Professor Dr Tony Ladson
Victoria University, Australia
Talk Title: Evolution of WSUD in Australia under a changing climate
Abstract: Methods of WSUD have evolved, both with improved understanding and with the need to address both the reality of climate change and the expectation that the climate will continue to change. Early efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of urban drainage focussed on reducing flood peaks. These concerns remain, but additional emphasis on water quality improvement reached a tipping point around the turn of the century with publications of best management practice guidelines and "Australian Runoff Quality'. Recently, the focus has turned to also addressing the substantial additional volume of runoff that results from the increase in impervious surfaces caused by urban development.
Biography of the Speaker: Tony Ladson has 35 years' experience in hydrology and water management and has worked on projects throughout Australia and in the US, Taiwan and PNG. He has a PhD from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Science from the University of Minnesota. As well as being a Director of Moroka Pty Ltd, he is an adjunct Associate Professor at Victoria University and holds an honorary position in the Waterway Ecosystem Research Group at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of Hydrology: An Australian Introduction and over 100 conference and journal papers.
Dr. Marlène van der Sterren
Manager Water Quality Modelling team at WaterNSW
Talk Title: WaterNSW
Abstract: The daily management of the bulk water supplies for Sydney are often driven by lack of or the abundance of water. All these operational decisions are made in tandem with the quality of the water supply. The water quality needs to be managed through catchment interventions and reservoir management, which requires a system thinking approach to water quality management.
WaterNSW is developing the catchment, reservoir, and supply network models for the Greater Sydney bulk water supply system. These models are housed in an operational system, developed with the end-user to ensure their needs are met.
This paper will highlight the challenges faced in water quality modelling and the solution adopted. The lessons learned will cover several topics, such as client engagement, hourly modelling, scenario modelling and communication.
Key words: water quality modelling, agile project management, solutions, systems thinking.
Biography of the Speaker: Dr. Marlène van der Sterren, Manager Water Quality Modelling team at WaterNSW, has developed and implemented water quality models for decision making for over 15 years. The models and decision support systems she developed with her team use systems thinking to help internal and external customers answer questions on water quality. By focussing on the 'why' and combining this with a systems process, the team is currently developing a catchment to tap modelling system to enable operational and planning decisions for the water supply in Greater Sydney.
Marlène was born in the Netherlands and completed her studies at the Western Sydney University. Since her PhD, she has continued applied research and continuous to be involved in innovative projects in Sydney.
Marlène will share her experience at the conference on developing operational decision support systems for water quality, the importance of client engagement and understanding how alternative project management methodologies can assist in driving change.
Professor Ramesh Teegavarapu
Florida Atlantic University, USA
Talk Title: Quantitative Precipitation Estimates and Future of Hydrologic Design and Modeling
Abstract: Measurements and estimations of precipitation are critical for the success of hydrologic modeling and design. Point measurements (i.e., rain gage observations) often plagued with systematic and random errors while lacking spatial coverage become questionable inputs to hydrologic design procedures and inadequate for distributed hydrologic modeling applications. Multi-sensor source-based quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) developed as gridded datasets are increasingly being used in hydrological modeling and design. QPEs as emerging inputs to hydrologic models characterize spatial and temporal variability of precipitation in a region better than point measurements. This talk will focus on QPEs developed using weather-surveillance radar (WSR) in conjunction with rain gage information as ground truth. Several address issues related to the generation of QPEs, bias correction and their use in hydrologic modeling applications will be discussed. The utility and validity of QPEs for hydrologic modeling, design, and hydrosystems management will be elaborated.
Biography of the Speaker: Dr. Ramesh S.V. Teegavarapu (Dr. T.) is a professor, Fulbright scholar and specialist, and graduate program director in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering and the founder of the Hydrosystems Research Laboratory (HRL) at Florida Atlantic University, USA. He has over 25 years of experience in water resources system modeling and management. His main research interests include climate change and variability, hydroclimatic extremes, water, and environmental systems modeling and management, spatial hydrology, and hydrometeorology. Dr. T is an author, co-editor, and sole editor of several books on these topics along with several book chapters and conference and journal publications. Web page: http://faculty.eng.fau.edu/ramesh
Professor Faisal Hai
University of Wollongong, Australia
Talk Title: Advanced wastewater treatment: past, present and future in Australia
Abstract: From the early days of discharging raw sewage into harbour, Australia has come a long way in terms of application of advanced wastewater treatment for safe disposal and reuse of wastewater. Water recycling was driven by the introduction of wastewater treatment plant discharge standards. By 1990, restrictions placed on discharges to receiving waters became an incentive for water recycling. The millennium drought (2000–2009) and more recently the 2017-2019 drought have been a further driver for wastewater reclamation. Water reform policies, led to guidelines for recycled water, including stormwater and augmentation of drinking water. This led to advanced purified recycled water plants for indirect potable reuse. This lecture provides a brief account of the history of advanced wastewater treatment in Australia, and focuses on the future directions from technical, economical and public perception points of view.
Biography of the Speaker: Professor Faisal Hai is the director of the Strategic Water Infrastructure Lab (SWIL) and the coordinator of the 'Environmental Engineering and Water Resources Powerhouse’ of the University of Wollongong, Australia. Prof Hai's team works in the broad field of water/wastewater treatment, reuse and resource recovery using membrane, biological, enzymatic and adsorption technologies, with a particular focus on emerging contaminants such as microplastics, antibiotics and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and natural hazards such as bushfire. He is the lead editor of the book ‘Membrane Biological Reactors', which has been one of the bestsellers from IWA publishing, UK. A recognized authority in advanced wastewater treatment and reuse, Prof Hai has forged strong collaborations with industry and internationally leading researchers, which have led to collaborative grants and/or high calibre publications. He is an executive board member of the Membrane Society of Australasia. Professor Hai is an Editor of 'Water Science and Technology' (IWA, UK) and 'Journal of Water and Environment Technology'(Japan Society on Water Environment) and a member of the editorial board of a number of Elsevier journals.