qldwater Blog

NEW / HOT TOPICS

1. QWAP - Wide Bay Burnett Urban Water Alliance (WBBUWA) Operators Forum 

2. Environmental Regulatory Update November
3. Draft PFAS National Environmental Management Plan 3.0 Consultation

4. DWQMPs

REMINDERS / OTHER NEWS

5. Publishing your KPI and NPR Annual Data
6. Sunwater Water Trading Board

Congratulations to the WBBUWA on holding the first Operators Forum last Thursday in Bundaberg. The day was well received with great level of engagement, networking and sharing of experiences and knowledge.  Apart from presentations on a range of topics there were site visits to Gregory River Water Treatment Plant and the Rubyanna Wastewater Treatment Plant. The WBBUWA aims to hold the 2023 Operators Forum in the North Burnett region, to continue building upon Operator connections throughout Wide Bay.

The latest update has been released by DES, see link below.  The main topic relevant to the urban water industry is the new End of Waste Codes. Submissions are due 5pm January 2023.  A representative from DES presented to the last SWEAP group. If anyone would like further information please make contact with Louise Reeves – Lreeves@qldwater.com.au

Environmental Regulatory Update newsletter (des.qld.gov.au)

The PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP) provides nationally agreed guidance and standards on the investigation, assessment and management of PFAS wastes and contamination in the environment, including prevention of the spread of contamination. Developed by all State, Territory and the Australian Governments, as well as the New Zealand Government, through HEPA’s National Chemicals Working Group, the plan sets out some guidance for the management of PFAS in Australian jurisdictions. The HEPA has released a revised version of the NEMP that has been substantially updated from the previous versions. The draft plan can be downloaded from the consultation page.
 
For the first time biosolids and organic wastes have been included in the NEMP, and the urban water sector nationally is working together to understand implications of this plan if adopted as it stands and ratified by state and territory environmental agencies. The Draft paper is currently open for consultation, closing on 28 February 2023.
 
To date there have been two national sessions on 23 November and 28 November run by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, which oversees the activities of the National Chemicals Working Group.
A third session was held on 24 November hosted by the WSAA National Water Sector Contaminants of Emerging Concern Working Group.
 
A Queensland-specific session is being held tomorrow, Friday 2 December from 2-4 pm. This session, hosted by the Queensland Department of Environment on Science is open to all members of qldwater to attend. If you would like to attend this session and have not already received an invitation, please contact lreeves@qldwater.com.au and she will forward the invitation to you.
 

The new DWQMP guideline, which has been renamed the “Guideline for the preparation, review and audit of DWQMPs”, has now been published on the RDMW website.
The new guideline applies to any reviews or audits that are undertaken from 29 November 2022 on. The core information on what must be included in a DWQMP is largely unchanged and there have been no substantial changes to the Department’s regulatory approach. The changes focused on simplifying existing information and providing additional guidance about implementing your approved DWQMP. DWQMP annual reports are due on, or before 19 December. There are transitional arrangements for review or audits currently under way.

This week the SWIM system sent a final copy of Service Provider’s annual Qld Govt KPI and NPR data to Water Supply Regulation (RDMW), with a final (exact) copy of the data also sent to all Service Providers as Excel .csv files for your records.

You should now start the process of publishing this information on your web site.

PLEASE NOTE: you do not need to, and should not, publish the cyber security information. This has been sent to you as a separate file for this reason.

Under the legislation it is a requirement that all Service Providers make their KPI and NPR data publicly available as ‘soon as practical’ after data final submission.

Even though just putting up the Excel file sent to you from SWIM does technically fulfil your obligations, you should be trying to make something more customer friendly and putting it somewhere that people can find it.

Further information relating to the RDMW KPI framework (including timelines (https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/mining-energy-water/water/industry-infrastructure/industry-regulation/performance-reporting) and reporting (https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/mining-energy-water/water/industry-infrastructure/industry-regulation/performance-reporting/requirements)) is available from their website.

Water Trading Board

• Sunwater has launched an online Water Trading Board as part of the QWMO Action Plan to support the uptake of underutilised water across Queensland. The tool will make it easier for customers and non-customers who are looking to buy or sell water to easily find each other.

• The digital platform is an intuitive tool for buyers and sellers of water to publish ads by listing their Sunwater water supply scheme, megalitres sought or selling and whether the trade will be temporary or permanent.

• Users can view ads for the purchase or sale of water, the water supply scheme and megalitres, but will only see buyer’s or seller’s contact details to then negotiate on price once logged into the platform.

• The platform provides opportunity for entry into the water market for irrigation or stock and domestic purposes through purchasing a permanent water allocation, where water is available within a water supply scheme.

• The free platform is available via the Sunwater website. Existing Sunwater customers can easily login with their customer identification number. New users who are not existing customers can easily create an account.

• While the platform provides for the listing of ads for the purchase or sale of water, negotiation on price between the buyer and seller will occur outside the platform and the standard Sunwater process for a water sale or transfer will remain.

• The platform is available under the Customer drop-down of the Sunwater website or by visiting sunwater.com.au/water-trading-board.

Kind Regards,

qldwater

qldwater is a business unit of IPWEAQ