Nicole Blackburn, Industry Sales Director and Water, Wastewater Segment Director at Schneider Electric speaks to Jo Taranto about how global megatrends, pandemic, climate change, and recent local extreme weather events have affected perceptions around water and wastewater management. She talks about the necessity to create an environment where we decarbonise, reuse, and recycle current water resources whilst better harvesting underutilised prospects like rainwater. Painting a picture towards the end of an ideal future outcome where we balance growing water consumption demands and being efficient and sustainable. Using operational efficiency, energy efficiency, IoT, and automation to making the future both green and sustainable.

Nicole Blackburn, Industry Sales Director and Water, Wastewater Segment Director at Schneider Electric speaks to Jo Taranto about how global megatrends, pandemic, climate change, and recent local extreme weather events have affected perceptions around water and wastewater management. She talks about the necessity to create an environment where we decarbonise, reuse, and recycle current water resources whilst better harvesting underutilised prospects like rainwater. Painting a picture towards the end of an ideal future outcome where we balance growing water consumption demands and being efficient and sustainable. Using operational efficiency, energy efficiency, IoT, and automation to making the future both green and sustainable.

The Australian Water Association's Podcast Series brings you water industry information, projects and research from professionals working in Australia and abroad.

The Australian Water Association's Podcast Series brings you water industry information, projects and research from professionals working in Australia and abroad.

Australian Water Association Podcast Series Archive

The Australian Water Association's Podcast Series brings you water industry information, projects and research from professionals working in Australia and abroad. Recorded during Ozwater'23, Jo Taranto interviews key water professionals on their career, achievements, promising research and more.

Proudly sponsored by Schneider Electric

The Australian Water Association's Podcast Series brings you water industry information, projects and research from professionals working in Australia and abroad. Recorded during Ozwater'23, Jo Taranto interviews key water professionals on their career, achievements, promising research and more.
Proudly sponsored by <a href="https://www.se.com/ww/en/">Schneider Electric</a>

Australian Water Association Podcast - United by Water

Australian Water Association Podcast

Nicole Blackburn on perceptual changes around sustainability and resilience seen in the Water Industry

In the latest episode of our United by Water podcast, host Jo Taranto sits down with Judy Arasanilai (Water Quality Systems Officer at MidCoast Council) to discuss Water Quality in MidCoast Drinking Water Catchments - Impacts of Drought, Bushfires, Rain & Recovery.

The MidCoast area suffered a three-pronged climate attack with droughts, severe rainfall and bushfire affecting the local communities and impacting water sources including catchment and groundwater. Judy Arasanilai completed research on local catchments to better improve water conditions while abiding by the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.



There’s been a situation where several severe weather events have placed the drinking water in your area under significant strain can you tell us a little bit about what happened over the period?

From when we had the first drought in the MidCoast Council area and then it was the hottest and driest year on record for us and all our drinking water catchments and the rivers ceased to flow by December. We also had the bush fires from October to December which was the worst bushfire wise in in Australia in terms of deaths and area affected.

All our catchments were affected by the bush fires and our biggest catchment is the Manning catchment which supplies our biggest customers. We have been using extensive groundwater supplies not only for drinking purposes but also to provide water for firefighting effects as well so when the rains were predicted for January, we needed the water.



How did you choose the testing sites?

We knew that two of our water supply drinking water catchments were affected by the fires, the Manning and the Crawford catchments and the Manning catchment is the biggest catchment and made up of several sub catchments.

The fires and the drought also affected vegetation, the soils become parched and then the fires came in and burned all the trays so now the catchments become even more erodible.

We also have metals and firefighting chemicals like fire suppression come into the waterways so if we extract the water, it presents challenges to our water treatment plants and processes. This is particularly crucial as when we supply the water to the customers, we have to comply to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines so that we don't adversely affect the customers health.

We needed to go back and assess the risk and tweak our treatment processes so that’s why we needed to do the study, to find out whether we can mitigate these risks or whether we needed to go back and look for another water source. These three weather events happening in a row are a unique opportunity for us to study and plan for the future.



When you were doing the testing, did you expect the results to have a different combination of impacts than if you just had a drought, or fire, or heavy rain as opposed to almost all three in a tight succession, did that really skew what you saw?

Yes, the drought parched all the vegetation and soil as I mentioned prior so the water wouldn't flow through the soil, and it made the soil erodible. The bush fires led to all the ash and the vegetation is now gone because the vegetation would have held the soil together and filtered some of the contaminants but now the vegetation is gone as well and then the high intensity rain would have washed all these contaminants into the water. All three events had a devastating effect compared to if it was just individualised.



