Many of you know that Elisa Bourke has been on secondment to IWN from Melbourne Water for the past 2 years. We are very happy to announce that Elisa is now a permanent full time staff member of IWN! Congrats Elisa and thank you for all the awesome work you do.
Earlier this month, I caught up with Ragini Prasad, the Executive Officer of the Victorian Bioenergy Network (VBN). Ragini and the VBN is on a mission to drive positive change and elevate Victoria as a bioenergy investment-friendly destination and sees the Water Industry as an important collaboration partner in that mission.
I’d encourage you to connect with Ragini on linkedin and explore opportunities for collaboration. Ragini is also looking for Water Industry representation on the VBN Strategy and Conference Committee. This as a great opportunity to be part of shaping Victoria’s bioenergy future. If you are interested in joining the Committee please contact Ragini at Executive_Officer@vicbioenergy.com.au.
Innovation is not just about new tech, it can also be about new approaches. This month, I caught up with NHP to understand their concept of dual electrical qualifications being delivered with numerous partners via an apprenticeship model.
The program combines the A-Grade Electrical Apprenticeship and Bachelor of Engineering, Electrical & Information Systems qualifications to produce highly skilled, STEM proficient licensed A Grade Electricians.
The inaugural intake is February 2024. If your organisation has interest in participating in the program, please register here:
This month will see the culmination of over 2 years of work when we commission the second generation (MK2) Pyroco Biochar Pilot Plant at Greater Western Water’s Melton site. The MK2 trials will commence in mid November to create functionalised biochar from specially blended FOGO/Biosolids feedstocks.
We thank our collaboration partners South East Water, RMIT University, Greater Western Water, DEECA, Barwon Water, Westernport Water and East Gippsland Water for their contributions to this trial. We will update you in the next edition.
As the long weekend is approaching, please be alert on the roads and remember the safe driving principles: What do I SEE, What do I THINK could happen, What can I DO to avoid or reduce the risk?
Take care and hope you back a winner, cheers JC
IWN Executive Group meeting - October at Westernport Water
Thank you to Dona and the Team at Westernport Water for hosting our IWN Executive Group meeting for October
L-R Elisa Bourke, Sarah Cumming, Tim Wood, Dona Tantirimudalige, Andrew Jeffers, Deb Fankhauser, Jeff Hayden, Jen Rebeiro, Jason Cotton, Jo Lim, Jo Murdoch, Heather Griffith
Water Minister's Climate Innovation Challenge
Submissions are in...
We are delighted to have received 13 submissions from across Victoria, many of which are collaborations between water authorities or partners. We are grateful for the passion and efforts of our Champions, the Executive Steering Committee and our judging panel for making the WMCIC come to life. Submissions are now being shortlisted for final judging.
AWA Awards October 2023...Time to Celebrate!
AWA Victorian Student Water Prize
What a joy it was to celebrate Ibrahim Hakeem’s success at the AWA Awards this month, being awarded the AWA Victorian Student Water Prize. Ibrahim is currently undertaking an Internship with IWN working on 4 key aspects of our Biochar projects.
Congratulations Ibrahim, well deserved success!
AWA R&D Excellence Award Victoria for Biochar to Batteries Prize
Congratulations to our collaboration partners Michael Thomas and co from Barwon Water, Nolene Byrne and co from Deakin University, Kalpit Shah and the team from RMIT University, City of Greater Geelong, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, and South East Water. A special shout out to Aravind Surapaneni who continues to inspire all of us with his leadership and passion for biochar research.
Kate Bardy
IWN's North East Water Champion
As a world traveller with a love for all things adventure, Kate Bardy lived and worked overseas and has now returned to her hometown of Wodonga working at North East Water as their Manager Operations, Projects and Maintenance. Kate is also IWN’s North East Water Champion....
This month we visited the Floating Wetlands Project at Westernport Water - a two-year study in collaboration with CSIRO to assess the effectiveness of nutrient removal and greenhouse gas reduction in treated wastewater. The plants have started to grow and have shown significant root growth with the warmer weather. A recently installed nitrogen analyser will collect data on the plant’s denitrification response. We will keep you updated!
L-R Jen Rebeiro, Deb Fankhauser, Heather Griffith, Jason Cotton, Elisa Bourke, Chris West, Melinda Glew, Ilse Hall
Data & Analytics State of Play Report 2023
The Data & Analytics group surveyed members to gain insights into how the industry and our organisations are supporting data and analytics.
The report on the VR Safety Training trialat Barwon Water, Central Highlands Water, East Gippsland Water, Greater Western Water & Melbourne Water is now available.
At IWN, we are looking for passionate people who are genuine about identifying solutions to drive innovation across our industry. You don’t need to be a subject matter expert, simply bring your enthusiasm to our fabulous program. These volunteer roles involve about four hours/month. If you'd like to see a position description or have a confidential discussion with us, please get in touch via our enquiries email. We are looking for our next...
We have just added to our suite of program offerings. We are looking for new Program Managers and Deputy Program Managers to head up these two new programs and develop the roadmap for their success.
Following on from our successful IUAI Drone trials at TasWater and Lower Murray Water, we now have an opportunity to trial the latest Voliro Drone Innovation with IUAI for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) of assets.
We are looking for IWN Members to partner with IWN and IUAI to conduct these trials. Please contact us at enquiries@iwn.org.au to register your interest.
In this months webinar CI&T Erin and David led The Empathy Lab Workshop. It is a series of digital-based exercises designed to help build empathy for people with disabilities, whether permanent, temporary or situational. Let us know if you'd like to see the recording by contacting us at enquiries@iwn.org.au.
Expressions of Interest to attend Pride inWater
Midsumma Pride March
Sunday February 4, 2024
The Pride in Water network has started planning for next year, and we would love to have all of the Victorian and Tasmanian Water represented.
To take on mental health, suicide, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. You coming along for the ride only makes us stronger.
Head over to the Movemebr website for more information and watch this fabulous video from Peter Cations, Safety Manager (Major Program Delivery) Melbourne Water, on why this is so important...#getchecked
Did you know we now have 12 different delivery programs?
You can head over to our website to see what's happening on our program pages.
.png?upscale=true&width=1200&upscale=true&name=Newsletter%20graphics%20(15).png)
.png?upscale=true&width=1200&upscale=true&name=Newsletter%20graphics%20(14).png)
.png?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=IWN%20Org%20Chart%202023%20(4).png)
