Annual Forum 2023

The 2023 Annual Forum will take place on 5-7 September with the theme 20/20 Vision: Raising the profile of the urban water industry in celebration of our 20-year anniversary.

This year the event will take place in Toowoomba at the same time as the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, so please ensure that you book accommodation as soon as possible. The event will take place at the Clifford Park Racecourse.

The Forum will kick off with a couple of site tours on Tuesday 5 September, starting a little bit later in the day to ensure those traveling from Brisbane and further afield can get there in the morning.

On Wednesday, 6 September we will take a trip down memory lane, reflecting on the past 20 years as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Directorate and commemorate those who have paved the way.

On the final day of the Forum we will look to the future 20 years ahead – where do we want to be and how will we get there?

Registrations will open this week so keep an eye out for updates on LinkedIn, Zoho and via our regular eFlashes.

Best of the Best Queensland Water Taste Test

Hosted in conjunction with the qldwater Annual Forum, the 2023 Best of the Best Queensland Water Taste Test will be held in Toowoomba on Tuesday, 5 September.

Serial winners Mackay Regional Council may be in for a surprise this year as Livingstone Regional Council (LRC) prepares for a comeback. After almost two years of collecting data in Byfield’s Kelly’s Off Stream Storage and Water Park Creek, LRC in conjunction with CQUniversity published an academic paper illustrating the link between a protected and well vegetated catchment and a high quality and good tasting water supply.

If that sounds like a winner, it’s because it is! Water from Water Park Creek have been immortalised in a very tasty limited-edition craft beer - Livingstone Lager with a tropical twist of Pineapple. Can they do it again?

The water taste test continues to shine a spotlight on the hard work and efforts by water service providers in delivering a food grade quality product to our taps 24/7, 365 days of the year.

Members may have noticed that our website homepage had a bit of a facelift a couple of months ago – the aim was to make it easier to navigate to the resource library and our key programs.

The qldwater Resource Library contains more than 2,500 items in a member only secure zone and classified according to the following categories:

• Whole of Business – resources that cover the whole business e.g. management, human resources, skills and training,

• Water Source – resources relating to water sources including dams, rivers, bores etc,

• Water Treatment – resources relating to water treatment plants,

• Water Network - resources relating to the broader water network including pipes, pumps, reservoirs etc,

• Customers - resources relating to customer service / standards,

• Sewage Treatment - resources relating to sewage treatment plants,

• Sewerage Network - resources relating to the broader sewerage network including pipes and pump stations,

• Recycle / Reuse - resources relating to the recycle and reuse of water, wastewater, biosolids etc.

Recent updates include:

• A range of fatigue management and risk assessment sample documents shared by members,

• A report on Water Quality Testing for Treatment Optimisation,

• A chlorate position statement,

• A procedure for condition assessment of AC pipes,

• A range of presentations from events,

• Fundamentals Webinar Series where members can view all webinar recordings embedded on the site.

Our communication platforms now include the qldwater website, the qldwatercareers website, the water training website and learning management system, the Chemical Concoctions website (currently under review) and our Zoho online forum

Our LinkedIn page is growing rapidly with 1,623 followers at the time of writing. Last month we introduced Flashback Fridays with a focus on the history of the Queensland urban water industry, so follow us to keep up to date with water news past and present.