Was there anything surprising in the results?

With the Barrington catchment, we saw recovery at the second phase of our research, however surprisingly the Barrington and the Crawford River catchments during the initial results had peaks of nutrients and organic carbon which basically comes from the burnt vegetation. During the subsequent rainfall events, we saw a decrease in those contaminants, we still had a peak but not as high as the initial peak. We expected that everything would be washed into the sea after this rain event and the vegetation would regrow naturally but when we looked at the Barrington and the Crawford catchments, the peaks were different for each so that was the surprise but also, we didn’t see any metals in the water.

After we did the initial test, we optimised our water treatment processes and we increased our monitoring. We have an extensive network of reservoir and reticulation pipes so it's a big system, so we had to go in and put chlorine tablets in the reservoir. By doing this, we were able to supply safe drinking water to all the communities.



How will your findings help MidCoast Council plan for future water management strategies?
We can see that these events are going to become more frequent because our region is getting dryer and hotter while simultaneously, the rainfall events are becoming more intense and unpredictable as well. These events are going to be more frequent so what we've done is we’ve created a base for future work and identified the gaps as well so currently our Council is in the middle of doing integrated water cycle management strategy which means we look at the whole of the water supply system.

It’s a strategic plan so the Council are looking at where they may need extra dams or whether they need extra groundwater supplies. We've got all this information for the planning team who can use this information and plan accordingly. We've also got a water resilience team, so they are looking at making the systems more drought resilient because we also must consider the community.

The Council also have a Catchment Manning River Estuary and catchment management plan so that the communities receive good drinking water sources and they have also got our information, research, and results to utilise to make the drinking water catchments safer.



Season 7, United by Water is proudly sponsored by Schneider Electric.

In the latest episode of our United by Water podcast, host Jo Taranto sits down with Judy Arasanilai (Water Quality Systems Officer at MidCoast Council) to discuss Water Quality in MidCoast Drinking Water Catchments - Impacts of Drought, Bushfires, Rain &amp; Recovery.
The MidCoast area suffered a three-pronged climate attack with droughts, severe rainfall and bushfire affecting the local communities and impacting water sources including catchment and groundwater. Judy Arasanilai completed research on local catchments to better improve water conditions while abiding by the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
 
There’s been a situation where several severe weather events have placed the drinking water in your area under significant strain can you tell us a little bit about what happened over the period?
From when we had the first drought in the MidCoast Council area and then it was the hottest and driest year on record for us and all our drinking water catchments and the rivers ceased to flow by December. We also had the bush fires from October to December which was the worst bushfire wise in in Australia in terms of deaths and area affected.
All our catchments were affected by the bush fires and our biggest catchment is the Manning catchment which supplies our biggest customers. We have been using extensive groundwater supplies not only for drinking purposes but also to provide water for firefighting effects as well so when the rains were predicted for January, we needed the water.
 
How did you choose the testing sites?
We knew that two of our water supply drinking water catchments were affected by the fires, the Manning and the Crawford catchments and the Manning catchment is the biggest catchment and made up of several sub catchments.
The fires and the drought also affected vegetation, the soils become parched and then the fires came in and burned all the trays so now the catchments become even more erodible.
We also have metals and firefighting chemicals like fire suppression come into the waterways so if we extract the water, it presents challenges to our water treatment plants and processes. This is particularly crucial as when we supply the water to the customers, we have to comply to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines so that we don't adversely affect the customers health.
We needed to go back and assess the risk and tweak our treatment processes so that’s why we needed to do the study, to find out whether we can mitigate these risks or whether we needed to go back and look for another water source. These three weather events happening in a row are a unique opportunity for us to study and plan for the future.
 
When you were doing the testing, did you expect the results to have a different combination of impacts than if you just had a drought, or fire, or heavy rain as opposed to almost all three in a tight succession, did that really skew what you saw?
Yes, the drought parched all the vegetation and soil as I mentioned prior so the water wouldn't flow through the soil, and it made the soil erodible. The bush fires led to all the ash and the vegetation is now gone because the vegetation would have held the soil together and filtered some of the contaminants but now the vegetation is gone as well and then the high intensity rain would have washed all these contaminants into the water. All three events had a devastating effect compared to if it was just individualised.
 
Was there anything surprising in the results?
With the Barrington catchment, we saw recovery at the second phase of our research, however surprisingly the Barrington and the Crawford River catchments during the initial results had peaks of nutrients and organic carbon which basically comes from the burnt vegetation. During the subsequent rainfall events, we saw a decrease in those contaminants, we still had a peak but not as high as the initial peak. We expected that everything would be washed into the sea after this rain event and the vegetation would regrow naturally but when we looked at the Barrington and the Crawford catchments, the peaks were different for each so that was the surprise but also, we didn’t see any metals in the water.
After we did the initial test, we optimised our water treatment processes and we increased our monitoring. We have an extensive network of reservoir and reticulation pipes so it's a big system, so we had to go in and put chlorine tablets in the reservoir. By doing this, we were able to supply safe drinking water to all the communities.
 
How will your findings help MidCoast Council plan for future water management strategies? We can see that these events are going to become more frequent because our region is getting dryer and hotter while simultaneously, the rainfall events are becoming more intense and unpredictable as well. These events are going to be more frequent so what we've done is we’ve created a base for future work and identified the gaps as well so currently our Council is in the middle of doing integrated water cycle management strategy which means we look at the whole of the water supply system.
It’s a strategic plan so the Council are looking at where they may need extra dams or whether they need extra groundwater supplies. We've got all this information for the planning team who can use this information and plan accordingly. We've also got a water resilience team, so they are looking at making the systems more drought resilient because we also must consider the community.
The Council also have a Catchment Manning River Estuary and catchment management plan so that the communities receive good drinking water sources and they have also got our information, research, and results to utilise to make the drinking water catchments safer.
 
Season 7, United by Water is proudly sponsored by <a href="https://www.se.com/ww/en/">Schneider Electric</a>.

Water Quality in MidCoast Drinking Water Catchments - Impacts of Drought, Bushfires, Rain & Recovery

In the latest episode of our United by Water podcast, host Jo Taranto sits down with Alicia Fry (Marketing and Business Communications Team Leader at Hunter Water) to discuss the 2023 Student Water Prize Paper ‘Water itself is life: how to encourage conversations through the power of Indigenous art’

Hunter Water, like many utilities have branding and there comes a time where it’s time to refresh, try out new avenues and also come together to include social value in the messaging of the brand.

Tell us about the branding opportunity and why that changed when you started thinking about the Reconciliation Action Plan?
We had the opportunity to rebrand our water bottle refill stations that we use at community events so something that's out and about in the community, they just needed a freshened up look, something a bit more modern and we realised that it was an opportunity instead of just putting a new fresh brand on it, to actually engage with an Indigenous artist and get them to help us create a new piece of art that we could use on that.

Part of that process is utilising their knowledge to tell a story about water so that we could then use it as a talking piece at events and a way to engage further with our community about water conservation and connection to Country.



Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted and how did that change when you first met Tyson?
I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted, all I knew was that it needed to be told in the right way, a  personal way from an indigenous artist that reflected our connection with water. I actually met Tyson on a day off on the weekend at a distillery in Newcastle, he was painting a surfboard as part of the festival and he was just chatting to people while he was painting so I approached him afterwards and he was definitely interested in helping us with the project and then just sort of after having a few chats with him I realised that it was going to be more than just the piece of art for the project and that it was a real opportunity to create a relationship and I saw the value in sharing that conversation.

What were the results?
We created a video of Tyson painting and while he's painting, you get to know his story and his experience and his messages about water. We shared the video to our social media pages and in Reconciliation Week. The response has been phenomenal. It’s our most engaged piece we’ve had on social media and the biggest reach for an organic post ever. The best part about the reach was that the indigenous community in our area had a unanimously positive sentiment as well, everybody felt really proud to be part of that and I guess when people are at events and they see the water stations, there is a sense of recognition of the artwork.

You said one of the most unexpected outcomes of this project was the effect that it had on staff at Hunter water? Tell us more
We engaged Tyson to work with our staff, we had our celebration event and Tyson did a live installation at that event. He painted a water tank and anybody that was at the event was able to come and help paint as well so while they were painting, they were having a chat to Tyson, hearing his stories and understanding his point of view and so it was really insightful for staff to be able to have those conversations instead of just seeing it on the video or the end product and Tyson actually told me a beautiful story that touched him in a huge way was that one of our executive managers had come up to him and thanked him for his words and his participation in the video and she mentioned that one time previously, she was going into a board meeting and she was nervous. She watched Tyson's video just before she went into the board meeting and it grounded her. I love the circle of that inspiration.

What did you learn from this process? 
The biggest learning was the value of having those conversations rather than procuring somebody for a specific purpose. I know that I've developed a great relationship with Tyson and I hope because we've had that connection and we've continued those conversations, it's not just a business transaction. Moving forward, we're able to take those learnings and look at how we can sort of change how we do things in the future as well as how we engage Indigenous organisations. Just have an open mind about it and have those conversations.



Season 7, United by Water is proudly sponsored by Schneider Electric.

In the latest episode of our United by Water podcast, host Jo Taranto sits down with Alicia Fry (Marketing and Business Communications Team Leader at Hunter Water) to discuss the 2023 Student Water Prize Paper ‘Water itself is life: how to encourage conversations through the power of Indigenous art’
Hunter Water, like many utilities have branding and there comes a time where it’s time to refresh, try out new avenues and also come together to include social value in the messaging of the brand.
Tell us about the branding opportunity and why that changed when you started thinking about the Reconciliation Action Plan? We had the opportunity to rebrand our water bottle refill stations that we use at community events so something that's out and about in the community, they just needed a freshened up look, something a bit more modern and we realised that it was an opportunity instead of just putting a new fresh brand on it, to actually engage with an Indigenous artist and get them to help us create a new piece of art that we could use on that.
Part of that process is utilising their knowledge to tell a story about water so that we could then use it as a talking piece at events and a way to engage further with our community about water conservation and connection to Country. 
Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted and how did that change when you first met Tyson? I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted, all I knew was that it needed to be told in the right way, a  personal way from an indigenous artist that reflected our connection with water. I actually met Tyson on a day off on the weekend at a distillery in Newcastle, he was painting a surfboard as part of the festival and he was just chatting to people while he was painting so I approached him afterwards and he was definitely interested in helping us with the project and then just sort of after having a few chats with him I realised that it was going to be more than just the piece of art for the project and that it was a real opportunity to create a relationship and I saw the value in sharing that conversation.
What were the results? We created a video of Tyson painting and while he's painting, you get to know his story and his experience and his messages about water. We shared the video to our social media pages and in Reconciliation Week. The response has been phenomenal. It’s our most engaged piece we’ve had on social media and the biggest reach for an organic post ever. The best part about the reach was that the indigenous community in our area had a unanimously positive sentiment as well, everybody felt really proud to be part of that and I guess when people are at events and they see the water stations, there is a sense of recognition of the artwork.
You said one of the most unexpected outcomes of this project was the effect that it had on staff at Hunter water? Tell us more We engaged Tyson to work with our staff, we had our celebration event and Tyson did a live installation at that event. He painted a water tank and anybody that was at the event was able to come and help paint as well so while they were painting, they were having a chat to Tyson, hearing his stories and understanding his point of view and so it was really insightful for staff to be able to have those conversations instead of just seeing it on the video or the end product and Tyson actually told me a beautiful story that touched him in a huge way was that one of our executive managers had come up to him and thanked him for his words and his participation in the video and she mentioned that one time previously, she was going into a board meeting and she was nervous. She watched Tyson's video just before she went into the board meeting and it grounded her. I love the circle of that inspiration.
What did you learn from this process? The biggest learning was the value of having those conversations rather than procuring somebody for a specific purpose. I know that I've developed a great relationship with Tyson and I hope because we've had that connection and we've continued those conversations, it's not just a business transaction. Moving forward, we're able to take those learnings and look at how we can sort of change how we do things in the future as well as how we engage Indigenous organisations. Just have an open mind about it and have those conversations.
 
Season 7, United by Water is proudly sponsored by <a href="https://www.se.com/ww/en/">Schneider Electric</a>.

The power of indigenous art, reconciliation and conversation

Join host Justin Matters as he sits down with Mohammad Al-Saudi (Solutions Architect and Non-revenue Water Expert at Itron) to discuss water sustainable futures and how technology can improve the quality of water from all aspects.

1. Tell us about yourself and how did you come about working for Itron and being involved in the water sector?
My journey with the water sector really began somehow unexpected. I'm a computer engineer by education and training. I graduated back in the Middle East and started working for a small technology and IoT (Internet of Things) Company. My work was focused on developing control and monitoring systems for small utilities and central, cooling companies.

This work was my first step into the water industry, at the time I didn't really envision becoming an expert in the field. I joined Itron a few years later Technology specialist, a role that really took me through a deep dive into the water business. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to work with water utilities across the Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, helping clients navigate all the complexities of water supply and demand, and integrating cutting edge technologies to enhance their operations.



2. How does technology play a part in a sustainable water future?
I remember years ago walking into a control room that had a lot of screens monitoring different parts of the distribution network. It was complex but unfortunately, it was not flexible at all. That made me realise the complexity of the water supply and the dynamics and the significance risk and cost associated with digital transformation in this sector. It was very clear that water utilities needed a simpler, faster and more flexible way to move forward the demands for a smart new approach to digitally transform their business innovation and adapt to their new challenges. What makes this possible today is that there are a lot of exciting new advancements in the Internet of Things, the IoT e.g. new water meters, new water sensors, devices that will help utilities to have the most needed visibility and to understand what's happening with the network because this is one of the biggest challenges in my opinion. Today, water utilities have low visibility on what’s happening on the network.



3. What is your best advice for young professionals looking to advance their career in water and technology? 
The water industry offer offers a lot of opportunities for Innovation, impact, professional growth and the water and Technology sectors are rapidly evolving. They're changing very quickly. Every day, we’re having new things coming up so starting a career in the water and technology sector is about contributing to our environment and our essential needs. The water industry in particular is increasingly shifting to smart technologies. My advice for any young professional is if you have skills in data analytics, IoT or AI, the water industry is a great place to b. Joining a professional association like the AWA can allow you to engage with Industry leaders.

Be ready to adapt to new technologies and shifts in this sector. Flexibility and resilience are important for navigating the opportunities in both the water sector, and the technology landscape. It’s a great place to be.

Please check out our playlist above for more podcast episodes and if you'd like to keep up to date with all the latest technology and Water Solutions with itron, please visit itron.com/apac



Season 7, United by Water is proudly sponsored by Schneider Electric.

Join host Justin Matters as he sits down with Mohammad Al-Saudi (Solutions Architect and Non-revenue Water Expert at Itron) to discuss water sustainable futures and how technology can improve the quality of water from all aspects.
1. Tell us about yourself and how did you come about working for Itron and being involved in the water sector? My journey with the water sector really began somehow unexpected. I'm a computer engineer by education and training. I graduated back in the Middle East and started working for a small technology and IoT (Internet of Things) Company. My work was focused on developing control and monitoring systems for small utilities and central, cooling companies.
This work was my first step into the water industry, at the time I didn't really envision becoming an expert in the field. I joined Itron a few years later Technology specialist, a role that really took me through a deep dive into the water business. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to work with water utilities across the Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, helping clients navigate all the complexities of water supply and demand, and integrating cutting edge technologies to enhance their operations. 
2. How does technology play a part in a sustainable water future? I remember years ago walking into a control room that had a lot of screens monitoring different parts of the distribution network. It was complex but unfortunately, it was not flexible at all. That made me realise the complexity of the water supply and the dynamics and the significance risk and cost associated with digital transformation in this sector. It was very clear that water utilities needed a simpler, faster and more flexible way to move forward the demands for a smart new approach to digitally transform their business innovation and adapt to their new challenges. What makes this possible today is that there are a lot of exciting new advancements in the Internet of Things, the IoT e.g. new water meters, new water sensors, devices that will help utilities to have the most needed visibility and to understand what's happening with the network because this is one of the biggest challenges in my opinion. Today, water utilities have low visibility on what’s happening on the network. 
3. What is your best advice for young professionals looking to advance their career in water and technology? The water industry offer offers a lot of opportunities for Innovation, impact, professional growth and the water and Technology sectors are rapidly evolving. They're changing very quickly. Every day, we’re having new things coming up so starting a career in the water and technology sector is about contributing to our environment and our essential needs. The water industry in particular is increasingly shifting to smart technologies. My advice for any young professional is if you have skills in data analytics, IoT or AI, the water industry is a great place to b. Joining a professional association like the AWA can allow you to engage with Industry leaders.
Be ready to adapt to new technologies and shifts in this sector. Flexibility and resilience are important for navigating the opportunities in both the water sector, and the technology landscape. It’s a great place to be.
Please check out our playlist above for more podcast episodes and if you'd like to keep up to date with all the latest technology and Water Solutions with itron, please visit <a href="http://itron.com/apac">itron.com/apac</a>
 
Season 7, United by Water is proudly sponsored by <a href="https://www.se.com/ww/en/">Schneider Electric</a>.

Nicole Blackburn on perceptual changes around sustainability and resilience seen in the Water Industry

Australian Water Association Podcast Series Archive

In 1 playlist(s)

Australian Water Association Podcast

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips