What keeps you awake at night? For our members in the Water Quality and Health (WQH) Network, the things that keep them awake at night ensure that the rest of us can sleep well knowing our water is safe.
The network collaborates on projects, shares information and learnings and addresses all aspects of water quality and health from source to tap – from potable and recycled water, to groundwater.
The WQH Network’s charter covers:
- implementation of the Australian drinking water quality frameworks
- identification of issues of concern around water quality treatment and interpretation of regulations
- delivery of best practice around drinking water standards and alternative water
- understanding the consequences of climate change on water quality and health
- keeping abreast of appropriate technologies and research
The 2017/18 work program will deliver:
- a Health Based Targets training video for senior managers and Boards
- a user-friendly online tool, Aquality, to help members track their activities and plan for continual improvement against the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines
- cross-network resource and information sharing around key issues such as blue-green algae, emerging contaminants, recreation access to catchments and PFAS which will inform research for future projects.
Here is what some of our members have said about the value of the network:
Professional development or training budgets are tight these days, so you want to ensure that you are getting value for money from the professional development that you invest in. For the past couple of years, Coliban Water has been an active supporter of, and participant in, WSAA’s Water Quality and Health Network, and I have found this network to be one of the best value for money professional development investments that I make. The quality of the presentations that are given is consistently high, the level of engagement of network members is also high, and the networking opportunities, especially since you normally get attendees from multiple states, is invaluable. I would recommend to all water utilities that they invest in sending relevant staff to WQ&H Network meetings. - David S, General Manager Water Quality and Performance, Coliban Water
And this….
Seqwater values the interactions, processes and outcomes by participating in the WQ&H Network meetings. Not only are the sessions chock full of emerging issues, developments and sharing of utility challenges, the opportunities to network with peers across the country is invaluable. I’ve participated in several WSAA projects managed within this Network and have implemented many internal changes and improvements as a result. It’s hard to put a dollar value on the benefits, but the savings equivalent in seeking expert consultancy opinion would be around $25-50K /year. - Duncan S, Seqwater
How to get involved
The next WQ&H Network meeting will be held in May 2018, in Newcastle. It’s easy to join via the member community site. Simply click on the request to join on the network page.
23 Nov 2017
