Ruth McDonnell talks about the role of water utilities in land management and biodiversity.

Ruth McDonnell talks about the role of water utilities in land management and biodiversity.

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 Accelerating Action Podcast Series brings you water industry information, projects and research from professionals working in Australia and abroad. Recorded during Ozwater'24, hosts Jo Taranto and Justin Matters interview key water professionals on their career, achievements, promising research and more.

Proudly sponsored by Downer

The Australian Water Association's Accelerating Action Podcast Series brings you water industry information, projects and research from professionals working in Australia and abroad. Recorded during Ozwater'24, hosts Jo Taranto and Justin Matters interview key water professionals on their career, achievements, promising research and more.
Proudly sponsored by <a href="https://www.downergroup.com/">Downer</a>

Australian Water Association Podcast - Accelerating Action

Australian Water Association Podcast

Ruth McDonnell on the role of water utilities in land management and biodiversity

In the latest episode of the Accelerating Action podcast, Mark Newland, Technical Director for Water at Downer sits down with host Jo Taranto to discuss Membrane Bioreactors.

Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are combinations of membrane processes like microfiltration or ultrafiltration with a biological wastewater treatment process, the activated sludge process. These technologies are now widely used for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.

“Activated sludge has been around since the early 1900’s”, said Mark.

“The MBRs technology are somewhat of a step change in the industry in the early 2000s and we first started to have a look at the adoption of membranes in 2002-2003. There were few reference plants in in the world, it was quite early in the commercialisation stage worldwide at that time and [with] very few suppliers as well. Our first MBR was a plant at Victor Harbour in South Australia which was designed in 2003, commissioned in 2005 and at the time it was only the second MBR in Australia and by far the largest. It has a dry weather capacity of about 5 megalitres per day.”

Mark notes that since 2005, Downer have been using a different type of membranes called hollow fibre membranes.

Advantages of MBRs

The initial selling point for MBRs focused on how they require less space than a conventional treatment plant. 

“If you fast forward through years of population growth in Australia, it's quite common that we're now finding treatment plants [that once had large amounts of space] are now constrained and they just don't have the space for expansion of the conventional process,” said Mark.

“The advantage of the MBR being compact is important in this day and age”.

MBR technology is cheaper compared to standard treatment plants due to requiring lower quantities of materials including big ticket items e.g., concrete and steel. MBRs are quicker to build, require less labour.

“If I think about my time in the industry, we've seen a couple of periods where construction costs have escalated substantially, the first of those periods was in the in the first mining boom and just more recently, treatment plant costs have practically doubled but in the meantime, membrane costs have been reducing. We're paying less for membranes than we did in the early days”, said Mark.

Key learnings

“I think it's fair to say that over the years we've got most things right but there are certainly some good lessons in both our Downer and the water industry toolkits”, said Mark.

He also points to the importance of having robust screening both upfront and continuous as a factor in why MBRs have been successful.

“We've certainly had experiences with certain types of screens that are not as reliable as others”, said Mark.

“Another important lesson is not to feed a membrane tank from one end and take the water out of the other because that overconcentrates the activated sludge and so some of the membranes are having to work a lot harder than others”.

What's next for membrane bioreactors?

Mark ends the podcast episode by relaying that there will be future development on MBRs and improved flux rates.

“We'll continue to see development... we're continuing to improve the integration of the membranes with the biological process, and we continue to achieve better efficient quality with respect to nitrogen phosphorus”, said Mark.

“With more operating experience, I'd expect to see adoption of MBR technology for upgrading of existing plants will become commonplace as it just makes so much sense from a sustainability cost, space, excellent quality and ease of operation perspective”.

Thank you to our host Jo Taranto and our guest Mark Newland for their time.

Season 8, Accelerating Action is proudly sponsored by Downer

In the latest episode of the Accelerating Action podcast, Mark Newland, Technical Director for Water at Downer sits down with host Jo Taranto to discuss Membrane Bioreactors.
<hr>
Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are combinations of membrane processes like microfiltration or ultrafiltration with a biological wastewater treatment process, the activated sludge process. These technologies are now widely used for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.
<blockquote>
“Activated sludge has been around since the early 1900’s”, said Mark.
“The MBRs technology are somewhat of a step change in the industry in the early 2000s and we first started to have a look at the adoption of membranes in 2002-2003. There were few reference plants in in the world, it was quite early in the commercialisation stage worldwide at that time and [with] very few suppliers as well. Our first MBR was a plant at Victor Harbour in South Australia which was designed in 2003, commissioned in 2005 and at the time it was only the second MBR in Australia and by far the largest. It has a dry weather capacity of about 5 megalitres per day.”
</blockquote>
Mark notes that since 2005, Downer have been using a different type of membranes called hollow fibre membranes.
<hr>
Advantages of MBRs
<blockquote>
The initial selling point for MBRs focused on how they require less space than a conventional treatment plant. “If you fast forward through years of population growth in Australia, it's quite common that we're now finding treatment plants [that once had large amounts of space] are now constrained and they just don't have the space for expansion of the conventional process,” said Mark. “The advantage of the MBR being compact is important in this day and age”.
</blockquote>
MBR technology is cheaper compared to standard treatment plants due to requiring lower quantities of materials including big ticket items e.g., concrete and steel. MBRs are quicker to build, require less labour.
<blockquote>
“If I think about my time in the industry, we've seen a couple of periods where construction costs have escalated substantially, the first of those periods was in the in the first mining boom and just more recently, treatment plant costs have practically doubled but in the meantime, membrane costs have been reducing. We're paying less for membranes than we did in the early days”, said Mark.
</blockquote>
<hr>
Key learnings
<blockquote>
“I think it's fair to say that over the years we've got most things right but there are certainly some good lessons in both our Downer and the water industry toolkits”, said Mark.
</blockquote>
He also points to the importance of having robust screening both upfront and continuous as a factor in why MBRs have been successful.
<blockquote>
“We've certainly had experiences with certain types of screens that are not as reliable as others”, said Mark.
“Another important lesson is not to feed a membrane tank from one end and take the water out of the other because that overconcentrates the activated sludge and so some of the membranes are having to work a lot harder than others”.
</blockquote>
<hr>
What's next for membrane bioreactors?
Mark ends the podcast episode by relaying that there will be future development on MBRs and improved flux rates.
<blockquote>
“We'll continue to see development... we're continuing to improve the integration of the membranes with the biological process, and we continue to achieve better efficient quality with respect to nitrogen phosphorus”, said Mark.
“With more operating experience, I'd expect to see adoption of MBR technology for upgrading of existing plants will become commonplace as it just makes so much sense from a sustainability cost, space, excellent quality and ease of operation perspective”.
</blockquote>
Thank you to our host Jo Taranto and our guest Mark Newland for their time.
<hr>
<a href="https://www.downergroup.com/">Season 8, Accelerating Action is proudly sponsored by Downer</a>

Membrane Bioreactors with Mark Newland

In the latest episode of the Accelerating Action podcast, Maria Gatica (Project Engineer), Dalia Adam (Commissioning Engineer) and Caitriona Ledgewood (Senior Community Engagement Manager) from Downer sit down with host Jo Taranto to discuss supporting women in the water industry.

Many companies and water utilities today have strong diversity and inclusion initiatives aimed at supporting and retaining women in the industry. This is a far cry from decades past when promoting women in the industry was seen as ‘niche’. Maria, Dalia and Caitriona discuss the progress made to better include more women in the sector and the lessons learned along the way.

“One of the most notable changes is female participation. When I started my first role in a civil engineering company, I was the only female embedded in the project team, we had one other female and she was a receptionist, so for me, it was quite daunting to be the only female on that team”, said Caitriona.

“When I look back to how far the industry's come, I guess that change hasn't been a quick change, it's actually been quite a long duration”.

Caitriona points to the AWA Mentoring Program as an example of how other initiatives can also create spaces for women to feel valued, supported and to work together to achieve progress.

Cross-collaboration and communication

Maria is from Chile, which has added an extra challenge to being hired as a woman in the water industry.

“It has certainly been a challenge, settling from one country to another, getting used to the new culture and when it comes down to being on the field, you certainly feel different”, said Maria.

“I look different, I speak different, so when it comes to talking to people and getting around the accent, you're trying to get your job right. If I must ask two or three times, I'm going to make sure I ask it because my goal is to do my job right. Communication is key, we all have different accents as well which is also the beauty of this diversity”.

A supportive work environment is crucial to determining the progress for how far women have come in the industry. Being able to ask the right questions and feeling comfortable enough and valued enough is pivotal.

Dalia is new to the water industry and has expressed how having supportive managers and environments is beneficial.

“Coming into the downer team, with all the engineers and especially the females around me are just so comfortable”, said Dalia.

“[I feel that I can] ask questions a million times just to get that answer.

Inspirational women in water

Maria, Dalia, and Caitriona discuss the importance of visible women role models and who has inspired them to pursue a career.

“For me it's not just one person, it's a village, it's my mother, my siblings, the aunties in my community, it's my cousins and ancestors. Being the first civil engineer in my family is a real roller coaster but I've always had that support from my family and my community so that's something that I highly value”, said Dalia.

“I owe this to my mother. From when I was very little, she empowered me and made me aware that there's no challenge I cannot overcome. My mum was the first woman to go to university among seven siblings in a countryside family” said Maria.

“At work, I encounter women that have taken me to the next level, so they see my will to learn, they see my curiosity”.

Mentoring and future steps

Mentoring can be a powerful tool for women to connect and work with other women in the industry. Mentoring creates visibility in the space and allow for flourishing projects between women. For Caitriona, being part of the AWA Mentoring program allows her to build confidence in fellow women professionals so that ‘being the only female’ in the company is no longer a present reality.

“I was determined because I didn't have that support so for me when I progressed under a leadership role, I really wanted to be the manager to my team that I felt that I never had.” Said Caitriona.

“I wanted to be a mentor, support my team and give them the tools that they needed to progress as well, and I've watched many teams members progress in their career. I definitely draw my inspiration from my team.”

Season 8, Accelerating Action is proudly sponsored by Downer

In the latest episode of the Accelerating Action podcast, Maria Gatica (Project Engineer), Dalia Adam (Commissioning Engineer) and Caitriona Ledgewood (Senior Community Engagement Manager) from Downer sit down with host Jo Taranto to discuss supporting women in the water industry.
<hr>
Many companies and water utilities today have strong diversity and inclusion initiatives aimed at supporting and retaining women in the industry. This is a far cry from decades past when promoting women in the industry was seen as ‘niche’. Maria, Dalia and Caitriona discuss the progress made to better include more women in the sector and the lessons learned along the way.
<hr>
<blockquote>
“One of the most notable changes is female participation. When I started my first role in a civil engineering company, I was the only female embedded in the project team, we had one other female and she was a receptionist, so for me, it was quite daunting to be the only female on that team”, said Caitriona.
“When I look back to how far the industry's come, I guess that change hasn't been a quick change, it's actually been quite a long duration”.
</blockquote>
Caitriona points to the AWA Mentoring Program as an example of how other initiatives can also create spaces for women to feel valued, supported and to work together to achieve progress.
<hr>
Cross-collaboration and communication
Maria is from Chile, which has added an extra challenge to being hired as a woman in the water industry.
<blockquote>
“It has certainly been a challenge, settling from one country to another, getting used to the new culture and when it comes down to being on the field, you certainly feel different”, said Maria.
“I look different, I speak different, so when it comes to talking to people and getting around the accent, you're trying to get your job right. If I must ask two or three times, I'm going to make sure I ask it because my goal is to do my job right. Communication is key, we all have different accents as well which is also the beauty of this diversity”.
</blockquote>
A supportive work environment is crucial to determining the progress for how far women have come in the industry. Being able to ask the right questions and feeling comfortable enough and valued enough is pivotal.
Dalia is new to the water industry and has expressed how having supportive managers and environments is beneficial.
<blockquote>
“Coming into the downer team, with all the engineers and especially the females around me are just so comfortable”, said Dalia.
“[I feel that I can] ask questions a million times just to get that answer.
</blockquote>
<hr>
Inspirational women in water
Maria, Dalia, and Caitriona discuss the importance of visible women role models and who has inspired them to pursue a career.
<blockquote>
“For me it's not just one person, it's a village, it's my mother, my siblings, the aunties in my community, it's my cousins and ancestors. Being the first civil engineer in my family is a real roller coaster but I've always had that support from my family and my community so that's something that I highly value”, said Dalia.
“I owe this to my mother. From when I was very little, she empowered me and made me aware that there's no challenge I cannot overcome. My mum was the first woman to go to university among seven siblings in a countryside family” said Maria.
“At work, I encounter women that have taken me to the next level, so they see my will to learn, they see my curiosity”.
</blockquote>
<hr>
Mentoring and future steps
Mentoring can be a powerful tool for women to connect and work with other women in the industry. Mentoring creates visibility in the space and allow for flourishing projects between women. For Caitriona, being part of the AWA Mentoring program allows her to build confidence in fellow women professionals so that ‘being the only female’ in the company is no longer a present reality.
<blockquote>
“I was determined because I didn't have that support so for me when I progressed under a leadership role, I really wanted to be the manager to my team that I felt that I never had.” Said Caitriona.
“I wanted to be a mentor, support my team and give them the tools that they needed to progress as well, and I've watched many teams members progress in their career. I definitely draw my inspiration from my team.”<a href="https://www.downergroup.com/"></a>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<a href="https://www.downergroup.com/">Season 8, Accelerating Action is proudly sponsored by Downer</a>

Podcast – Supporting women in water

In the latest episode of the Accelerating Action podcast, Rob Martinovic (Technology Director, Gasification, Downer) sits down with the Australian Water Association to discuss an Australian first initiative demonstrating how sewage sludge can be transformed into biochar and energy.

For those unfamiliar with biosolids, it's a by-product of wastewater treatment. Every wastewater treatment plant in Australia generates biosolids. Previously, it was just sent to farmers to compost however in recent years, there's been an increasing awareness of what's in biosolids beyond just carbon and phosphorus. Water authorities also pay to get rid of biosolids which can amount to hundreds of thousands of tons each year. So how we do solve this substantial for the industry?

Gasification facility

“The water industry has been reluctant to raise water rates, so the cost burden is on the utilities and so there's been a big push to look at how do we mitigate some of those costs” said Rob.

“There’s been a lot of work done that Downer and some of its Partners have done over several years to look mitigating operating costs and destroy contaminants and it's led us to what was built at Logan”.

Downer has partnered with Logan City Council and delivery partner Pyrocal to create an Australian first by successfully turning biosolids (sewage sludge) into renewable energy and a sustainable biochar product at the Loganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).

“It's the first of its type on a municipal scale. There is a lot of research by others as well in this field, we're not the only ones, it's just that we are the first who have been able to demonstrate it at a scale that can be built and is now operating and is fully functional”, said Rob.

Biochar

The biosolids gasification process is how sewage sludge can be dewatered, dried, and then treated with high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment to produce biogas. Recovered energy in the biogas is used to power the drying and heating processes. The gasification facility is energy neutral, with 70 per cent of the energy in biosolids recovered and reused, and the remaining energy sourced from an onsite solar power system.

The gasification facility will reduce the volume of biosolids by 90 per cent and produce a safe, environmentally friendly biochar, which is a soil conditioner that can be added to potting mix, providing a sustainable solution for the waste product. The gasification process also reduces CO2 output by 4,800 tonnes annually and prevents organic pollutants from entering the soil.

“We're taking the biosolids which look like wet mud essentially and through a number of sort of steps, we end up with a very hard pellet called biochar.” Said Rob.

Recognition and achievements

The gasification facility was awarded the National Infrastructure Project Innovation Award (Metro) at the Ozwater’23 Gala Dinner in 2023, recognising the work of the Logan Water Partnership including Logan Water, Downer, WSP in Australia, Stantec, and Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Biochar also featured in a short ABC documentary ‘The Number 2 solution’, with a starring role by Johanna Johnson, the Queensland Young Water Professional of the Year for 2022.

You can watch the documentary here.

Subsequently, Logan Water will no longer pay contractors about $1.8M a year to truck 34,000 tonnes of biosolids from Loganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) 300km to the Darling Downs agricultural area for disposal. Operational cost savings and carbon credits will return almost $1M a year to the City of Logan, and a new revenue stream is being created from biochar sales.

A sustainable outcome

This project will leave a legacy for the City of Logan and the Australian water industry by:
advancing the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
encouraging water businesses to take a more sustainable approach to managing the 2.3M tonnes of dewatered biosolids produced each year in Australia (AWA, 2019).
developing new legislation with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science to guide the production and use of biochar.
reducing energy use for City of Logan operations and increasing use of clean energy.
helping Council to meet its target of carbon neutral operations by the end of 2022.
reducing operating costs for Council, enabling funds to be redirected to other services.
sequestering carbon and supporting the economy by providing biochar to industry.

“We feel very fortunate that we're in a position where a real benefit to the Australian environment can be achieved.” Said Rob.

Season 8, Accelerating Action is proudly sponsored by Downer

<a href="https://www.downergroup.com/"></a>In the latest episode of the Accelerating Action podcast, Rob Martinovic (Technology Director, Gasification, Downer) sits down with the Australian Water Association to discuss an Australian first initiative demonstrating how sewage sludge can be transformed into biochar and energy.
<hr>
For those unfamiliar with biosolids, it's a by-product of wastewater treatment. Every wastewater treatment plant in Australia generates biosolids. Previously, it was just sent to farmers to compost however in recent years, there's been an increasing awareness of what's in biosolids beyond just carbon and phosphorus. Water authorities also pay to get rid of biosolids which can amount to hundreds of thousands of tons each year. So how we do solve this substantial for the industry?
<hr>
Gasification facility
“The water industry has been reluctant to raise water rates, so the cost burden is on the utilities and so there's been a big push to look at how do we mitigate some of those costs” said Rob.
“There’s been a lot of work done that Downer and some of its Partners have done over several years to look mitigating operating costs and destroy contaminants and it's led us to what was built at Logan”.
Downer has partnered with Logan City Council and delivery partner Pyrocal to create an Australian first by successfully turning biosolids (sewage sludge) into renewable energy and a sustainable biochar product at the Loganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).
“It's the first of its type on a municipal scale. There is a lot of research by others as well in this field, we're not the only ones, it's just that we are the first who have been able to demonstrate it at a scale that can be built and is now operating and is fully functional”, said Rob.
<hr>
Biochar
The biosolids gasification process is how sewage sludge can be dewatered, dried, and then treated with high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment to produce biogas. Recovered energy in the biogas is used to power the drying and heating processes. The gasification facility is energy neutral, with 70 per cent of the energy in biosolids recovered and reused, and the remaining energy sourced from an onsite solar power system.
The gasification facility will reduce the volume of biosolids by 90 per cent and produce a safe, environmentally friendly biochar, which is a soil conditioner that can be added to potting mix, providing a sustainable solution for the waste product. The gasification process also reduces CO2 output by 4,800 tonnes annually and prevents organic pollutants from entering the soil.
“We're taking the biosolids which look like wet mud essentially and through a number of sort of steps, we end up with a very hard pellet called biochar.” Said Rob.
<hr>
Recognition and achievements
The gasification facility was awarded the National Infrastructure Project Innovation Award (Metro) at the Ozwater’23 Gala Dinner in 2023, recognising the work of the Logan Water Partnership including Logan Water, Downer, WSP in Australia, Stantec, and Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
Biochar also featured in a short ABC documentary ‘The Number 2 solution’, with a starring role by Johanna Johnson, the Queensland Young Water Professional of the Year for 2022.
<a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/number-2-solution/video/FA2204Q001S00">You can watch the documentary here.</a>
Subsequently, Logan Water will no longer pay contractors about $1.8M a year to truck 34,000 tonnes of biosolids from Loganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) 300km to the Darling Downs agricultural area for disposal. Operational cost savings and carbon credits will return almost $1M a year to the City of Logan, and a new revenue stream is being created from biochar sales.
<hr>
A sustainable outcome
This project will leave a legacy for the City of Logan and the Australian water industry by:
<ul>
<li>advancing the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.</li>
<li>encouraging water businesses to take a more sustainable approach to managing the 2.3M tonnes of dewatered biosolids produced each year in Australia (AWA, 2019).</li>
<li>developing new legislation with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science to guide the production and use of biochar.</li>
<li>reducing energy use for City of Logan operations and increasing use of clean energy.</li>
<li>helping Council to meet its target of carbon neutral operations by the end of 2022.</li>
<li>reducing operating costs for Council, enabling funds to be redirected to other services.</li>
<li>sequestering carbon and supporting the economy by providing biochar to industry.</li>
</ul>
“We feel very fortunate that we're in a position where a real benefit to the Australian environment can be achieved.” Said Rob.
<hr>
<a href="https://www.downergroup.com/">Season 8, Accelerating Action is proudly sponsored by Downer</a>

Ruth McDonnell on the role of water utilities in land management and biodiversity

In 1 playlist(s)

Australian Water Association Podcast

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips