EVENTS IN NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2000
Our monthly newsletter seeks to inform NSW local government water and sewerage utilities and other water industry contacts of the developments that have taken place regarding technical issues and networking during November and December 2000 and of coming events.

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
I take this opportunity to wish everyone involved with the Water Directorate, a very happy and safe Christmas and best wishes for 2001.

MEMBERSHIP
I sincerely thank all the member councils for supporting the Water Directorate throughout 2000 and it is very pleasing to report that membership steadily rose to 87 with the gain of ten new member councils. I thank the General Managers of the member councils for supporting the Water Directorate and particularly the General Managers that allowed the Executive Committee members to participate in various meetings and be involved in numerous issues.

ANNUAL REVIEW
We will be producing an Annual Review for 2000 and hope to distribute it in February/March 2001. The Annual Review will list all the member councils, provide an overview of our finances, actions and achievements in 2000 and our budget for 2001.

OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE MANUAL
Hot off the press! We have just produced an Operations and Maintenance Manual for Submersible Sewage Pumping Stations which has been mailed out to General Managers of our member councils over the first two weeks of December 2000. Please contact your General Manager to ensure that the document finds its way to the appropriate sewerage O&M staff.

The manual is a best practice guideline that covers all the relevant and appropriate issues for technical staff producing and using manuals. The Executive Committee believes that there is a great need for a set of guidelines of this nature. This manual and others to follow in 2001 should significantly reduce duplication in the local government water industry. This manual containing a CD Rom is for sale to non-members in the order of $121.

The technical content of the manual was provided by Albury City Council's Asset Design Services following competitive tendering and the presentation was managed by Eloise Stanley. We are very happy with the final product and hope that our members find the manual to be useful. Early feedback is positive and any further user advice would be greatly appreciated.

BLUE GREEN ALGAE FLOWCHART
Even hotter off the press! The Water Directorate hopes to mail out a flowchart in a tube to General Managers of member councils straight after Christmas. The flowchart will be suitable for attaching to the wall and will be a useful reference for incident management of Blue Green Algae. The document has been managed by a sub-committee comprised of Merv Chapman, Daryl McGregor and Doug Hill in consultation with the Regional Algal Co-ordination Committees. Hopefully the document will not be needed.

WATER MANAGEMENT BILL 2000
The Water Directorate thanks David Hale, LGSA's Water Policy Officer, and appointed member of our Executive Committee for his co-ordination and preparation of town water related amendments to the Bill. I also thank those member councils that provided technical input to the LGSA's amendments to the Bill. The Water Directorate is fortunate to be able to use the LGSA's political lobbying expertise and is very happy to collaborate further, regarding reviews of the proposed regulations.

ARMIDALE DUMARESQ COUNCIL WATER TREATMENT LABORATORY
Armidale Dumaresq Council wishes to advise that the Blue Green Algae Toxicity Testing previously available from the University of New England will now be carried out by Council's Water Treatment Laboratory. UNE has ceased providing the Mouse Bioassay testing and Council has employed Ms Mandy Choice from UNE to ensure continuity of this valuable service. Ms Choice is eager to continue to provide the Blue Green Algae Testing for the previous valued clients and invites you to contact her on 02 6771 5949. (Courtesy of New England Group Representative, Mervyn Chapman)

COMMENTS ON AUS-SPEC #1
In keeping with the evolving nature of all AUS-SPEC specifications, any comments or modifications that users of the updated specifications have, should be sent to Bill Woodcock on 9928 2544 for future consideration. Purchase enquiries can also be directed to Bill Woodcock. The IPWEA provide training on how to use the AUS-SPEC suite of specifications including the new water and sewer specifications.

NSW HEALTH DRINKING WATER MONITORING PROGRAM
In conjunction with a review of the monitoring and reporting of drinking water quality in NSW, NSW Health has been reviewing its public health laboratory service and policy guidance in light of recommendations contained within the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 1996 (ADWG).

NSW Health issued a letter and the Drinking Water Monitoring Program document in late October/early November to all NSW councils that are water supply authorities. The document contains recommendations for the monitoring of drinking water and sets out changes to the free-of-charge monitoring service provided by NSW Health laboratories.

NSW Health recommends that all water supply authorities monitor drinking water in accordance with the ADWG. Water suppliers are expected to satisfy themselves of the safety of the supply with respect to microbiological, chemical, pesticide and radiological contamination. The Department recommends that monitoring in accordance with the ADWG and NSW Health recommendations commence as soon as possible and preferably not later than 1 January 2001.

The Water Directorate supports the 1996 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and encourages councils to develop risk management protocols in accordance with the ADWG.

AWA FEDERAL CONVENTION
AWA will be holding its 19th Federal Convention in Canberra on 1 - 5 April 2001. The Water Directorate is pleased to be involved in one of the Sunday afternoon Technical Workshops on 1 April 2001. The workshop will address a range of issues affecting the local government water industry.

BEST PRACTICE AWARD FOR WATER SUPPLY AND WASTEWATER
The Water Directorate will again be proudly sponsoring the Best Practice Award for Water Supply and Wastewater in 2001 as part of the IPWEA's Engineering Excellence Awards. The award fits very well with our objectives of commitment to best practice; encouraging, recognising and rewarding best practice; and sharing information with the water industry. I encourage you to plan early for nominations for 2001. The nominations forms will be sent on 19/3/01 and the closing date is 2/7/01. Please note that the IPWEA Conference will be held in Port Macquarie from Sunday 28/10/01 to Wednesday 31/10/01.

CURRENT PROJECT DATABASE
The current projects database lists a range of recent or current water and sewerage NSW projects by category and by title. Projects are sourced from member councils and include nominees in the inaugural IPWEA Water and Sewerage Best Practice award category announced in May 2000. The database should be activated in October 2000. Member councils are welcome to submit projects and photographs they feel are of interest or helpful to their peers in the water and sewerage industry.

PIPES, WAGGA WAGGA
Make a note in your diary that the PIPES Conference will be held at Wagga Wagga on 16-18/10/01. A brochure is included in this envelope. For more details please contact Penny Lamont on 6924 6422 and on pipes.wagga@bigpond.com

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
For details of your new Executive Committee click here For further information about membership or any water related issue, please contact Gary Mitchell on 02 8267 3010, or exec_wd@magna.com.au or visit the website at http://wd.ipwea.org.au. If you would like any issue to be discussed by the Executive Committee, please refer it to me before the next meeting to be held on 1 February 2001.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTIONS
The inaugural elected committee's two year term has passed very quickly. In November we called for General Managers of our 87 member councils to nominate a council representative if they wished to be on the Executive Committee. In three out of 9 Regional Groups there were more nominations than positions and it was necessary to conduct a vote. That process is now complete and I am happy to announce the new committee members in the table below.

I thank the inaugural committee for setting the direction over the past two years and building our profile. I also thank those that nominated to be on the new committee and I thank the General Managers for voting. An indication of the strong interest is that 28 out of 34 General Managers voluntarily participated and voted in the three Regional Groups where elections were necessary.

I thank the retiring Executive Committee members, Jim Fear, Noel Crichton and Warwick Battye-Smith for their contribution to inaugural committee and to the growth and success of the Water Directorate. I welcome the three new Executive Committee members, Wayne Beatty from Orange City Council representing the Central West Group, Murray Nash from Riverina Water County Council representing the South West Group, and Phil King from Byron Shire Council representing the North Coast Group. Congratulations goes to all the new Executive Committee members who will meet on 1, February 2001 to elect a Chairperson for the next two years.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The elected Water Directorate Executive Committee reflects various regional interests of local government water authorities across NSW. Members represent large and small coastal and inland councils.

For more information contact: