A collaboration and innovation journey

The water industry is constantly evolving, with innovation, collaboration, sustainability and circularity all at the centre.

Water is the lifeblood of our planet and the cornerstone of every community. As the world grapples with increasing water scarcity, climate change and urbanisation, the water industry is called upon to innovate, adapt, and lead. Intending to foster a collective dialogue around the future of water, these leaders are working together to illuminate the path forward for an industry essential to our shared prosperity and wellbeing.

SUEZ Vice President of Growth and Innovation Stephanie Clarke believes an essential part of the future of water is collaboratively embracing a circular economy. The potential circularity offers for resource sustainability is enormous.

“If we are to be responsible custodians of our resources for future generations, then clever innovations that use and value every component of the system are key to that goal.”

When asked what key innovations and trends are shaping the story of water, Stephanie highlighted the energy capture possible in wastewater.

Similarly, Managing Director of South East Water, Lara Olsen, believes there are many opportunities for water utilities to embrace the circular economy and resource sustainability.

“The water sector’s core objectives have always been serving customers and protecting the environment,” Olsen said. “We know the external environment has changed, which means dealing with new challenges. Part of that is changing the way we as an industry work and the solutions we come up with.”

Decarbonisation focus

There has been considerable discussion across the entire economy around decarbonisation, and the water industry is a key player in this space. For example, the Victorian water sector is working to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 42.4 per cent by 2025, 93.7 per cent by 2030, and achieve net zero emissions by 2035. Clarke believes that this needs to remain a key focus for the industry.

“The water sector must be a leader in decarbonisation, and there is great scope for us to achieve this,” Clarke said. “To do so, we need to modernise our networks and assets through digital solutions and reconceptualising our wastewater treatment plants to be biofactories and even key power generation assets for our communities.”

Biofactory is a term adopted to describe the benefits that come when wastewater treatment and water treatment plants are operated under a circular economy framework, where byproducts of treatment once considered waste are utilised as valuable resources.

The concept originated from Chilean company Aguas Andinas, which has identified six main principles behind the operation of a biofactory.

Firstly, it seeks to use the energy of water as a resource, creating new opportunities after being cleaned. Secondly, it should run on its own energy, ideally feeding its own system as energy and biomethane. A biofactory should also understand that waste is a font of new resources, such as sludge being turned into biochar. A biofactory has deodorisation systems that neutralise odour, reduce gas emissions and minimise the environmental impact. There also needs to be a focus on biodiversity protection and community engagement.

“Renewable energy solutions and critical minerals mining to support decarbonising futures create a new demand for water not previously encountered,” said Lisa Chan, Market Lead of Major Projects at SUEZ. “Sustainable water infrastructure solutions need to be incorporated as critical infrastructure to support these new industries. This provides an opportunity not only for cross-industry collaboration but an excellent opportunity to provide economic solutions to water scarcity in regional areas.”

Collaboration is key

Cross-sector collaboration and regulatory support are the keys to success for this type of energy asset. Greater collaboration between industries, communities, and governments will help society realise the benefits.

“SUEZ waste-to-energy facilities across the globe are an inspiration for current local activity,” Clarke said. “The key to success for this type of sustainable endeavour relies on strong collaboration. In Australia, many water utilities already harness waste-to-energy for behind-the-meter demands, like powering their own treatment sites. In comparison, European examples are designed more deliberately to provide gas and electricity to local networks, meaning the energy generated plays a greater role in our efforts to decarbonise.”

By seeing the changes in Europe and how they could be applied to Australia, there are numerous opportunities for working together across the Australian water industry.

“I believe that the greatest opportunity will come from collaboration,” said Clarke. “If people collaborate, we can solve problems together. We all think differently and come at problems from different directions. Our ideas collide to ensure we solve problems and are more creative.”

Collaboration has been a crucial part of South East Water’s success. Olsen pointed to one of the biggest projects undertaken in Victoria for its success in growing understanding of purifying biosolids.

“A collaboration between South East Water, RMIT University, the Intelligent Water Networks (IWN) and Greater Western Water (GWW) has been studying the challenges and opportunities of biosolids,” she said. “With Australia being a net importer of biochar, we believe it is a good opportunity to create biochar from biosolids, and to pilot pyrolysis technology that also removes PFAS and other contaminants in an energy-efficient and carbon-efficient way.”

“Opportunities lie in partnerships across sectors, knowledge sharing and supporting sustainable economic growth through thoughtful and responsible water resource management and water infrastructure solutions,” said Chan. “Opportunities also lie in embracing a circular approach to development.”

Controlling contaminants

Emerging contaminants like PFAS, microplastics, and heavy metals continue to frustrate the water industry. The industry must continue to work together to find new ways to eliminate these forever chemicals from wastewater through the water recycling process, to help prevent them from entering the environment.

“One of our key focus areas in controlling contaminants such as PFAS is through the innovative biosolids to biochar conversion technology,” said Olsen. “It’s a fantastic example of the university sector and multiple water corporations coming together to solve a problem and refine a product.”

Together, the partners have developed Australia’s first pyrolysis technology. It transforms biosolids from water treatment and recycling plants into biochar, a safe and nutrient-rich material the agricultural industry seeks. Currently in its second stage of development, the latest trials found that PFAS could not be detected in the resultant biochar.

This provides opportunities for the water industry to explore emerging contaminants and study how to eliminate them.

“When we are looking at the planet and new technology, there are numerous prospects to study the issue of emerging contaminants, particularly in wastewater” Clarke said. “While water corporations are not the source of these chemicals, they’re working hard to protect the environment and their products from these chemicals through the wastewater treatment process. As an industry, we need a better understanding of supply chains and where these contaminants are coming from, and there are a lot of potential investments to make and different solutions that could help manage how we deal with these pollutants.”

Climate change and resilience

The water sector is uniquely positioned to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

“We have a long-term view on how we can transform the delivery of water and wastewater services,” said Clarke. “Our role extends beyond service delivery. We’re on the frontlines of climate adaptation, ensuring that our infrastructure is resilient enough to withstand the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. We’re building a stronger, more adaptable network by investing in innovative solutions like smart water management systems.”

Sustainability is also a vital aspect of South East Water’s operations, particularly with wastewater treatment plants being upgraded.

“We are upgrading four water treatment plants across our network over the next five years,” Olsen said. “Part of our considerations when designing these vital pieces of infrastructure includes determining the impact on nature and ensuring that it is positive. It includes everything from design and operations to energy use and the beneficial resources we can produce from our processes. Increasingly, we will see a range of different treatment plants employing nature-based solutions.”

One of those solutions is the Aquarevo community-level Water Recycling Plant. Centred within a residential estate, the plant’s nature-based design for the urban environment will see it connected to a pressure sewer system within the development. The plant will treat the water to Class A standard and send it back to each home via the purple pipe for use in the garden, toilet and washing machine. South East Water expects to award the contract for the plant later in 2024, with construction and commissioning of the plant to be completed in 2026. The site will operate an Organica Food Chain Reactor (FCR) ‘Bluehouse’ water recycling plant. It is a uniquely aesthetic Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) process where the plant roots act as the fixed surface area that the biofilm can grow on. This nature-based solution results in great benefits to the community – a low carbon footprint, limited noise & odour emissions and visual impact

Innovation

The water sector increasingly recognises innovation’s importance in driving efficiency and sustainability. “Innovation is at the heart of everything we do,” said Clarke. “From smart metering to AI-driven water quality monitoring, we’re leveraging the latest technologies to improve service delivery and enhance our understanding of water systems.”

South East Water has also been focusing on how it can take an innovative approach to the circular economy.

“We spent $150 million on the Boneo Water Recycling Plant upgrade, our largest upgrade to a water recycling plant,” Olsen said. “We believe this upgrade approach can serve as a roadmap for future upgrades. The upgrade sought to increase the plant’s capacity ahead of population growth, to meet our customers needs, but also ensure it was energy efficient and low emissions.”

Part of that upgrade was the installation of a nitrite shunt process. A nitrite shunt’s objective is to minimise nitrate production by stopping the nitrification process at nitrite, which is then converted to nitrogen gas. According to Water New Zealand, this provides a direct energy payback of up to 25 per cent and a 40 per cent reduction in the carbon requirement for denitrification.

“We are really excited about what the nitrite shunt could do, particularly in reducing the amount of energy we need at the plant,” Olsen said. “Similarly, as we scale out the pyrolysis technology project, where could that go? Hopefully, we will see these facilities at plants everywhere. That’s an exciting development down the track.”

The future of water

A commitment to resilience, sustainability and customer satisfaction will determine the water industry’s future. Water utilities will need to continue evolving, embracing new technologies and approaches to ensure that water and wastewater services remain reliable and accessible to all.

Success in the water sector will be measured by the efficiency of service delivery and the positive perceptions held by customers and communities – even in the face of rising costs.

“By 2030, we envision a water sector where all decisions are balanced and deliver value to current and future generations,” said Clarke. “This future will see water businesses that are financially sustainable, with resilient supply chains and systems that protect the safety and privacy of all customers.”

To achieve this vision, the water sector must continue to innovate, collaborate, and lead by example. By prioritising resilience, sustainability, and customer-centricity, we can ensure that the water sector remains vital in shaping a better, more sustainable future for Australia and New Zealand.

“I think the future of the water industry is very bright,” said Olsen. “There’s a great willingness to collaborate across different parts of the sector. This includes universities, consultants, suppliers, the community and water corporations. I think we will continue to see innovative ideas that we can use to address the industry’s challenges while taking up new opportunities and creating new products and services for our customers.”

For more information, visit www.suez.com.au and southeastwater.com.au