June 2026

Out and about with members

One of the great joys of my role at IWN is getting on site with our members to talk all things IWN and look at all the tremendous trials and opportunities we have.

Last month, I’ve visited GWMWater, Coliban Water, Lower Murray Water and Wannon Water sharing with their Executive Teams the outcomes of trials we are conducting and exploring new innovation opportunities. I also presented to a variety of team meetings which were rich conversations about challenges and opportunities.

IWN also joined forces with WaterRA and WSAA to co-present at a partnering event at Yarra Valley Water organised by Olivia Reynolds – demonstrating the power of the collaboration between the 3 associations.

We also headed out to the RegenAqua site at Picton for our first fully live webinar from site. We thank Sydney Water for letting us live stream from the demonstration site and to Pacific Bio for taking us through this tremendous nature-based technology. ICYMI – head over to the IWN Website Members Portal and take a look at the recording.

Ozone Nanobubbles and Modified GAC for PFAS Removal

Spoiler alert! While we are awaiting the final report on this trial which we will share on a webinar on 23 July, we can share that the early results from the trial to remove PFAS from recycled water with Ozone Nanobubble and Modified GAC (BYGEN) are very promising. With an incoming PFAS content in the recycled water of 450-690 ng/L, the trial has reduced the PFAAS levels in the recycled water to <10ng/L. This is outstanding. The next phase of the trial to optimise the performance of the technology (to achieve <4ng/L) is currently being scoped.

Data Literacy Project

Some people say data is the new oil because of the value we can create from it. In fact, it is even better than oil because data is renewable!

Data is now everywhere but making your way through the modern analytics landscape can be confusing. Data governance, machine learning, Artificial Intelligence and many other buzzwords are everywhere.

The IWN Data & Analytics Program wants to help water professionals in Victoria and Tasmania to navigate this landscape by developing an online curriculum to get more value from their data.

The basic idea is that we have learning modules for people at all levels in the organisation, breaking down abstract concepts into something that makes practical sense, using examples from within the industry.

This course is not intended to teach how to analyse data, but it will help people to have better conversations with internal or external data experts who can then create better data products.

We cannot do this with our three-people committee, so we are looking for volunteers to develop this project.

If you have a background in education, graphic design, web development, data visualisation, statistics, or any other skill that can contribute to this project, then please contact Isobel at isobel.decru@vicwater.org.au

In-Stream update

The In-Stream co-creation program continues to make strong progress, with 7 participating water utilities collaborating to tackle some of the sector’s most pressing challenges.

The Intelligent Asset Management stream, facilitated by NCS, has completed five workshops resulting in the identification of 90 potential challenges and the development of eight promising solution concepts. These concepts focus on improving asset data quality, governance, interoperability, investment decision-making, and information management, providing a strong foundation for future prototyping and trial activities.

The Digital Customer Experience stream, facilitated by Salesforce, has successfully completed its Discovery and Validation phase, bringing together five utilities to explore opportunities for improving customer outcomes. Participants identified a shared challenge around creating a single source of truth for customer data to enable more personalised and seamless customer experiences across business units. The team has now entered the Ideation phase, mapping customer journeys and identifying opportunities to improve key moments that matter, including property ownership and tenancy changes.

Both streams continue to demonstrate the value of collaboration, shared learning, and sector-wide innovation in addressing common challenges.

Opportunity to join In-Stream

We are now entering the next phase of In-Stream to develop the preferred solution concept into a prototype for testing. We know this a sweet spot for many.

We are opening up In-Stream membership to bring on board people from across our sector who have a penchant for turning concepts into reality and action.  If that’s you, please drop us a line at enquiries@iwn.org.au.

Continuous Professional Development

Did you know that every time you engage with IWN you could be claiming CPD points? Most activities with IWN such as our webinars, members conference, trials, program meetings, even our weekly updates are classed as professional development and can be claimed as CPD points. Please reach out to your professions peak body to enquire about CPD points.

IWN Members Conference registration

The 2026  IWN Members Conference – Celebrating Excellence in Innovation 27-28 July, is filling up fast.

The conference will highlight projects demonstrating innovation in action across the water sector, with a focus on practical solutions, collaboration, and real-world impact.

This year’s event will run across two days. Day 1 will be a formal conference held at the State Library, featuring speakers and presentations, followed by an optional Gather & Graze Dinner at the Oxford Scholar Hotel.

Day 2 will be held online as a participant-led “Unconference”, focusing on IWN programs and future opportunities.

The conference is open to all IWN members, including employees from Victorian and Tasmanian water corporations.

Program details and registration are available here: https://events.humanitix.com/iwn-members-conference-2026 and in the IWN website members portal.

Bioenergy Network Forum

A quick reminder that the Barwon Bioenergy Forum is next week – 10th June at Warun Ponds sponsored the Victorian Government and Barwon Water. The Forum features speakers from Barwon Water, Boeing, GrainCorp, GreenPower, LMS Energy, DEECA, Veolia, Saputo Dairy and more. The day includes a mini Bioenergy Expo and their always popular Networking Dinner.

Registration details are here:

https://events.humanitix.com/barwon-bioenergy-forum

For more information on the Victorian Bioenergy Network, please follow this link:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/victorian-bioenergy-network/

Events

A series of online sessions has recently been delivered across the IWN programs.

Recent events included:

Webinar: Micro Water Treatment Plant (Brolga)

Tech Talk: Nature-based tertiary wastewater treatment (RegenAqua)

Recordings of these sessions are available via the IWN Members section of the website. Here is the link: – https://iwn.org.au/member-portal/events/

Upcoming online sessions:

Thursday 4 June (12–1pm) — Webinar: CCTV Pipe Inspection Software powered by AI (VAPAR)

Thursday 18 June (12-1pm) – Lunch & Learn: Lily: Operational Intelligence at Your Fingertips with Teamsolve

Thursday 25 June (12-1pm) – Lunch & Learn: Real-time insights for sewer, water and industrial assets with Kallipr

Thursday 23 July (12-1pm) – Webinar: Ozone Nanobubbles

Access to recordings and calendar invites is via the IWN Members section of the website. If you’re part of a member organisation and not yet registered, please use the following link to register.

May 2026

Pyroco MK2 – end of an era, beginning of the next

After six years of pilot-scale trials, one of Australia’s leading biosolids-to-biochar projects is entering an exciting new phase.

Developed by RMIT University in partnership with South East Water and Roundhill Engineering, Pyroco converts biosolids and organics into high-value biochar while destroying contaminants of concern including PFAS, microplastics and pharmaceuticals.

The development of Pyroco has seen three distinct stages:

• STAGE 1 — Proving the Technology

Following a successful series of lab trials, IWN coordinated the deployment of the Pyroco MK1 pilot plant at Greater Western Water’s (GWW) Melton site in 2020, successfully demonstrating production of high-quality biochar (from South East Water and GWW biosolids), semi-commercial scale operation, and PFAS reduction to below detectable limits. Its success helped unlock more than $2 million in collaborative funding from utilities, government and industry partners to develop a larger and more automated pilot plant – Pyroco MK2.

• STAGE 2 — Scaling Up & Testing PFAS Destruction

Stage 2 had two phases. In the first phase, the Pyroco MK2 pilot plant was commissioned at GWW Melton site in 2023 and processed biosolids from utilities across Victoria (South East Water, Barwon Water, East Gippsland Water and Westernport Water).

In the second phase lasting almost 2 years,  Pyroco MK2 processed a wide variety of biosolids and blended biosolids/organics feedstocks from across Australia at the GWW Melton site including a significant batch of high-PFAS biosolids.  Both Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials successfully produced functionalised biochars from the feedstocks and validated large-scale process performance. It was also confirmed that PFAS is not volatilised during the drying phase, nor was PFAS detected anywhere in the process post-Pyrolysis. The findings in Stage 2 represent a major step forward for future regulatory confidence and biosolids management pathways. The MK2 Phase 1 report is on IWN’s website in the members portal (https://iwn.org.au/member-login/ – you can use your water corporation email address to register for the members portal). The MK 2 Phase 2 report will be available in the coming months.

• STAGE 3 — Next Phase of Development

While the MK2 pilot plant will be decommissioned in this month, the Pyroco journey is far from over. A new consortium comprising South East Water, IOTA Services, RMIT University, Roundhill Engineering, Aquametro, and IWN has secured a $3 million CRC‑P grant to develop a Pyroco demonstration plant, targeted for construction in 2027. The facility will deliver a fully integrated, end‑to‑end biosolids‑to‑biochar process, building on the success of the pilot program and advancing the technology toward broader application.

The Pyroco program has helped establish biochar production from biosolids as a credible circular economy pathway for the Victorian and Australian water sector. IWN are incredibly grateful to the Greater Western Water Team at the Melton Recycling Water Plant for enabling the commercial development of Pyroco through the pilot studies, and to the teams at South East Water, IOTA Services, RMIT University, Roundhill Engineering, Barwon Water and DEECA who have supported the pilot trials of Pyroco in collaboration with IWN. A special call out also to South East Water’s Chief Scientist – Biosolids, Dr Aravind Surapaneni who led the IWN Circular Economy Solids Stream for almost 10 years and was the driving force behind ensuring the success of Pyroco.

Stay tuned over the coming year for further developments.

IWN Circular Economy Program Leadership

The Intelligent Water Networks Circular Economy (CE) Program is entering an exciting new era of leadership, with Olivia Reynolds and Rodrigo Marquina appointed as the new Program Lead and Deputy Program Lead respectively, commencing 1 June 2026.

Olivia Reynolds is the Enterprise Research, Development and Innovation Manager at Yarra Valley Water, with more than 20 years experience shaping and leading high impact R&D portfolios across sustainability, biosecurity and emerging industries in Australia and internationally. She brings strong expertise in research governance, strategic program design, innovation pathways and industry–research partnerships, translating evidence into practical outcomes that support organisational strategy and sector transformation. Olivia holds a PhD in Rural Science and is recognised for collaborative leadership that connects industry, research and government to deliver measurable innovation value.

Rodrigo Marquina is a Senior Infrastructure Engineer at Goulburn Valley Water and has been an active contributor within the IWN CE Program for several years, previously serving as Deputy Lead of the Solids Stream. Rodrigo brings strong technical expertise and a deep understanding of circular economy opportunities within the water sector.

The CE leadership changeover also marks the transition of outgoing CE Program Lead Michael Thomas and Deputy Lead Kerryn Lester-Smith into the IWN Connect Program to establish a new Communications and Member Engagement Stream. The aim of this new stream is to enhance the awareness of IWN projects and to give our members greater opportunities to engage with IWN.

Michael’s and Kerryn’s leadership of the CE Program has helped shape and grow it into one of IWN’s most active and collaborative programs with a portfolio of more than a dozen projects and a strong roadmap for the next few years. Their efforts have supported a wide range of partnerships and sector-wide initiatives focused on resource recovery, beneficial reuse and circular economy outcomes.

We sincerely thank Michael and Kerryn for their outstanding contribution and leadership, and warmly welcome Olivia and Rodrigo into their new roles as the CE Program continues to grow and deliver substantial member value and transformational projects.

With the Circular Economy Program entering its next phase of delivery and collaboration, we invite water industry members, researchers and RDI partners to connect with Olivia and Rodrigo  via enquiries@iwn.org.au to explore opportunities to shape and participate in impactful circular economy initiatives. Whether you are interested in project collaboration, knowledge sharing, co-investment or piloting innovative solutions, we welcome conversations that strengthen partnerships and accelerate practical outcomes across the sector.

Mentoring program launch

The IWN Mentoring Program launched last week with over 100 people from across the IWN Membership participating in the 2026 Program.

Our Program uses the GROW model at its core to facilitate six growth-based conversations between mentor and mentee.

Each participant receives a pack with all of the conversation frameworks and ideas for implementing their learnings and insights.

A big shout out to Amanda Cheang, Alexandra Mobilia, Isobel Decru and Cameron Geddes for their outstanding work to bring this years Mentoring Program to life.

Whitecard app

IWN, through its Safety Innovation Program, have been working with the OH&S Network Committee, chaired by Rachael Raby, to establish an initial project to design a prototype app for a “white card” induction system for the Victorian Water Sector. This “problem to solve” has been raised through the OH&S Network at various forums over the last few years in particular.

The app would enable contractor “self-service” to conduct a base line induction process then enable organisation, site or project specific induction as required by exception.

The development of the prototype app aims to provide a level of consistency for safety induction and expectation across the sector and streamline the processes for collection and maintenance of Contractor Safety induction, licence data etc. within our organisation’s existing systems.

Supported by the VicWater Safety Executive Group, IWN have engaged NCS to guide us through the process and develop the minimum viable product (MVP) and are now working with stakeholders in a DISCOVERY phase.

IWN events/webinars

A series of online sessions has recently been delivered across the IWN program.

Recent events included:

• Webinar: Condition Monitoring for Hard-to-Reach Assets (Samotics)
• Webinar: Wastewater Heat Recovery
• Tech Talk: Advanced Wet Chemistry Technology

Recordings of these sessions are available via the IWN Members section of the website link to page here – https://iwn.org.au/member-portal/events/

Upcoming online sessions:

• Thursday 14 May (12–1pm) — Webinar: Micro Water Treatment Plant (Brolga)
• Thursday 21 May (12–1pm) — Tech Talk: Nature-based tertiary wastewater treatment (RegenAqua)
• Thursday 4 June (12–1pm) — Webinar: CCTV Pipe Inspection Software powered by AI (VAPAR)

Access to recordings and calendar invites is via the IWN Members section of the website. If you’re part of a member organisation and not yet registered, please use the following  link to register.

Conference registration – both days

The IWN Members Conference returns in 2026 with the theme Celebrating Excellence in Innovation.

The conference will highlight projects demonstrating innovation in action across the water sector, with a focus on practical solutions, collaboration, and real-world impact.

This year’s event will run across two days. Day 1 will be a formal conference held at the State Library, featuring speakers and presentations, followed by an optional Gather & Graze Dinner at the Oxford Scholar Hotel. Day 2 will be held online as a participant-led Unconference, focusing on IWN programs and future opportunities.

The conference is open to all IWN members, including employees from Victorian and Tasmanian water corporations.

Program details will be released soon.

Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/iwn-members-conference-2026

 Bioenergy Network Forum

IWN is a supporter of the Victorian Bioenergy Network. The VBN is doing important work in facilitating the conversations that matter to accelerate the role that bioenergy plays in decarbonising our energy ecosystem and to build bio-economies.

Their next event, the Barwon Bioenergy Forum, is on 10th June at Warun Ponds sponsored the Victorian Government and Barwon Water. The Forum features speakers from Barwon Water, Boeing, GrainCorp, GreenPower, LMS Energy, DEECA, Veolia, Saputo Dairy and more. The day includes a mini Bioenergy Expo and their always popular Networking Dinner.

Registration details are here:

https://events.humanitix.com/barwon-bioenergy-forum

For more information on the Victorian Bioenergy Network, please follow this link:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/victorian-bioenergy-network/

Trial Opportunity – Regen Aqua

Pacific Bio’s RegenAqua Technology is an Australian-developed, nature-based tertiary wastewater treatment process using native macroalgae to remove nutrients from secondary-treated wastewater to augment nutrient removal in lagoon-based systems.  The technology has been proven at scale, with a fully operating facility in north Queensland, which won the 2025 Queensland Water Award for Regional Infrastructure Project Innovation, and a demonstration site with Sydney Water in Picton NSW, which has been running for 3 years.

RegenAqua and offers a carbon-neutral alternative to traditional, energy-intensive systems by providing high-efficiency nutrient removal and potential non-regulated revenue through the sale of agricultural biostimulants or bioenergy feedstock generated from the harvested algae.

https://regenaqua.com.au/

We will be running a Tech Talk with the RegenAqua Team on 21 May at 12pm – follow this link to add the event to your calendar:

We will also announce a trial opportunity during the Tech Talk.

Until next month, be safe, be well, be innovative

The IWN Team

April 2026

Hi and welcome to the IWN April Update.

Champions Day

The IWN Champions Program is a two-year development program for emerging leaders across IWN member organisations, designed to build capability, strengthen networks, and support innovation across the sector.

As part of the program, Champions come together twice a year for a full-day workshop—providing a valuable opportunity to step away from day-to-day roles and focus on learning, collaboration, and connection.

This recent session focused on practical learning and leadership development. Champions explored their Team Management Profiles (TMPs) to better understand working styles and team dynamics, gained insights into the evolving role of AI in the water sector, and further developed their leadership capability. Just as importantly, the day created space to connect—both as a full cohort and within regional groups—strengthening relationships and shared understanding across organisations.

The program is facilitated by Cameron Geddes from The Geddes Group, whose ongoing passion and energy continue to create an engaging and impactful experience for participants.

We also welcomed 9 new Champions to the program: Michael Robinson (Central Highlands Water), Mathisha Mudalige (Coliban Water), Samuel Ingram (East Gippsland Water), Michael Dinh (Gippsland Water), Julie Murrell (Goulburn Valley Water), Sergio Cabrera (Melbourne Water), Brydie Campbell (North East Water), Esther Thomson (Wannon Water) and Alexandra Martin (Westernport Water).

We encourage all IWN members to connect with their organisation’s Champion—whether to learn more about IWN, explore innovation opportunities, or share insights across teams. After all, today’s BAU was yesterday’s innovation.

Leadership Day

IWN’s 8 Program Teams are the heart and soul of IWN – they run our programs of work, trials, and identify technology and grant opportunities.

We bring all our program leaders together twice a year for a full day workshop to enhance collaboration, idea and priority sharing and to discuss value creating opportunities.

The recent workshop was a rich conversation, sharing progress and outcomes on key trials, exploring grant opportunities and further developing the IWN Program roadmaps. We also discussed to challenges of moving from trial to adoption.

If you’d like to learn more about the IWN Programs and peruse trial report and opportunities, head on over to the IWN website members portal at www.iwn.org.au (note all staff from IWN member organisations can self-register for the IWN Members Portal on our website by using your work email address).

Photos from the Champions Workshop, held at the VicWater Office last month.

WIOAVic 2026 is a wrap!

Congratulations to Team WIOA for a terrific conference and exhibition in Bendigo last week.

IWN was there in force with Isobel “Whac-a-Mole Champion” Decru taking on all comers in the IWN “Whac-a-Mole Challenge”. Izzy remained undefeated until she capitulated to Jacob Smith from Wannon Water, who was the only one to emerge from the Challenge triumphant. Looks like Whac-a-Mole will be a feature at future IWN events.

Our trial competition, which is in its third year, received strong interest with four trials ultimately being supported. Congratulations to:

Keldi Brauman from Goulburn Valley Water, Rakesh Patel from Central Highlands Water and Mick Fawcett from South Gippsland Water who will all trial the BACTOSURE technology.

James Higgins from Goulburn Valley Water and Aaron O’Shea from North East Water who will trial the ZiP Diagnostics Technology.

Peter McDowell from Central Highlands Water who will trial the Xylem Concertor pump.

David Reyne from Central Highlands Water who will trial Hexa-Cover distributed by Earth Water & Infrastructure.

We also found a couple of really interesting technologies to trial which we will be shaping up in the coming weeks with members.

We were joined on our exhibition stand by our partners from TeamSolve (Lily trial) and Transient Detect (pressure transients trial) as well as our friends at WaterAble.

All in all, a tremendous success.

Street Talk 

Last week, we caught up with the Exec Teams at Gippsland Water and East Gippsland Water to share to great work that IWN and our Champions, Program Teams and Trial Leads are doing in their water authorities and to discuss the trial opportunities coming up.

Of note, was the visit to the Neerim South plant to see the Oxygen Nanobubble trial that was funded by the Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge. The trial is progressing with lots of valuable learnings captured. We also met with the technology providers on site. They expressed how important the IWN trial has been to learn about their own system performance “in the real world” and to feed their learnings into their product and applications development. This ultimately benefits our sector as the technologies will be more fit for purpose for our applications.

We look forward to visiting Coliban Water on 14 April, Lower Murray Water on 21 April and GWMWater on 28 April. Please reach out at enquiries@iwn.org.au if you’d like us to conduct a presentation to your team or organisation

Grow your network. Grow your career. Give back

Expressions of interest are now open for the IWN 2026 Mentoring Program—an opportunity to connect, learn and contribute across Victoria’s water sector.

Whether you’re looking to expand your professional network, gain fresh perspectives, or support the development of others, the program offers a structured and rewarding experience for both mentors and mentees.

Participants are matched with peers outside their usual networks, creating space to share knowledge, explore new ways of working, and build lasting connections across organisations. With a six-month structured program, including monthly check-ins, you’ll be supported to set and achieve meaningful professional goals.

Past participants highlight the program’s strong structure, practical tools, and the value of learning from others across the sector—often leading to increased confidence, broader perspectives, and lasting professional relationships.

Key dates:

• Applications close: 20 April
• Program kick-off: 27 April
• Duration: 6 months

If you’re ready to grow your career, expand your network, or give back to the sector, we encourage you to apply.

Submit your expression of interest via the link

Expression of interest 2026 IWN Mentoring Program (Page 1 of 4)

Strategic Foresight for a Shared Water Future

We were delighted to participate in an AWA Tech Session with Melbourne Water’s James Allen – Manager of Corporate Futures, Sustainable Futures.

It was sensational. We learned that strategic futures are not about predicting the future they are about developing probable, plausible and possible futures then developing strategies to navigate those futures through informed decision making. It’s a powerful way of thinking and develops more resilient organisations.

James took us through a short group exercise to demonstrate the approach and methodology.

We hope to have James along to one of our Wednesday morning IWN Updates sometime this year. Stay tuned.

If you’d like to enquire about one of our trials, grants, projects or you have an idea or challenge you’d like to explore, drop us a line at enquiries@iwn.org.au

Cheers Jason, Izzy and Lucy

March 2026

Hi and welcome to the IWN March Update

In-Stream Customer Experience Stream Launches with Strong Momentum

Following the successful launch of the In-Stream Asset Intelligence Stream with NCS, this month we held the first workshop of the Digitising Customer Experience Stream facilitated by Salesforce.  

The session brought together passionate representatives from VicWater, Yarra Valley Water, North East Water, South Gippsland Water, and Coliban Water, along with industry partners and facilitators from Salesforce.  

The Essential Services Commission also joined the discussion, contributing valuable regulatory insights—particularly around safety-by-design and protecting vulnerable customers, which sparked one of the day's most significant "aha" moments. The workshop demonstrated the power of genuine collaboration, with participants openly sharing challenges and opportunities facing the sector. 

In-Stream is a 12-month public/private co-creation innovation process based on design thinking facilitated by global innovation leaders. 

In-Stream brings together water authorities, regulators and technology experts to co-create practical solutions to the sector's most pressing challenges and strengthen innovation capability across the sector. By the end of the program, participants will have co-designed and piloted solutions to improve customer experiences for millions of water users across Victoria, with a focus on digitising customer interactions and embedding safety-by-design principles. With the first of twelve workshops complete, the strong energy and collaboration already on display suggest the program is off to a promising start.  

To join the In-Stream Program, please drop us a line at enquiries@iwn.org.au 

 The In-Stream Program Process 

Leading the way in Climate Resilience 

IWN Climate Resilience Program Lead Hayley Vinden (Barwon Water) gathered the Program Team from across the state at the VicWater office last week to discuss the Program's priorities for 2026. 

It was the first time the Program Team had all been face-to-face – there was a terrific energy in the room and it's led to some incredible projects. 

One such project is an ARC Linkage submission to develop a next generation floating wetlands for secondary wastewater treatment which could substantially reduce emissions from the wastewater treatment process. 

If you are interested in joining the Program Team or in their roadmap of initiatives for 2026, please drop us a line at enquiries@iwn.org.au 

Access to events

As many of you may know, IWN has recently launched a new website, which brings together key information about IWN and our activities. 

The website also includes the IWN Members Portal, which provides a central place to access information on projects and trials, upcoming events, and other updates across the network. 

If you're unsure whether you have access to the Members Portal, most organisations within the Victorian water sector are members. Currently 16 of the 18 Victorian water utilities, along with DEECA and TasWater, are part of the network. If you register using your work email address from a member organisation, you should automatically receive access. 

If you haven't registered yet, you can do so here:
Member Registration | Intelligent Water Networks 

We have a number of upcoming events and encourage members to take part. To view these, simply log in to the Members Portal and navigate to the Events page. 

https://iwn.org.au/member-portal/events/#/ 

All IWN events are hosted on the Elefant platform, where you can browse upcoming sessions and add them directly to your calendar. You can also view past events, where recordings and materials from previous sessions are available. 

February 2026

Hi and welcome to the IWN February Update

We’re only just into February, and already there’s been plenty happening across the IWN community. As we wrap up some major milestones from late last year and look ahead to what’s coming, here’s a snapshot of recent highlights and how you can get involved.

Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge (WMCIC)

Late last year, we were proud to announce the winners of the Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge. The quality of submissions once again highlighted the strength of collaboration and innovation across the sector.

Joint Winners

• Slashing our methane emissions by 50% — installing solar aerators on facultative wastewater lagoons, led by Coliban Water
• From Sewers to Solutions: Unlocking the Energy in Wastewater Networks, led by Barwon Water, in partnership with Barwon Asset Solutions, Applied Energy Planning, and STEN

First Runner-Up

• 90% Less Water, 100% More Clean, led by Barwon Water in partnership with Yarra Valley Water, South East Water, and Downer

Second Runner-Up

• CSIRO Enhanced Constructed Wetlands, led by Yarra Valley Water in partnership with TasWater, Westernport Water, CSIRO, and Melbourne Water

A huge thank you to all finalists and submitters for the time, effort, and ambition behind your ideas — the depth and quality of thinking across the Challenge continues to impress.

For those with a particular interest in biosolids management, keep an eye out for more information on the 2026 Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge.

👉 Read more about the submissions on the Website here – https://climateinnovationchallenge.org.au/2025-challenge-results/

In-Stream Programs Update

IWN’s In-Stream is a structured innovation process designed to help the sector tackle complex, shared challenges by applying world-leading innovation methodologies. In-Stream brings together utilities, partners, and subject matter experts to define challenges, explore solutions, and progress ideas toward trials and adoption.

The In-Stream process broadly focuses on:

• Clearly defining and validating the challenge
• Exploring and refining potential solutions
• Prototyping and testing preferred options
• Evaluating outcomes and pathways to adoption

Our current streams are focused on priority areas for the sector:

• Intelligent Asset Management Stream — now underway, exploring smarter, more data-driven approaches to asset management
• Digitising the Customer Experience Stream — commencing in March, focused on improving how utilities engage with and support customers through digital solutions

If you’re interested in being involved in either stream, please get in touch — there are opportunities to contribute, learn, and collaborate across organisations.

2026 IWN Annual Conference

Planning is underway for the 2026 IWN Annual Conference, themed “Celebrating Excellence in Innovation.”

📅 27 July 2026

📍 State Library of Victoria

Please pop a placeholder in your calendar — more details will be shared soon.

Also, if you are interested in being part of shaping up what the program looks like please get in touch so you can be part of the planning committee.

Interested in sponsoring the event?

📩 Contact Isobel.decru@vicwater.org.au for sponsorship information.

Circular Economy Program – Program Lead Expression of Interest

IWN is seeking Expressions of Interest from staff within IWN Member organisations to take up the role of Program Lead, IWN Circular Economy Program.

The current incumbent, Michael Thomas (R&D, Barwon Water), will be transitioning into the IWN Connect Program to establish the IWN Engagement Stream.

IWN Program Leads play a key role in the transformation of the water sector across Victoria and Tasmania. The role offers a unique opportunity to build sector-wide networks, influence direction, and create real impact.

Key details:

• Volunteer role with a 2-year tenure
• Minimum commitment of approximately one day per month

About the Program Lead role:

The Program Lead is responsible for guiding the Circular Economy Program to deliver the outcomes identified in its Program Roadmap. The role sits within the IWN Leadership Team and includes responsibilities such as:

• Leading the development and delivery of the program roadmap and budget
• Chairing and maintaining engagement of the program working group
• Maintaining engagement with program members
• Providing high-level reporting on program outcomes
• Sharing learnings and outcomes across member organisations through leadership meetings, conferences, and other forums
• Actively contributing to IWN’s strategic direction and communications

For a conversation to learn more about the role and opportunity, please contact:

• Jason Cotton, IWN Program Director — jason.cotton@iwn.org.au
• Isobel Decru, IWN Deputy Program Director — isobel.decru@vicwater.org.au
• Michael Thomas, Circular Economy Program Lead — michael.thomas@barwonwater.vic.gov.au

 Wednesday Morning Update Meetings

Our IWN Wednesday Morning Update Meetings are kicking off again on 18 February, and we’re excited to jump into another year of great conversations, shared insights, and engaging topics from across the sector.

These sessions are a fantastic way to stay connected, hear what’s happening across IWN, and learn from others in the community. If there’s something you’d like to share or discuss with the group and you’d like to use one of the IWN update slots, we’d love to hear from you — please contact enquiries@iwn.org.au.

If you didn’t receive an invite last year and would like to be added to the distribution list, simply email enquiries@iwn.org.au, and we’ll make sure you’re included.

Upcoming Online Sessions

We’re currently planning our Tech Talks, Webinars, and Lunch & Learn sessions for the year, and we already have a strong and varied line-up taking shape.

Keep an eye out for upcoming topics — and if there’s a subject you’re passionate about, a project you’d like to showcase, or a conversation you’d like to spark, please let us know. We’re always keen to feature ideas and voices from across the IWN community.

Until next time, thank you for your continued energy, ideas, and support.

Cheers,
The IWN Team

December 2025

Hi everyone.

It’s hard to believe that this is the last IWN Update for 2025 – where did the year go?

At this time every year, I take the opportunity to sit amongst nature and reflect on the year that was and look forward to the year that will be.

2025 was certainly an amazing year at IWN.

Here are a few highlights that come to mind:

• We successfully completed many transformational trials – Super Critical UV, Pressure Transients, Lily, Samotics, EncapsulateAC, Nanobubbles, Dig Metering Business Case, Hydraloop, Pyrolysis Mk2 just to name a few of our portfolio of now 50+ Active projects!

• We commenced Victoria’s first Advanced Greywater Recycling trials in residential and commercial settings with 8 Hydraloop units – we are grateful to the IWN member who volunteered their home for one of the units, and to the incredible project team.

• We finalised the IWN program structure into 8 member aligned programs of work plus our highly valued Champions program.

• The Champions program had a focus on intrapreneurship to drive innovation through emerging leaders.

• The new Minister for Water, Hon Gayle Tierney MP launched the 2025 Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge (WMCIC) with the largest funding pool so far – $280K. Watch out for the announcement of the 2025 winners in the coming days. The Minister also announced the extension of the WMCIC into 2026 with a further $300K of funding – tremendous support for IWN by our new Minister.

• We launched our new website – head on over to iwn.org.au to check it out and learn about the great trials and projects.

• Our IWN Members Conference with the theme of Future Ready – Resilience through Innovation was applauded by the 170 attendees – you can see all the sessions in the members area of our new website. Save the date! 27 July 2026 for the IWN Members Conference.

• The Mentoring Program was refreshed with 29 mentor/mentee pairs undertaking the 6 month program. We will definitely run this again in 2026.

• We launched In-Stream – a 12-month program of innovation partnering with NCS and Salesforce.

• We delivered another super Hackathon – this year we gamified digital metering data to change customers behaviours.

• We again partnered with WIOA to support an Operator trial at the WIOA Conference. This year we supported both GWW and Coliban Water to trial a device to prevent struvite formation.

• We had 130 people from across the sector join our tremendous Circular Economy Tours learning from some of the best in all aspects of Circular Economy.

• We attended key sector events, including the Victorian Bioenergy Conference, gaining insights into emerging biosolids-to-energy and circular economy opportunities. More information can be found here: https://vicwater.org.au/iwn-circular-economy-gas-stream-attend-the-victorian-bioenergy-conference/

• We continued our Podcast series (see the latest at this link: https://vimeo.com/1138309759), Webinars, Lunch and Learns, and Tech Talks – these add tremendous value.

• Our Weekly Wednesday Updates kept conversations alive and helped us to get to know all the associations in our ecosystem.

• We commissioned Sandy – our AI Sandbox – we have big plans for Sandy in 2026.

• We participated in important research with CRCs, WaterRA, ARC Hubs and Universities.

• We won the Victorian AWA Research Excellence Award with our partners at SE Water, RMIT University, EPA Victoria and Melbourne Water. We were also a finalist at No Dig Awards.

• We’ve has strong international interest with presentations to senior groups in China, Canada, Poland, Netherlands, UK, New Zealand and India.

• We ate copious quantities of party pies, pizzas, hotdogs and donuts at all the workshops we ran.

• And we got lots of good press thanks to our friends at Inside Water and Prime Creative.

I could go on! A truly amazing year! I can’t wait for 2026 – it’s shaping up to be and exciting impactful year.

I’d like to express my appreciation and gratitude to the plethora of IWN leaders, volunteers and engaged members who made 2025 an incredible year and to Izzy and our VicWater colleagues for all the tremendous work they do and the passion they bring.

We look forward to 2026 with energy, excitement and optimism.

From all of us in the IWN Team, we wish you and your family all the joys of the festive season. Take care, be happy, be safe and have fun.

November 2025

What an amazing month October was at IWN.

Firstly, congratulations to Michael Thomas, Barwon Water R&D Manager and IWN Circular Economy Lead for winning the AWA Victorian Water Professional of the Year. IWN was delighted to support Michael’s nomination for all the incredible work Michael does and the positive impact that Michael has in our sector.

IWN was also delighted to be a key collaborator in the ARC Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource along with South East Water, Melbourne Water, EPA Victoria and RMIT University which won the AWA Victorian R&D Excellence Award.

We also congratulate Wannon Water and NovoLabs who were finalists in the R&D Excellence Award for the IWN Super Critical UV Disinfection trial at Port Fairy.

WMCIC Awards Ceremony

We commenced the month with the announcement of the finalists in the Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge. Six teams from across the Victorian water sector, including one in collaboration with TasWater, will do their final pitches to the judging panel on 14 November, with the winners announced at the Awards Ceremony on 5 December at Melbourne Water. If you’d like to join us for the Awards Ceremony, please register here:

Circular Economy Changemakers Tour

35 people from across the sector joined the Circular Economy Changemakers tour to Geelong to see the Viva Energy hydrogen plant and filling station, including the incredible Barwon Water hydrogen powered truck, Barwon Water’s North Geelong plant which supplies the recycled water to the Viva Energy hydrogen plant and will receive the oxygen by-product for aeration [https://arena.gov.au/news/arena-funds-green-oxygen-trial-for-wastewater-treatment/], and the Hydraloop installation at Gordon TAFE. The tour showed us that with a mindset that sees resources not waste and embraces what is possible, tremendous innovation that positively impacts our planet can be delivered. We are currently shaping up our next Changemakers tour for early in the new year.

2025 Hackathon

We held the 2025 IWN Hackathon at Melbourne Water where 6 teams vied for the coveted title of IWN Hackathon Champions. Our challenge statement was “How might we change customers behaviour by the gamification of digital metering data”. Teams were given access to publicly available digital metering data to develop a data product that would engage customers in reducing their water consumption. The “Leek Geeks” team from Barwon Water took home the title with the “AnyH2O” Team from North East Water taking home the People’s Choice Award and the most puntastic team name going to “Aquaholics” from Coliban Water. We will now work with the teams and our University partners to further develop the data products into potential commercial applications. We thank Melbourne Water for the use of the Hack Space and to Kerryn Hyde and the Melbourne Water team for their amazing support on the day, and to Peter Prevos, Abdul-Lateef Balogun and the IWN Data and Analytics Program for creating another awesome Hackathon.

IWN Mentoring Program

We completed and celebrated the IWN Mentoring Program with a terrific online event. The 2025 mentoring program took 29 mentor/mentee pairs through a structured customised program developed in-house specifically for and by IWN. We were grateful for the inspiring words of encouragement by Jo Lim, CEO VicWater, and passionate IWN Ambassador Victor Perton. Thanks to Amanda Cheang, Alexandra Mobilia and Cammeron Geddes for their passion, drive and belief to develop and deliver an incredibly valuable program.

If you are interested in joining the 2026 Mentoring Program as either a mentor or mentee, please drop us a line at enquiries@iwn.org.au,

IWN Champions

Twice a year, IWN brings all the IWN Champions together for a workshop to develop their skills as Champions of Innovation and to enhance collaboration and networking. October saw the second of these workshops for 2025 with a focus on using AI to be more time productive, communication strategies and organisation engagement. The highlight was a fireside chat with Gerry Van Jaarsveldt from Wannon Water who completes the Champions program at the end of the year. Gerry shared how he strategically engaged stakeholders at Wannon Water to drive engagement in IWN trials, create an IWN presence on the Wannon Water intranet, and the skills and personal development he has achieved through his Champions journey.

If you are interested in becoming a future IWN Champion, please contact your organisations IWN Champion to discuss – we have an active succession planning process.

We also bring together twice a year the IWN Leaders, ie all our Program Managers, Deputy Program Managers and Stream Leads. In our October Leaders workshop, we reflected on the successes and learnings over the past 12 months and discussed inputs into the 2026 IWN Strategy including enhancing communications, creating more collaboration opportunities between the IWN programs and the IWN program teams and champions, grant opportunities and how we transition from trial to adoption. We are grateful to all our volunteer leaders – they are the heartbeat of IWN.

Pressure Transients Workshop and Tour

34 people from across the sector joined our Pressure Transients workshop and tour last month. You may have seen the trials of the Transient Detect AI software that we have been running at SE Water, Greater Western Water, Yarra Valley Water and shortly, Central Highlands Water. We visited the sites at Newport and in the CBD where the trials have had significant positive impact, increasing asset life by an estimated 10+ years. We then headed back to the VicWater office to workshop how we might use these trials as a use case for transitioning from trial to adoption with speed and scale. The outputs from the workshop will feed into the IWN Strategy session with the Executive Group on 5 December.

AI Sandbox – Sandy

With great excitement, we set up our AI Sandbox, affectionately known as “Sandy”. Thanks to Brock Tunnicliffe from Greater Western Water for setting it up. At one of our IWN updates, around 40 of us did a brainstorming on use cases to trial using Sandy. We are now working through those to establish priorities and a work plan. Sandy gives us the capability and capacity to trial and experiment with AI without any potential influence on corporate systems or issues with data security.

Lunch and Learn

Our lunch and learn last month was with Novolabs – https://vimeo.com/1129751941/62f3e34e19?fl=ip&fe=ec.  This month was with Lutra on the automated coagulant dosing trial at TasWater using the Compass Technology. Please contact us if you’d like a copy of this webinar – enquiries@iwn.org.au.

To keep up with all the IWN latest, you can join our Wednesday morning updates from 8.30 to 9 am every Wednesday. Please drop us a line to be added to the Teams link – enquiries@iwn.org.au.

Until next month, be safe, be innovative and take care.

Cheers

The IWN Team

October 2025

Hi and welcome to the IWN October Update

After a busy few weeks with the VicWater Conference, project launches and developing new opportunities, we are gearing up for some exciting events just around the corner, here’s a snapshot of what’s been happening and how you can get involved.

IWN Conference

📸 Relive all the highlights of the IWN Members Conference presentation videos and conference photos in the Members Portal of the IWN website.

🔑 If you don’t yet have access to the IWN Members Portal, email enquiries@iwn.org.au. (Note: available to IWN member organisations only.)

💭 Have your say — We’re already starting to think about the 2026 Conference and would love your input. Please complete this short survey – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QNPJSMQ.

In-Stream – Stream Teams Expression of Interest

Do you want to help shape solutions for some of the biggest challenges facing the sector? Expressions of interest are now open to join one of our In-Stream Teams.

This is a 12-month commitment (less than one day per month on average), and an exciting opportunity to learn world leading innovation methodologies and processes and collaborate with top innovation and technology companies, including NCS and Salesforce.

👉 Submit your EOI here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8GX7ZZH

What is In-Stream? In-Stream is a process of innovation. It taps the global best practice methodologies that our partner organisations use in their own businesses to drive innovation at speed and scale. Broadly the In-Stream process will explore:

• Define the challenge – refine and validate the challenge statement
• Ideate for potential solutions
• Refine potential solutions
• Prototype and iterate the preferred solution
• Evaluate and Adopt

We have been very conscious of working with our partners NCS and Salesforce to ensure that the In-Stream process and code of conduct are clear and that our assurance partner Isle Utilities, has put in place the appropriate guard rails to keep the In-Stream process on track.

In the lead up to the In-Stream launch at the VicWater Conference, IWN has undertaken an 18-month process of establishment overseen by the IWN Executive that involved:

• 50 organisations engaged in potential partnership conversations
• Appointment of Isle Utilities (Northumbrian Water and Sydney Water Innovation Festivals) as the assurance and governance partner
• Conduct of a public Expression of Interest (EoI) for partners
• Evaluation of EoI submissions by a representative committee
• Included a strict code of conduct in the partnership contracts

If anyone has any questions about In-Stream, please feel free to reach out to Jason.

Hydraloop Officially Launched

We were thrilled that the Hon Gayle Tierney, Minister for Water and Minister for Skills and TAFE officially launched Victoria’s first trial of an Advanced Grey Water Recycling system this month. The technology from The Netherlands called Hydraloop is a cutting-edge water recycling solution can help us reduce demand on potable supplies and support a more circular water future. Launched at the Gordon TAFE in Geelong, where a purpose built demonstration facility will serve as an important educational tool engaging plumbing and construction students in leading water innovation.  It’s an exciting milestone and a great example of how technology and collaboration can solve some of our water security challenges.

https://insidewater.com.au/victoria-greywater-recycling-trial/

Pressure Transients Workshop & Site Tour

IWN and Transient Detect are teaming up to deliver a unique Workshop and Site Tour on Pressure Transients in the water network.

What’s included:

Site visits to Newport and Melbourne CBD to see real case studies in action.

A catered workshop at VicWater offices, facilitated by David Bergmann, exploring the big-picture future of pressure management: the barriers, opportunities, and what utilities need to make this work.

This one’s for the engineers (but all are welcome).

👉 Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/victorian-pressure-transients-workshop

Water Minister’s Climate Innovation Challenge (WMCIC)

The 2025 WMCIC has now closed with the judging process officially underway. We again had 12 quality submissions with a number of multiple utility and external partner collaborations. A huge thank you to everyone who submitted their bold ideas.

Finalists will be announced in National Water Week with the announcement of winners at the Award Ceremony on 5^th December at Melbourne Water Docklands. More details coming soon.

Hackathon 2025 – “Gamify to Modify”

The countdown is on! The 2025 IWN Hackathon will be held on Friday 17 October at Melbourne Water, Docklands.

This year’s theme challenges teams to design digital products that gamify digital meter data to influence customer behaviour. Registrations are now closed, but we can’t wait to see what our sector’s best thinkers create.

Podcasts, Lunch & Learns, and Webinars

We’ve got a wave of events coming your way:

Lunch & Learn Sessions — We kicked off again with Stormharvester, one of our conference sponsors. Their AI-powered technology helps utilities predict, prevent, and manage wastewater and stormwater challenges.

🎥 Watch the session here: https://vimeo.com/1121755287/a853ffde76

To see what other Lunch & Learns, Tech Talks, and Webinars are coming up — as well as access IWN Wednesday Morning updates — visit the IWN Members section of our website to download calendar invites and view all past event recordings.

👉 Haven’t signed up yet? (IWN Members only) Email enquiries@iwn.org.au for access details.

Meet Sandy — Our AI Sandbox

We’re excited to announce that Sandy the AI Sandbox is now live in our office! This stand-alone platform opens up new possibilities for trialling innovative AI applications in the water sector while maintaining a secure environment. A big thank you to Brock Tunnicliffe (GWW and IWN Technology Program Manager) for bringing Sandy to life. A roadmap of exploration areas is underway — stay tuned as we start to test and share outcomes.

Mentoring Program – 2025 Wrap-Up

The IWN Mentoring Program for 2025 has officially wrapped up — and what a rewarding journey it’s been!

Over the past six months, mentors and mentees across Victoria’s water corporations have connected, shared, and learned together, building new skills and relationships that will last well beyond the program.

“Being new to the industry, I wanted to be a sponge and absorb as much as I could. Working through the structured program helped me approach change differently and really strengthened my confidence.”

“Having a framework to focus on goals was really good — I could apply those learnings myself too. It was great to share experiences and learn to be a better mentor.”

“I’m still reasonably new to being a people manager, so this was a great opportunity to develop those skills and learn how to provide value to people on different career paths.”

“I wanted to plan where my career could go and what opportunities to target. Talking with someone who’s been around longer really helped me see things in a new way.”

Each pair approached the journey differently — some followed the framework closely, others “chose their own adventure” — but all found meaning in the conversations, curiosity, and connection that mentoring fosters.

Thank you to all mentors, mentees, and facilitators for your passion and commitment. Your shared learning continues to strengthen collaboration and capability across the Victorian water sector.

IWN Opportunities – Get Involved

We currently have vacancies in the:

• Asset Intelligence Program
• Climate Resilience Program
• Data & Analytics Program

We’re also looking for new members for our Program Working Groups. These groups are the engine room behind trials and innovation across the sector.

👉 Express your interest here: https://forms.office.com/r/jr83vcrtvR

SWAN Workshop

IWN is proud to have a collaboration with the Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN), a global non-profit dedicated to advancing digital transformation in the water sector.

The SWAN Asia-Pacific workshop will be held 10-11 November at the picturesque Cockle Bay Wharf in Sydney on the theme “The Digital Utility Tipping Point: Aligning People, Technology and Policy”.

This year 25 utility speakers will discuss strategies, insights and transformation use cases across smart metering, AI and digital twins. You can find the full agenda at: https://swan-forum.com/events/4th-swan-apac-workshop-in-sydney/

SWAN have kindly offered IWN Members a 15% discount. To register, first select “Non-Member” rate, select a ticket, then enter the promo code iwn15.

Bioenergy Forum

The Victorian Bioenergy Network will be hosting its final forum of the year 12-13 November in Wodonga. This includes a keynote by Minister for Industry, Advanced Manufacturing and Creative Industries, Minister Colin Brooks and a site visit to the North East Water bioenergy facility currently under construction.

The final program and ticket purchase are at this link: 🎟️ Grab your tickets here

Until next time — thank you for your continued energy, ideas and support. Together, we’re building a stronger, more innovative water sector.

Cheers,
The IWN Team