EVENTS IN OCTOBER 2002
The Water Directorate is a voluntary association of councils and county councils that operate water and/or sewer businesses in regional NSW. Our monthly newsletter seeks to inform member councils and all sectors of the NSW Local Government Water Industry of the developments that have taken place regarding technical issues and networking during October 2002 and of coming events. This newsletter is mailed out to General Managers and to Water and Sewer Managers in 121 regional councils in NSW and also to approximately 100 contacts in government departments, councils and private industry across Australia. We hope you enjoy this newsletter.

MEMBERSHIP
I am extremely pleased to announce that four new member councils joined in October making it the highest number of new members in any month in the past three years. I welcome Yallaroi, Nundle, Coolamon and Weddin Shire Councils as our latest members. Both Yallaroi and Nundle Shire Councils are within the New England Group and bring membership in that group to 16 out of 18. Coolamon Shire Council is in the South West Group and brings membership in that group to 26 out of 31. Weddin Shire Council is within the Central West Group and brings membership in that group to 12 out of 14. Membership in NSW has risen to NSW to 98 out of 121 and we are nearing our next milestone of 100 members. Eloise Stanley or myself would be very happy to send membership kits to potential new member councils.

All new members should be aware that past publications can be purchased at the reduced member rate and that a copy of each new publication will be distributed gratis. The documents planned for the 2002/2003 financial year are: O&M Manual for Water Pumping Stations, Protocols for Reuse of Sludge and Return Backwash Water from Water Treatment Plants, Procurement Manual for Routine Service of Mechanical and Electrical Infrastructure, Manual for Management of Air Valves, Backflow and Cross Connection Prevention Policies, Standards for Pressure Sewerage Systems and Guidelines for Cutting and Disposal of Asbestos Cement Pipes.

All member councils are now financial for 2002/2003 and we thank all the rejoining member councils for their continued support.

ANNUAL REVIEW 2001/2002
Our Annual Review for the past financial year has been printed and will be distributed to General Managers and Water and Sewer Managers of our member councils in the first week of November 2002. I thank Eloise Stanley for preparing the Annual Review and we hope you enjoy reading the concise summary of our actions, projects, achievements, expenditure and member council list for 2001/2002 and of our budget and plans for 2002/2003.

BACKFLOW AND CROSS CONNECTION PREVENTION POLICY GUIDELINES
This document is now finalised and we plan to arrange printing and distribution in November 2002. The Water Directorate is confident that this document will assist local government councils to meet NSW legislative requirements to minimise the risk of backflow and cross connection in the water supply system. The Backflow and Cross Connection Prevention Policy Guidelines document was developed as one of the high priority actions of the Water Directorate's Executive Committee. It is a best practice collation of some twenty documents from councils across NSW. The project was a collaborative effort and we thank all the councils that shared their various policies, procedures and practices for their valuable contribution and for providing a very good starting point.

The document was prepared by Jeff Austin, Director of Scarabworks P/L under contract and direction of the Water Subcommittee. The policy guidelines would not have been possible without the assistance of and peer review by the following voluntary subcommittee members: Mervyn Chapman, Armidale Dumaresq Council; Murray Nash, Riverina Water County Council; Kent Boyd, Parkes Shire Council; Wayne Beatty, Orange City Council and Simon Thorn, Coffs Harbour City Council. In addition, the following people are thanked for assisting the contractor with their review comments to the draft documents: Allan Barlin and Robert Scott, Hastings Council and John Mulvey, Albury City Council.

The Water Directorate strongly urges member councils to adopt the policy guidelines and use them to develop and implement programs to address backflow and cross connection prevention in accordance with NSW legislative requirements.

OPERATORS' O&M MANUAL USER GROUP MEETING
Thanks to those member councils that expressed interest in participating in an Operators' O&M Manual User Group to share information, discuss any relevant issues or problems with using the manuals and address legislative changes and other updates. The first meeting has been set for Friday, 29 November 2002 in Sydney. We will contact those member councils that previously responded and I invite any other member council or any purchasers of the O&M Manuals to please advise me of your ability to attend the Operators' O&M Manual User Group Meeting on garymi@bigpond.com or on 8267 3010. There will be no charge for the meeting and numbers will be limited so please act quickly.

IPWEA, NSW DIVISION ANNUAL CONFERENCE AT COFFS HARBOUR, NOVEMBER 10 TO 14 2002
Don't miss the IPWEA, NSW Division Annual Conference at Coffs Harbour on November 10 to 14. The packed program includes some 36 technical papers in 3 streams over one and half days, Excellence Awards Dinner, technical tours and guest speakers such as Max Walker and Olympic Gold Medallist Lauren Burns.

Of particular interest to the Water Directorate and its member councils will be the Water and Wastewater Sessions on Tuesday, 12 November which include 6 technical papers covering a wide range of interesting, informative and innovative water projects in pipeline construction, sewage treatment, effluent reuse, blue-green algae and stormwater; plus at least 2 other papers of interest in the Legislation Session on the same day and in the Plenary Session on the following day. We also look forward to presenting a major award for the third year for Innovation in Water Supply and Wastewater on Monday evening, 11 November and to the valuable networking opportunities throughout the entire conference. For more details and registration, please contact IPWEA's Conference Organiser Janice Parker, on 9943 6564, 0411 103 069 or on conference2002@ipwea.org.au

WSAA SEWER INSPECTION REPORTING CODE OF AUSTRALIA
WSAA's new Sewer Inspection Reporting Code of Australia (SIRC) replaces Sydney Water's Australian Conduit Condition Evaluation Manual (ACCEM) published in 1991. The revision of the ACCEM was driven by the need to manage the technological change in closed circuit television (CCTV) and in sewerage and drainage infrastructure since 1991. Contact David Cox on david.cox@wsaa.asn.au

NSW HEALTH RAINWATER TANK BROCHURE
NSW Health has issued a Rainwater Tank public information brochure to their Public Health Units across NSW for further distribution. Water and sewer contacts in our 98member councils will notice that a copy of the brochure has been sent with this newsletter. For more information, please contact Paul Byleveld on pbyle@doh.nsw.gov.au

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
For further information about membership or any water related issue, please contact Gary Mitchell on 02 8267 3010, or garymi@bigpond.com or visit the website at http://wd.ipwea.org.au. If you would like any issue to be discussed by the Executive Committee, please contact your local representative or refer it to me. The remaining meeting date for 2002 is 7 November. Executive Committee contact details can also be found on our website at http://www.ipwea.org.au/wd/members/list/byexec_index.html.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTIONS
The second two year term has passed very quickly and I take this opportunity to advise that elections will be held in November and December 2002 in which General Managers of member councils may nominate a representative from their council if they wish and vote if necessary to determine the committee membership. The Executive Committee is made up of 17 elected members representing nine IPWEA Groups of councils in regional NSW.

To ensure that the Executive Committee is comprised of experienced and capable members that are committed to the local government water industry in NSW, General Managers of member councils will receive a letter shortly inviting them to nominate a representative from their council. Where more than the designated number of nominations is received for any IPWEA group of councils, then an election will be necessary and a second letter will be sent to General Managers inviting them to vote. It is anticipated that the new Executive Committee will be finalised by mid December 2002 and announced in the December newsletter.

For more information contact: