Resources and

Environment (now the Department of Sustainability and Environment).

The objectives of the regulato ry framewo rk are ro: • protect public health in Vicro ria, in relation ro drinking water supplies; • create a consistent statewide regulatory framework fo r drinking water quality; • establish and implement co mp rehensive ri sk management strategies for drinking water quality that cover the overall delivery chain from the catchment ro consumer supplies; • give Victorians access to objective information about the quality of drinking water that they receive; • provide communities with the opporrn nity to establish local non-healrhrelared standards for drinking water qual ity; • ensure that proposed drinking water standards are subjected ro a rigorous benefit-cost analysis; and • provide clarity of roles of the various parries who may be involved in the management of incidents concerning drink ing water.

During chis process, consensus emerged char the best way of cackl ing the problem was to establish a regularory framework for drinking water for Viccoria that was developed through consultation and with carriage by rhe Minister for Health. T his regulacory fram ework would consist of an Act of Parliament in Viccoria with subordinate regulations, administered by an independent regulatory office withi n the Vicrorian Department of Human Services (OHS). A number of ocher models were examined against the objectives but were fou nd ro be inadequate in a number of key respects.

Consultation There were four co nsulrarion stages du ring rhe development of the regulatory framework.

The first stakeholder and public co nsultation stage rook place in September and Ocrober 2000. OHS and DNRE (now DSE) jointly released a public Consultation Paper and held open co mmunity workshops around Victoria. This involved a broad range of stakeholders from various

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regulations Government sectors, the water ind ustry and the general commu nity. The process elicited 44 written submissions, from water au thorities, regulatory agencies and interested members of the p ublic. Broad support was provided for the approach proposed. T he proposal was further developed after careful consid eration of the issues raised and detailed evaluation o f policy options.

The second round of consultation took place from November 2001 to April 200 2.

T h is round was targeted on the Victorian water industry, to establish specific benefits and cost impacts of the p roposal. The majority of submissions expressed support or strong support for the framework during ch is stage and identified signifi cant benefits arising from the framework. As a resul t, no changes to the policy position p reviously articulated were required, save for a few minor technical corrections.

The third stage was undertaken with Victorian Government agencies during 200 2 and early 2003. This stage was based on feedback received fro m the earlier consultation rounds and focussed on obtaini ng agreement on the cost impact and funding mechanisms for the regulatory office.

The fou rth stage is being undertaken during 200 4. Ir incorporates pu blic co nsultation on the draft content of the Safe D rin king Water Regulations and derails of the ap portionment process for the levy. At the time of writing of th is paper, this round of consultation is not complete, but is scheduled to be complete in time for implementation of all aspects of the legislation.

The Safe Drinking Water Act - An Overview The Safe Drinking Water Act was passed in 20 03 and will apply throughout Victoria from 1 J uly 20 04. T he Act requires water suppliers, as defined in the Act, to prepare, implement and audit risk management plans in relation to their supply of water, comply with standards fo r d rinking water quality, communicate effectively with all stakeholders and publicly d isclose relevant water quality information.

Water storage managers, also defined in the Act b ut essentially bulk water supply agencies, will be required to prepare, implement and aud it risk management plans in respect of the supply of water to a water supplier, communicate effectively with aJl stakeholders and also p ublicly d isclose relevant water quality information.

T he legislation does not apply to the supply of water for irrigatio n p urposes or to packaged d rinking water (e.g. bottled

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JUN E 2004

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DRINKING WATER INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN VICTORIA The Australian State of Victoria has established an institutional structure to manage urban water supplies from the catch ment to the consumer. In the metropolitan area of Melbourne this involves Melbourne Water and the three metropolitan water companies, Yarra Valley Water, City West Water and Sourh East Water. In the non-metropolitan sector, catchment management authorities, rural water au thorities and the regional urban water authorities all have importan t roles and responsibilities.

Catchment management authorities in Victoria have responsibilities fo r maintaining and improving river health and managing d rainage schemes, nutrient management and waterway catchment protection. Ru ral water authorities in Victoria are responsible for the supply of bulk water to some regional u rban water authorities as well as to industry and agriculture, usually transferred by rivers or channels. They operate a series of reservoirs and d istribution systems, to

water) but can apply to certain types of non-potable water su pplies.

The Act contains the principal obligations and refers to subordinate regulations covering a number of tech nical aspects of the legislation. These include, among other things, standards for drinking water quality, monitoring requirements, approval criteria for auditors and analysts, and the p rescribed elements of risk management plans fo r water suppliers and water storage managers in Victoria. At the time of preparation of th is paper, the regulations were in the process of development.

The new legislation will apply to the most significant water businesses in Victoria, namely the three Melbourne metropolitan water companies, the regional urban water authorities, Melbourne Water Corporation and, for the first time in Australia, Parks Victoria (national park and land management agency), the Victorian alpine resorrs management boards and rural water authorities (to the extent char these bodies are involved in the supply of drin king water). Auditors and laboratories char provide analytical services to water businesses in Victoria are also affected by the new legislation.

T he of risk clearly in risk

legislation is grounded on pri nciples management and best practice. I t complements the new developments management encapsulated in the

provide bulk water entitlements and allocations to meet the water requirements of their customers. Fifteen regional urban water authorities are responsible for the provision of urban water supply services including the quality of supply to urban communities within their areas of operation in Victoria. They operate reservoirs, water treatment plants, d istribution systems and reticulation systems to provide water supply and sewerage services to their customers. In add ition , six Alpine R esorts Management Boards manage the alpine resorts, such as Moun t Buller, whilst Parks Victoria manages national park areas, which can include the provision of d rinki ng water, such as Tidal River at W ilsons P ro mon tory. Victorian Government departments, statutory authorities, local government, and incorporated and unincorporated co-operatives provide supplies to a small number of remote towns, roadside amen ities, caravan parks and leisure resorts.

twelve point risk management framework in the most recent edition of the 'Australian D rinking Water Guidelines'.

T he legislation addresses concerns raised in the past by the Aud itor-General and the O ffi ce of the Regulator-General that within the previous Victorian water quality regulatory framewo rk, responsibilities fo r managing risks were unclear in a number of areas. T he legislation provides the required clarification, and also clarifies roles and responsibilities amongst stakeholders fo r the management of incidents of contamination of drin king water in Victoria.

The legislation complements the Victorian Food Act 1984, which con tains certain relevant offences and emergency management powers that apply to d rin king water in Victoria. In particular, it will contin ue to be an offence u nder the Food Act to sell unsafe drinking water.

The legislation also ensures that water suppliers in Victoria place d ue emphasis on inciden t and emergency preven tion and response capability and thereby complements management of inciden ts of terrorism in relation to water supply.

Key Aspects of the Legislation The structure of the legislation is best revealed by sequentially examining the co ntents of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

regulations Part I of rhe Act contains defi nitions and outlines the purpose and application of the act, namely to" .. . make provision fo r the supply of safe drinking water" in Victoria.

T he legislation also allows for rhe fo rmal identification and regulation of water that, although not intended for drinking, is supplied in a manner that may lead to it being confused with drinking water and inadven enrly consumed by rhe public. The legislation regards th is water as 'regulated water', which is also commonly known as non-d rinking water or non-potable water.

The legislation will nor apply to rhe supply of packaged water (e.g. bottled water) or water for irrigation or water held privately (e.g. rainwater ranks on rural properties) .

Part 2 of the Act obliges each water supplier to develop and implement drinking water risk management plans and systems to cover risks and hazards that may affect rhe quality of drinking water, from the catchment to the rap. Water storage managers will also be requ ired co have in place and implemen t risk ma nagement plans. These plans will be required to be independently aud ited.

Part 3 of the Ace obliges the water suppliers to supply drin king water chat meets a set of water quality standards, generally measured at or near the point at wh ich the drinking water is supplied to consumers. T he standards will cover key health-related criteria, such as microbiological and chem ical safety, as well as selected aesthetic criteria. In particular, standards for chemicals mainly foc us on residues or byproducts of chemicals added co drinking water for treatment or disi nfection purposes, with risk from chem icals such as chose arisi ng from catchment condi tions being principally managed through rhe catchment-to-tap risk management processes.

Part 3 also provides Aexibi licy for specific local water quality standa rds for selected aesthetic cri teria to be established th rough commun ity consultation, provided any risks to public health have been adequately addressed . Ini tially, however, no standards fo r such aesthetic cri teria are proposed. T he water supplier wi ll also be required to report co consumers on rhe quality of water suppl ied and disclose instances where rhe quality of water may, for whatever reason, be suspected of posi ng a risk to public healch .

Part 4 sets out the powers and fu nctions of the Secretary to the Department of H uman Services in relation to drinking water quality. In particular, ch is will incl ude powers to enter into undertakings with water suppliers to achieve specified requ irements and powers to request informat ion. Parr 4 establishes rhe mechanism fo r rhe exercise of these powers.

T he powers and fu nctions are (as sec our in section 27 of rhe Ace): a) to protect public healrh in relation to rhe supply of drinking water; and b) to moni tor and enforce compliance with chis Ace and rhe regulations; and c) to repo rt on the performance of water suppliers and water storage managers in relation to th e requirements imposed on chem under this Ace; and d) to investigate and report on any aspect of d rinking water quality in Victo ria; and e) to make recommendations to rhe Minister for Health on any matter relating to drinking water or regulated water; and f) co promote industry and public awareness and understanding of drinking water quality issues.

Part 4 also grants the Secretary the power to provide directions to a water supplier or a water storage manager if rhe secretary believes char drinking water may pose a risk to public

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Guidelines, Acts and Audits The latest revision ofthe Australian Drinking Water G11idelines (AD WG) (Draft June 2002) includes the addition ofa "FrameUJork for the Management ofDrinking Water Quality''. This framework represents a significant departure from the conventional "contaminant by contaminant" approach to drinking water regulation. The Framework promotes twelve elements for the management ofdrinking water quality. One ofthese is Evaluation and Audit.

Consistent with the approach of the AD WG, the Victorian Parliament in June 2003 passed the new Safe Drinking Water Act 2003 requiring water suppliers to prepare, implement and revieUJ risk management plans. There is also a req11irement that an approved external third party auditor audit these plans.

What constitutes a sensible a11dit? Most quality systems incorporate the need for audits. Many ofthese focus 011 the machinery ofthe system rather than the outcomes ofthe system. Ifthe paperUJork and documentation is in place, the audit outcome is generally satisfactory.

Many quality systems fail to achieve their full potential to bring about improvement because they become top heavy and focused on procedures and meeting audit requirements, rather than effecting change in the actual areas where the improvement wiLL come from . Often procedures and plans ar~ written to meet the needs ofthe audit b11t foil dismally because operational staffcannot understand them or access them easily.

In the worst situation operational staffhave systems oftheir own.

What then sho11ld be the intent ofa drinking water quality audit?

The audit should be seen as part ofa process that steadily brings about improvement in the quality ofwater received by the conmmer and in the consistency ofthat supply. The audit process also needs to recognise that drinking water quality management systems are at many different stages ofdevelopment across Australia and act to facilitate improvement in a manner appropriate to the degree ofdevelopment of the individual systems.

The water industry needs to en.sure the bureaucracy ofq11ality systems does not usurp the audit process but that the a11dits focus on activities at the "waterfront''. How are the critical activities ofday-to-day operation actually carried out? And, more importantly for the consistent delivery ofhigh quality water, how are the activities of incidents and emergencies actually managed in the field? Do they bear any relationship to the stated procedures? How can they be improved?

Since the audit should focus on those activities that operational staff are involved with on a daily basis, operators wi!L need to become part ofthis audit process.

The audit should be seen as a step toward facilitating what needs to be done rather than simply checking offpaperwork. In this way the a11dit process can help to ensure that water quality really is improved regardless ofwhere the individual water supplier starts this process and regardless ofwhat the official documents suggest happens.

Australia seems to be in a unique position to pioneer this approach. (e.g. see Health Stream, March 2004 Workshop report on the meetings held by the !WA in Bonn in February this year}. In supporting the Framework for the Management ofDrinking Water Quality, the Water Services Association ofAustralia (WSAA) is to commence work this year on a project to assist utilities identify gaps in their business system processes in implementing the ADWG. This work could well assist the audit process, but needs to ensure it addresses issues at the "waterfront".

Let's make an effort to get the audit element to actually facilitate real improvements in water quality.

Peter Mosse Ph.D May 2004

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JUNE 2004 81

regulations health . Authorised officers may enter water supply premises if the Secretary believes that drinking water may pose an immediate risk co public health.

T he legislation docs not contain monitoring or inspection powers since the water suppliers and water storage managers are required co self-monitor by reporting and co mplyi ng wich directions and providing specified in formation co che Secretary and the public. T he Dep arrment intends co monitor co mpliance wichi n a co-operative framework. If the water su ppliers and wacer storage managers fail co provide the relevant information, che Secretary may im pose an en forcement notice.

The legislation requires che D epartmenc co report annually co the M inister for H eal ch on che scacus of drinking water quality in Victoria. It also requires th e Minister co ensure char a copy of the report is laid before each house of che Victorian Parliament. The legislation also sets out the mechanism by which the cosc of regulating che wacer suppliers will be fu nded by che wacer supply industry in Victoria.

Part 5 of the Ace em powers the Governor in Council co make che necessary regulations. This pare also pro vides penalties fo r che provision of false and misleading information co the secretary or co che public.

Finally, Part 6 of che Act p roposes consequential amendments co existing legislation that clarifi es th e regulatory requirem ents placed on water suppliers.

In particular, ic repeals legislation ch ar provided a wacer authority in Victoria with immunity from liability for any action taken in connection wich che creacment of wacer in accordance with particular Aces.

Benefits of the Regulatory Framework T he benefits co the Victorian community of che proposed framework are provided ch rough the increasing use of risk assessment and management, improved ass urance and confidence in the delivery of good quality drinking water, improved emphasis on catchment co cap management and improved transparency.

T his is exp ected to result in a reduced freq uency of incidents of co ncaminacion of d ri nking water and severity of such incidencs, when chey do occur.

T he size of the benefits is subject to considerable uncertainty, given che infrequenc nature of incidencs of microbiological concam ination of water sup pl ies (for exam ple, rwo incidencs are

82 JUNE 2004

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known to have occurred in Victoria since 1987) and the long-term nacu re of health effects that m ay be associated with chemical con tamination. For chis reaso n, no specific net benefit estimate has been made.

The economic assessm encs d rew on data from a number of sign ificant recent drinking water concaminacion incidents, noting that: â&#x20AC;˘ T he 1998 contamin atio n incidenc in Sydney NSW is estim ated co have had a very significant cost, even though few specific adverse health impacts were observed. â&#x20AC;˘ The 200 0 contaminated drinking water inciden t at Walkerton (population 5 ,000), in Ontario Canada, in which seven people died and 2 ,300 became ill, incu rred total costs equivalent co A$182.9 m illion . â&#x20AC;˘ The Walkerton judicial inquiry second report made 93 recommendatio ns including a cacchmenc co cap risk management approach , appropriate standard setting, legislation and regulatory oversight, independent audits, and disclosure of information , which are similar co those proposed in this framework.

Thus, the potential benefits fl owing from even a relarively small reduction in the p robability of such incidents, due co the better water supply system man agement expected co flow from the proposed legislation, are extrem ely substantial.

Any new capital expendicure by water suppliers co co mply with regulatory o bligatio ns would be phased in through establishing undertakings between the water suppliers and the regulatory office.

The undertaki ngs are a key elemenc of the regulatory fra m ework. They essentially allow the Secretary co the Deparcm enc co enter an agreement with a water supplier co defer meeting a particular obligation until a later date, through agreed incerim risk management processes.

Environmental Considerations and Competition Policy Environmental improvemenc is likely to result from closer co-ordination berween water su ppliers, cacch menc managem ent authori ties, local governm enc and land owners whose activities may affect the quality of raw water. Improved m anagement is also likely to reduce variatio n in raw (i.e. source) water quality, which provides environmental benefits as well as assisting water purificatio n processes.

T he fram ework is consistent with the Council of Australi an Governments (COAG) N ational Co m petition Policy prin ciples fo r institurional refo rm, as it clearly separates the roles of policy, standard setting, regulato ry enforcement and service provisio n.

The legislative framework does not include any substantive restrictions o n competition, beyond a requirement that analysts that test drinking water quality are suitably accredited and that audi tors are suitably approved.

Conclusion Victoria has developed far reachi ng, land mark legislation covering the management of drinki ng water quality in that State.

The expected costs of the regulatory framework, which represent a very small proportion of th e overall revenues of the Victorian water industry, are proportionate to the expected benefits of provid ing an integrated system of q ual ity assuran ce for drin king water which is at international b est practice and which responds to significant criticisms made in recen t years of V icto ria's existing regulatory arrangemencs.

Whilst broadly consistenc with most elemen ts of the Australian D rinking Water Guidel ines, the legislation is anticipated to lay down some challenges for the water industry and for guideline based documents. In particular, challenges are likely to arise fro m the expansion of aud it processes, more rigorous and novel means of communicating informatio n to consumers, challenges for small or nonpotable water supplies and challenges arising from m atters such as water reuse and household point-of- use devices .

T hese are ch allenges posed fo r the water industry in Australia in general.

However, the Victorian legislation, with its more rigoro us risk managem ent and information disclosure obligations, can be expected co d rive debate in chis area.

Acknowledgements The author wishes to acknowledge the con tribution s of all agencies and individ uals involved in the develop ment of the regulatory fram ework described in chis paper.

The Author

Dr Brian Labza is Policy Advisor in the Departm ent of H uman Services (Victoria), email: brian.labza@dhs.vic. gov.au, telephone (03) 9637 4088 .

IRRIGATORS AND WATER ALLOCATION POLICIES J Hamparsum Abstract Irrigated far ming in the Upper Namo i Valley, Gunnedah, NSW has been our family's business since 1965 .

W hen the undergrou nd water resou rce was discovered during the early I 960s, aspiring irrigators were encouraged by the NSW Government Department of Water Reso urces and Irrigation Com miss ion to develop the resource to the extent that ' mi ning' of the resource was allocated by a ratio of 2. 1 to 1. By the 1980s it was evident rhat this was unsustainable bur the Department ignored thi s advice.

T he recent change in Governm ent policy from a "Mini ng" to a "S ustainable" water reso urce policy has imposed massive cutbacks. O n our family farm, which is 100% developed, we are facing a cutback of 70% in our warer allocation an d en ri rlemen r.

Irrigators and communities cannot make an adjustment of this magnitude without financial assistance from the Government respo nsible for the previous over-allocation and the more recent change to sustainability.

T he viability of farmers and their communities deserve to be preserved.

History of Irrigation Development

My late fat her Ian Hamparsum was one of rhe first irrigators in our region, in 1961 he purchased our property "Drayton" on the Breeza Plains in North West NSW, and after fo ur years he sank the first production irrigation bore. Ar the rime he had a visio n rhar the dryland sheep and wheat farm could be much more profitable if he could access water and grow irrigated crops. However, he understood how fragile the resource would be if over allocated and misused.

T he Stare Government also shared the vision to see an irrigation industry grow and actively encouraged growth by providing engineering consultants and low interest loans to farmers. T he industry grew quickly and by the early eighties it became apparent that the "area" water licenses issued would need to be co nverted to "volumetric" in order to have more control on how much water was being pumped.

Unsustainable Policy Development Unfortunately in rhe Stare Governments' haste to get the irrigation industry up and

running it ignored both irs own scientists' and the irrigators' warni ngs. In October 1983 che NSW Water Resources Commission (WRC) released che discussion paper "Proposed Licensing Policy for high Yield Bores in rhe Upper Namoi Valley, Mooki Valley & Cox's Creek, NSW". This paper identified rhar in che old zone 3 (the area between Gunnedah and Q uiri ndi) there was 42,000 ML/year of"Extractable Volume".

of proposed volumetric licensing policy high yield bores in the Upper Namoi Valley, NSW", wh ich summarised the sub miss ions and concluded that whereas the existing irrigators wanted a moratorium on issuing more allocations, other graziers, dryland far mers and potential irrigators argued that no embargo should exist. However, in July 1985 the Government announced an embargo on the issue of high yield bore

Unscrambling eggs is very difficult: a plea from the heart delivered at Enviro 04.

The WRC proposed to give the reso urce a 30-year life, that is, it proposed to "mine" the resource over 30 yea rs, not allowing fo r recharge.

My facher and ocher irrigarors were deeply concerned over this proposal and in November 1983 - the Central Namoi Valley Underground Water Users Adviso ry Association (now called the Upper Namoi Valley Water Users Association) passed a motion 33 vo tes to I I, to place an emba rgo and/or moratorium on issuing any more water licenses until the Water Reso urces Co mmission was satis fied that no furth er depletion of che groundwater resou rce would occur.

Ian Hamparsum also made his own submission to the department: "l am con fident policies can and must be developed ro achieve a simarion of BALANCE as opposed to MIN ING of rhe groundwater resource" (the word "balance" was used as "sustainable" was nor i11 vogue ar that ti me).

He foreshadowed char over-allocation of the resource would not only destroy the resou rce, but also the farme rs relying on the resource and che local co mmuni ry's eco nomy.

"I sub mit in rhe strongest terms rhar there can be no doubt whatsoever rhar the commission has an absol ute responsibili ty nor ro implement policies, wh ich on rhe basis of information or lack of information available ro ir, may result in loss of economic viability to existing irrigaro rs in rhe shorr, near or longer tenn. "

In March 1984 the WRC released the "Review of Submissions received in respect

licences for any new irrigation development, but between 1984 and 1987 the governm ent, despite the embargo, continued to issue a furth er 15, I 08 ML in licences.

T his brought the total amount of water allocated to Zone 3 to 55,694 ML/yr.

Remembering that in 1983 the WRC identified that on ly 42,000 ML/yr was available in che total area from Gunnedah co Quirindi, Ian Hamparsum's worst fears were coming to fruition.

In July 1986 -che WRC released the "Status Report fo r G roundwater Reso urce of allu vial sediments of the Upper Namoi Valley", which high lighted the Mooki Valley's severe groundwater depletion. T his revelation by che Government was only rwo and a half years after the irrigators had warned chis would happen.

Ir was to be another 8 years before any action was to be taken to start to even address che problem, not un til February 1994 when the Department of Land and Water Commission (DLWC) released the "Revised Groundwater allocation policy for all uvial groundwater resou rce of ch e Upper Namoi Valley, Mooki Valley and Coxs C reek". The paper became known as 'The Green Paper". This paper highligh ted the over-allocation. During che 8 years of inaction the WRC had numerous opportunities to address the problem, in particular it had within the 1912 Water Act the power to remove inactive water licenses.

As far as is known, not one license was ever retracted, in face inactive license holders were sent leccers by che DLWC encouraging chem co activate their license or they could lose them.

water

JUNE 2004 83

regulations Unscrambling Eggs le has taken a fu rther 9 years for the Scace Government via the DLWC to cake action to prevent the coral destruction of the Upper and Lower Namoi groundwater resource. In December 2003 the DLWC finally gazetted the "Water Sharing Plan for the Upper and Lower Namoi Groundwater Resources".

This plan h as many changes co be implemented that will reduce groundwater abstractions co a sustainable level, unfortunately, however, these changes have drastic effects on irrigacors and their communities as the government cry co "cum back the clock" . Studies on the social and economic effects demonstrate there will be losses co jobs, farms and businesses with flow-on effects in the order of hundreds of m ill ions of dollars.

The H amparsums' farm "Drayton" will have a 69% cue in its water license, an enormous change for a farm chat had b een d eveloped co its licensed allocation. T he current structural adjustment offered by the Scace Government is a mere 17% of the value of che water they will lose.

Ian H amparsum d ied in 1998. Now in h is grave, he wo uld once again be seeing his worse nightmares coming true, as an underresourced Government department tries co man age an extremely important resource without the ability co pay for its mistakes.

This story is sad but true and is a blatant example of why "policies" should never interfere with sound, scientifically-based reso urce management decisions. T here is no p lace for "popular" political decisions chat ignore the advice of resource users and scientific indicators. Policies, however, have a role co help the communities co adjust co the changes required.

A ustralia's constitution gives the states the responsibility of resource management, which means chat the fu ture o f water policy is still in the hands of the state governments.

T echnically the Federal Government cannot interfere with Scace water policy. H owever the Federal Government has, by offering substantial tranche payments, hastened the n eed fo r States co implement sustainable resource management policies through th e guise of National Competition Policy reform.

Unfortunately the scramble for the NCP money initiated a "rick che box" rushed approach to water reform in NSW which severely lacked vision and understanding of th e importan ce and magnitude of change it would create in rural communities.

Water Sharing Plans The cools fo r reform are che Water Sharing Plans, which are developed by the Scace Government for each water reso urce.

84 JUNE 2004

water

T he process to develop these plans lose support from the community when they found o ut chat th ere was a true lack of comm unity consu ltation or acknowled gement of th eir input. T here were coo many examples of predetermined agendas and lnter-Departmencal agencies interferences in their development for irrigacors and the community co have any cruse in the process and the expected ou tco mes.

These plans were meant co be implemented two years ago, however they were so b adly co nstructed chat many of the plans are under legal challenge and have been postponed until chis year, 2004, pending the outcome of the next COAG (Council of Australian Governments) meeting in April.

The Future for Water Policy C urrently there are numerous Government agencies, non government agencies (NGOs) , groups of em inent scientists (Wen tworth G roup) all postulating on what to do about the water issue.

Unfortunately they all seem to have forgotten co ask the people of Australia what they chink should be the fu ture roles of water.

The next five years will be a period of major change for water resource management; the agen cies have some serious decisions co make about: • Where should water go?

• Who should be responsible for it?

• How do we share it?

• What is che cost of change for th e p ublic go od?

• Who pays, who gees paid and how much ?

• Structural adjustment packages, how should they be implemented?

• What is the role of irrigated agriculture in Australia's futu re?

T h is brings about che question, what is the futu re role of water in Australia?

Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

- J apanese Proverb

Where there is no vision, the people perish - Proverbs 29: 18

Conclusion W hilst acknowled ging chat the mindset of humanity in most Western world n ations is slowly changing from unsustainable natural resource development to long-term sustainable natural resource management, there seems co be a denial of responsibility

by State Governments and their departments fo r their past policies and actions. This has created uncertainty and distrust amongst the

irrigators who are affected by Government policy ch anges. There is a lack of communication of the Government's visio n for the role of water in the future or even whether a vision actually exists.

Recently l was involved in the fo rmation o f a group called FucureWacer Australia, which is an alliance of the Irrigation Assoc. o f Australia, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Centre for Ecological Economics and Water Policy Research CEEWPR UNE. We are going co fac ilitate a process chat allows grass-root Australians to articulate what their vision is for the future roles of water in the Northern Murray D arling basin. le is only when che people of Australia can articulate their vision chat irrigacors will know where they stand, che environmentalists will know where they stand and che political lead ers will know where they stand: more importantly they will know what their responsib ili ties are co deliver outcomes chat help co achieve chat VIS!On.

The vision will provide direction; currently the situation is very co nfused and lacks direction and a mandate from the people of A ustralia. l personally have a visio n for irrigation in the Northwest ofNSW and it is very positive for the lo ng term. It is based around an old Buddhist ph ilosophy of symbiotic relationships in nature, just as a b ee feeds from a flower, it leaves the flower undamaged and in face enhances flowers' reproductive future whilst harvesting its fruits co share for che benefit of ochers. I b elieve chat chis is the goal th e irrigation industry must strive for in its use of water. l en courage you to chink abou t how you wane Australia's water resources co look in 50 years time, chink beyond your own backyard and picture how you fie into che Australian landscape. l then urge you to gee involved in the current water d ebate so chat you can put forwa rd your vision, the more people chat do so, the stronger our collective influence will be.

We are at a cricical stage in Australia's resource management. Policies are being developed chat will affect current and future generations of Australians. l e is important chat we learn from past mistakes and gee the future right.

Remember the best way to predict the future is co invent it! As the in ventors of the future we can make it what we want.

The Author John Hamparsum, Hamparsum Investments Pty Led, Tel (02) 6744 5899, Fax (02) 6744 5866.

EDUCATING THE AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ABOUT WATER D Deere, G Collier, C Porter, I Jarman Abstract In 2003 rhe Board of rhe Australian Water Association (AWA) identified rhe need fo r an enhanced role fo r AWA in the del ivery and promotion of water education.

Prior to deciding on rhar role, an evidenced-based approach was sought. This would provide the background on what was already happening in the ind ustry, where rhe gaps were and where rh e AWA could most effectively fir in. T his paper summarises rhe fi ndings of research undertaken to identify gaps in water educatio n nationally.

T he research has already assisted with direction for the AWA. T he purpose of rhis paper is to inform readers of rhe results and to foster peer review and discuss ion of the fi ndi ngs.

The fu ll report on which ch is article has been based will be available on the AWA website.

Professionals • water Industry Professionals • other Industry To support Informed Input to planning

Environmental outcomes In general

58%

Water quality protection • In general Water quality protectlon • urban

-1:::==-~

Water quality protection • rural Water quality protection • specific catchment Water quality protection • urban stormwater 'F='---, Water quality protection • septics Water quality protectJon • beaches Water quality protectlon • streams/rivers Water conservatJon • In general

-----~

49%

Cl

J ::,

Water conservation • urban

{::=:-----

24'lb

Water conservation • rural

II.

Water conservation • lrrlgators Water conservation • householders Water conservation • rainwater tanks Water quality and treatment

3S'lb

Wastewater quality and treatment

28%

Recycling catchment management Water science

72%

To change knowledge

Keywords: Water Education, Australian Water Association, Gap Analysis, Busi ness Plan .

To change skills To change attitudes

65%

To change behaviour

65%

Other

1. Key Informant Interviews Introduction A panel of key water sector profess ionals was interviewed one-on-o ne by an experienced, independent education professional to determine their views on rhe role of education in Australia.

Methodology A discussion guide was developed rh ar consisted of an introductory and background section, to describe to key informants the purpose of the interview, fo llowed by six questio ns. The results included informatio n from 17 key in fo rmants.

.fllll---.---.----,.--.---..---.---,-----, 20%

30%

40%

50'1b

60%

70'1'

80%

Percentage of programs and proJecta auessed

Figure l. Purpose of prog ram s a nd pro jects assessed (tota l

they said that there was a great need fo r increased co mm unity awareness and char education has a major role in rhis. Many also saw professional development and traini ng as of viral importance. Examples of statements made included: • "Education is critical - it provides rhe third leg of the tripod"; and • "Education does nor always work bur it is viral if other too ls are to work".

The results of the AWA national survey has led the AWA to commit to making this part of their core business of 'promoting the sustainable management of water'.

= 10 1).

co uld play, was about bringing ind ustry more directly into using education an d trai ning in a susrainabiliry context.

Secondly, respondents also flagged chat people are not well equipped to have informed input into the debate on water management issues and char increasing their capacity is an essenrial role for education.

T hirdly many respondents saw demand management programs in conj unction wirh water authorities and government agencies as a priority. Exam ples of statements made included: • "Essentially people don't understand how water is managed and how systems fir

Respondents' views on the importance of water education W ater education was seen as a critical component of water resources management by those interviewed. Almost universally

Respondents' views on the role of water education

Th ree significant areas of focus were identified. Mose important among these, wh ich was identified as a role chat the AWA

together"; and • "People are struggling to co mprehend rhe issues - planning requires an in fo rmed community".

water

JUNE 2004

as

education 2. Review of Current Australian Water Education

Uptake measures

Introduction

Output measures

This sectio n of the paper reports o n a survey approac h used to caprnre information on water education acrivities in Australia to identify clear gaps and to po ll water education professionals on their views as to how A WA might best contribute.

Outcome measures

....0

No specific measures obtained

~

Subjective measures

:,

Too early for proposed measures

:E

A data caprn re form was developed that included 4 1 fields strucrnred into fo ur sections. The largest section (22 field s) cap rnred data on c urren t water education activity. T he next-largest section captured data on the role of AWA in water education. The form was developed with involvement of AWA staff, branc h committee m em be rs, co ntractors a nd water sector professionals . T he A WA membership was notified of the research project via A WA news to provide a commentary opportunity for all. In addition, the major water management organisations in Austra lia were systematically identifi ed and app roached to encourage a representative and broad sample. The results included information fro m 101 assessed activities (72 p rogram s and 29 projects) from 86 o rganisations and 96 individuals.

Data Quality Erro rs that could influence the results were detected (and corrected) on on ly five occasions from the who le dataset which represents a n e rror rate of much less than 1% . Partial omissio ns were commo n where fo rms had been self-completed, although the narnre of these omissions was such that gaps were readily filled by AWA and its contractors with less than 1% of d ata remaining omitted once the dataset was fi nalised.

Organisations Assessed A total of 86 organisations were contacted and assessed, from all over Australia, with one contact overseas, th e USEPA. State, territory, federal a nd local govern ment a nd their m ajor water utility businesses formed the majority (84%) .

Health regulators and smaller uriliries were represented along wirh some tertiary and vocation a l education instimtions, research o rganisations and the Science Teachers Association.

Funding From a b ar chart constructed from the more than 50% o f respondents to this question, who reported annual expendirnres ranging fro m less than $1 0 ,000 to more than a $ lm, it is very crudely estimated chat expen diture on water ed ucation in

86 JUNE 2004

Surveys of success

i"'

Methodology

68%

water

No Information obtained

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Percentage of programs and projects assessed

Figure 2. Measures of success used to assess the performance of programs and projects (total= 101).

Australia is of the order $100111 annually.

Cash funding levels and o n-ground staff resources were generally considered to be either abo ut righ t (4 7% cash , 37% staff) o r insufficient (34% cash, 46% staff). More rhan 40% of fund ing was sourced fro m o utside o rganisations, much of it from federal (Namral H eri tage T rust) and state governments, a nd some funding could n ot be guaranteed on a permanent basis. T h e face that t hird party fundin g is so commonly p u t to use p rovides support for the need for water agencies them selves to a llocate more resources co water education.

Purpose of programs.

Figure l shows chat programs and projects were targeted over the whole range of the water cycle. Note that the percentages listed o n the table take into account that most projects encompassed more than o ne purpose.

In general the activities described were ongoing programs or projects with lifespans of many years, a lthough unreliab le fun ding meant that som e would stop and scare.

Targeting of Activities The program s and projects assessed were overwhelmingly targeted at rhe local or regional scale with less than 12% having a natio nal reach , m ostly thro ugh Land and Water Australia, albeit wirh so me university or further education cou rses.

Target audiences ranged fro m 50-500 (9%), m ostly rhe above courses, to more than 300,0 00 (37%) for regional p rojects.

W he re more specific targeting was identified, urban water cycle issues were predominan t. Primary and secondary scho ol target grou ps were better represented than ind ustrial and rural issues and tertiary and trade education. Primary a nd secondary schools were considered the easiest targets because:

â&#x20AC;˘ the audien ce was more receptive; â&#x20AC;˘ water matters could be placed in the curricu lum; a nd â&#x20AC;˘ the audi ence was cap tive, and had li ttle choice bu t to be 'educated'.

Timing Hal f of the programs and projects were on-going, most having commenced over three years ago, and expected either to finish in over three years or with no planned end, desp ite rh e comment that some funding so urces were unreliable. Only abour 20 % had an expected life of a year o r so .

Barriers to success A predominant complaint was lack of staff, but also turnover was seen as too high a nd skill levels need ed improvement (often li nked co the rurnover). The unreliability of fu nd ing cycles contributed to staff mrnover, and there was the time and effo rt required to justify and obtai n such fundi ng and its unreliability st ifled long-lead time program s.

H o wever, apathy at high levels, either in managemen t or politics, was cited as more damaging than apathy in the target audience.

Performance Assessment As might be expected those ru nning p rograms were very positive about th eir success. O n a scale of 1-5, the m ean was 3.8. Th is atrirude was based on a comb inatio n of professional judgement, ad hoc feedback and gut feel, but 48% c ited obj ective analysis.

A further question, searching for an unprompted a nswer, asked for such m easures. The results are tabulated in Figure 2.

The majority are output m easures, eg. the number of kits prod uced, or number of web-site hits, attendance at events,

education registration for progra ms and co urses, rather than outcome measures, such as red uction in water demand or improvements in water quality.

The difficulty in attri buting on-ground outcomes co water education, when ic operates in a co ntext of ocher measures such as pri cing and regulation, was cited as a common barrier, making it difficult co justify funding requests.

However, although not commonly cited, the importance of good publicity fo r the hose organisation is a possible selling point for the ed ucation activity.

One professional cited water education as one of che few truly positive, nonthreatening and non-overt ways in which an organ isation can promote itself co che community, which is moscly cynical about direct marketing and branding.

Role of AWA AWA members were represented in terms of both individual (24) and organisational (46) members. The views of individual members did not differ greacly from chose of che overall cohort.

Of the eight proposed roles fo r AWA, none received a rating-scale score of less than 65% of its maximum value illustrating reasonable support for all che proposed roles. The favo ured AWA roles were for advocacy and promotion of water education and its funding, facilitation and networking through conferences and specialise groups and providing a national

perspective and point of reference for standardisation Many ocher roles were proposed by individ uals and common among these were requests for AWA ro parcner with their organisations in delivering water education. Most (58%) of chose asked were able co recall some AWA water education material and many (27%) were actively using AWA material in their water education activities, frequencly rhe We All Use Water leaflets.

Discussion T he quality and quantity of data captured is considered adequate co identify any clear gaps in water education nationally and some priority roles for AWA. There may be a number of biases and omissions in che survey bur these should be highlighted by consideration in che light of the peer review and debate expected.

Conclusions Review of existing water education activities nationally identified cash, bu r more so, staff fundin g as being suboptimal in many cases. Geographical targeting of acti vities was generally territorial or regional, even where the fund ing source was federal. Activities were generally targeted quire broadly in terms of both issues (water quali ty and water conservation in general) and audience (general community) . Where more specific targeting was identified, urban

water cycle issues and primary and seco ndary school target groups were well represented relative co industrial and rural issues and tertiary and trade education. In general the activities described were ongoing with life-spans of many years, although unreliable fundi ng meant chat some would stop and start.

T his research was presented for peer review at che AWA Water Education Conference, held in Canberra in January 2004 (see Water, March, 2004, pp 86101). Following that, the outcomes of the research were presented co the AWA Board Meeting held in March 2004. T he AWA Board agreed chat the AWA should support a new staff position within the national office co coordinate and manage its water education programs. Interviews fo r chat position were being held as chis article went co press.

The Authors Dr Daniel Deere is a water quality specialist and pri ncipal of Water Futures, Dundas Vall ey, NSW, email dandeere@bigpond.nec.au; Grahame Collier is an environmental and health education special ise and principal of T Issues C onsultancy, Balgowlah, NSW, emai l cissues@acay.com .au; Clare Porter and Ian Jarman are wich che Australian Water Association, 44 H ampden Road, Arrarmon, NSW, email cporrer@awa.asn .au and ijarman@awa.asn.au.

Have we reached the turning ? point for water • Do we understand our water resources enough to ensure its ? future quantity and quality • Is the technology on hand to ensure that the water environment will ? sustain the biodiversity that we • now enjoy

WATERSHED

AWA ~

the turning pointfor water ... the essential conference for you in 2005

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Ozwater Convention & Exhibition • Townsville 5-7 May 2005 • Brisbane 8-1 2 May 2005

water

JUNE 2004 87

UNDERSTANDING THE INSIDE STORY IN WATER STORAGES Drinking water q uality is an important issue for water suppliers to monitor.

Regulations, standards and guid elines continue to raise the benchmark in delivering hygienic, fie-for-consumption water to the consumer.

O ne area requiring d iligence on the part o f water suppliers is the condition of potable water storages. Over rime, sediments may accumulate and infrastructure may deteriorate. A management plan should be implemented to monitor chis valuable asset and in particular its impact on the q uality of water received by the consumer.

In addition chlorine tanks often form an essential element in the delivery of the final product and all too often the internal design is inadequate to achieve a uniformly disinfected produce.

External visual inspections of these structures can be made and modern telemetry systems can supply data on storage levels, turbidity and even pH, chlorine and dissolved oxygen (DO) .

But how do we monitor what's happeni ng inside the storage?

Using divers fo r data collection and maintenance has become a useful tool in the po table water ind ustry. But who do you get and what do they know about potable water?

The Water Business supplement, previously d is tributed with every second issue of Water Journal, has now been i ncorporated into the Journal. I t aims to keep read ers a lert to business news and new product releases within the water secto r.

Media releases should be emailed to Bri an Rault, brault@halled it.com.au, or Tel

(03) 9530 8900. ranks to help ensure better d isinfection. All work is supported by underwater stills and video photograp hy so chat the cl ient can view what we have seen. An easy reference database is currently in development.

The d ivers are also trained in confined space entry and have u ndergo ne specialist training in the areas of water quali ty and potable water diving, corrosion identification and coating inspection. It gives water authorities a management cool to improve water quality and to plan operations and maintenance and asset replacement programs.

Telephone (03) 5122 2785.

PROVIDING AN INTEGRATED HYDRAULIC SOLUTION Intergraph Map ping and Geosparial Solutions has signed a parmershi p agreement with H aestad Methods, a leading provider of water resources modelling software.

Intergraph and Haescad Methods will jointly market and support an integrated hydraulic analysis solution consisting of Intergraph's GeoMedia® technology and Haesrad's WarerObjeccs®, an objectoriented application software development kit (SOK).

Nordical Diving Services was formed in 1996 and began business vacuumi ng sediment from storages in Gippsland. The company has grown from ch is base and now has substantial storage cleaning and inspection contracts in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales.

Nordical Diving Services has a ream of fu lly qualified professional d ivers, dedicated potable water d iving equipment and has the ability to clean a wide range of storages without having to rake chem off line. We also have the ability to carry out place thickness testing, online valve change-outs, leak repairs, refits, construction, demolition, asset inspections and data collection . We can also assist in construction of baffie curtains in chlorine

88 JUNE 2004 water

Intergraph is currently developing an interface to seamlessly link the sophisticated spatial data management functional ity of GeoMedia technology with WacerObjects' world-class water distribution modelling capabilities.

This new GIS hydraulic analysis solu tion will allow users to build and analyse hydraulic models within the GeoMedia environment, giving users the capability to dynamically visualise modifications to modelling scenarios. With this solution, users will be able to maintain their infrastructure data in one location and perform analysis d irectly with chis data.

The solution will give local governments and public works agencies dynamic visualisation and data integration

capabili ties chat will enhance infrastructure management productivity. Engineering, planning and operations professionals can use the technology to maintain a central data repository, thereby eliminati ng timely GIS data exports and conversions as well as the worries of locating the most up-co-dace information.

"We're extremely excited chat Intergraph has chosen to partner with us to provide users with seamless access to their data," said J ack Cook, Vice President Applied Technologies for Haescad Methods. "With WaterObjeccs' open, flex ible programming environ ment, In tergraph users will benefit from WacerCAD®'s unique water distribution modelling capabilities."

For more information about Intergraph s solutions, visit http://imgs.intergraph.com/ solutions/.

For more information, call Haestad Methods at +12037551666 (worldwide), email info@haestad.com, or visit www. haestad. com/, www.watersecurity. 01gl, or www.civilquiz.com.

SMARTAFLOW OPENS VICTORIAN OFFICE West Australian company, Smartaflow, is bringing its award-winning range of hypochlorice dosing systems to the east coast with the opening of a Victorian office and their firs t installation at Coliban Water's Bealiba site.

Smarcafl ow specialises in p roviding turnkey disinfection solutions that overcome the challenges of creating small town water supplies. The company's systems are already used by the Water Corporation of WA in communities chat range in population from 12 to 2,40 0 and experience extreme variations in flow and temperature.

With the introduction of Victoria's Safe Drinking Water Act (2003), which comes in to effect from July this year, Smartaflow's Chief Execu tive Officer, Steve Brown, believes the company's move is well timed.

"A key features of Smartaflow's technology is its ability to accurately dose sodium hypochlorite fo r disinfection regard less of flow rates," said Mr Brown.

"Existing disinfection technology doesn't deliver this level of reliability, which not only jeopardises public health, but also makes compliance with d rinking water standards challenging, particularly in small towns."

"O ur C hlorisafe system has been proven to overcome these challenges, whilst also improving workplace safety and, perhaps most importantly, reducing the total cost of chlorination."