16 June 2008

For the past five years the Water Directorate and AWA have proudly sponsored the Conference Attendance Award for young water industry professionals. The aim of this award is to assist a water industry professional from a regional NSW water authority with up to 5 years experience to attend the AWA's national water conference.

This year, Matthew Maxwell from Walcha Shire Council was the recipient of the award. Matt's report on Enviro 98 is reproduced in full below.

Conference Attendance Award Sponsored Registration, 5-7 May 2008

The Enviro 08 conference was billed as Australasia's Environmental and Sustainability conference and exhibition. With presentations and forums in many streams, including water, energy, waste and resource recovery, sustainable cities and urban planning, innovation and environmental business, the depth of choice was daunting.

Before arriving, there were a number of issues that I was keen to hear about that related to current projects and ongoing work that I am involved in. These included waste and recycling issues, and water and wastewater services provision in the near and longer term future. Wastewater management and the inherent environmental impact is particularly pertinent for Walcha Council, as we are currently looking at a major augmentation or replacement of our Sewage Treatment Plant.

Over the course of the three days, there were many presentations from a number of different perspectives. The overwhelming majority were very well presented, and I found the speakers very approachable and enthusiastic about answering questions or talking afterward. At times, the amount of data and research of known issues presented was almost overwhelming. In particular, there was much said on the issue of climate change and how it is influencing future predictions and climate forecast models. The initial implications for water suppliers and users involve the changing and variable nature of weather patterns, drought or drying conditions, rainfall and infiltration or runoff, and how these will affect us now and into the future.

Since we are all users of water, there was a certain tension involved in discussion of the growing demand for a resource which appears will become less abundant. When coupled with the political and social imperative to supply water to those who need it - growing cities, agriculture and industry, the task looks increasingly challenging. Add to the mix sustainability and environmental factors, in which the warnings of unsustainable consumption of resources leading to climate change and degradation - little wonder potential outcomes such as groundwater extraction, dam construction and desalination were keenly debated. Although there appeared no clear solutions in many cases, a strong message began to emerge which linked many of the themes together. It is clear that the cost, in financial and environmental terms, of consuming energy will continue to increase, and if water suppliers and consumers are to survive, we must be able to make use of the most efficient systems, and work in conjunction with the environment rather than trying to control or ignore natural systems.

The trade exhibition was also a great resource. The sheer number of exhibitors pointed to the support from industry for the water, environment, sustainability and waste sectors. Current and emerging technologies were on display, as well as service providers and consultants. I had many good conversations with a wide variety of exhibitors, about their experience and expertise, current issues and ideas raised at the Conference, and the opportunities and technologies available to deal with current problems and future challenges.

This was very useful for my own understanding of the equipment and processes being used, and thinking through our own applications. I also was encouraged by the amount of development and further research currently being done to improve existing processes and technologies. The concepts of optimizing energy efficiency and treating wastes as a potential resource are becoming mainstream thinking (aided no doubt by the drought and the current political nature of water). This surely is a trend which will enhance our ability to work with natural processes and will enable the water cycle of supply and treatment to be affordable and responsible into the future.

To my thinking there is still room for integration of technological solutions with natural or naturemimicking processes, but there is a gradual shift in attitude - where 'alternative technologies' were seen as anti-technological, many current products have revisited natural systems and taken advantage of the inherent efficiencies in them. Concepts such as self cleaning baleen filters and pro-biotic solutions for water and wastewater treatment demonstrate this changing attitude. Even simple concepts such as storm water or wastewater reuse for irrigation are now mainstream; it was only a few years ago that community attitude and political views were opposed to such ideas. There were many problems presented, with potential solutions to many, such as technologies like RO desalination or water treatment for reuse.

However, when thinking about taking these solutions and adapting them to our own situation, it became clear that the nature of water (as well as issues involved with waste, recycling, sustainability, energy consumption and urban environments) is as varied and diverse as the global village we live in. This includes not just Australia, where we will expect climatic drying in many places in conjunction with increased rainfall and flooding in other areas. It encompasses the whole globe, the entire energy and water cycle, since human impacts are no longer felt just on the local area, but over the whole planet. Therefore, there is no "one size fits all" option for water utilities, waste processors, city planners or government. The real challenge for these industries will be making the decisions now that produce the best result into the future, not just for the short term.

I appreciate very much the opportunity to attend Enviro08, made possible by the AWA and the Water Directorate. It left me with a lot of good ideas, as well as many things yet to think through and digest. Leaving the conference, I certainly felt the weight of the challenges which may face us in the future - with a little luck I believe we can meet them, and overcome them.

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