Looking back, moving forward with inclusive water innovation

Smart meters, recycled water, climate risk and PFAS: Ozwater’25 spotlighted inclusive water innovation through technology, equity, and future-facing leadership.

As the Australian water industry gathered at Ozwater’25 in Adelaide, one message rang clear: inclusive water innovation is now central to how Australia manages, governs, and futureproofs water.

Guided by the theme “Looking Back, Moving Forward,” the event brought together utilities, researchers, and decision-makers committed to reshaping the sector through collaboration, culture, and cutting-edge thinking.

Corinne Cheeseman, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Water Association, opened the event by urging attendees to lead with purpose.

“Our sector is facing some of its most complex challenges yet, but we also have more tools and talent than ever before,” she said. “Ozwater’25 is about bringing that collective energy together to move our sector forward.”

The conference featured more than 225 exhibitors and attracted thousands of delegates, showcasing how the sector is responding to shared pressures with practical collaboration, cultural insight, and technological advancement.

Smart metering leads the digital charge

South East Water’s (SEW) mass rollout of digital meters provided one of the most compelling case studies in large-scale digital transformation. Presented by Alana Jones and Ash Walsh, the program leverages more than a decade of foundational work and is now scaling toward the deployment of 751,000 Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) meters by 2029.

Rather than deploying meters geographically, SEW prioritised high-benefit zones using customer insights and cross-departmental planning.

“We didn’t want to roll out meters just for the sake of it,” Walsh said. “The strategy was to target key benefit areas from the start: customer-side leaks, network losses, and data to support behavioural change.”

Initial results exceed expectations. Customer leak alerts are helping to reduce water usage by one and a half per cent, while network optimisation is delivering a further one per cent saving. Notably, the rollout allows SEW to identify and prioritise vulnerable customers, reduce operational disruptions, and generate strategic insights for planning.

“This was about more than just devices,” Jones said. “It was about transforming how we deliver services and how we listen to our communities.”

Planning for potable reuse in a changing world

Greta Zornes of CDM Smith delivered a data-rich presentation on how United States cities are rethinking the balance between non-potable reuse and purified recycled water (PRW). Drawing on master planning work in Ohio and Texas, she demonstrated why integrated reuse strategies are now essential, not just for sustainability but for long-term water resilience.

“You can’t afford to plan in silos anymore,” Zornes said. “When industry and population needs shift, your infrastructure plans have to be ready to adapt.”

Zornes urged caution about overcommitting future supply to non-potable reuse without considering the inevitability of PRW, particularly indirect and direct potable reuse (IPR and DPR). Case studies demonstrated how industrial growth, particularly in data centres, was accelerating demand for flexible and reliable water sources.

“Recycled water is now a resilience strategy, not just a sustainability one,” she said.

The planning frameworks she described offered Australian utilities a clear pathway for avoiding long-term infrastructure lock-in and ensuring value for future generations.

As utilities plan for future demand and design for long-term resilience, attention is also turning to water quality, specifically, the risks that traditional testing methods might overlook.

At Ozwater’25, this conversation took centre stage with a focus on emerging contaminants, chemical mixtures, and the power of bioanalytical tools to detect what’s hidden beneath the surface.

Detecting hidden threats: PFAS and chemical mixtures in drinking water

As emerging contaminants attract greater scrutiny from regulators and communities alike, a standout presentation by Dr Maddison Carbery of Hunter Water showcased a leading-edge monitoring program using effect-based screening (EBS) in the Grahamstown Dam catchment.

Rather than focusing on individual chemicals, EBS tests the cumulative biological effect of chemical mixtures on organisms and human health. Across multiple wet and dry sampling rounds, Hunter Water partnered with Griffith University to run a suite of bioassays measuring toxicity, endocrine disruption, and oxidative stress, all potential consequences of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), pesticides, and other persistent micropollutants.

“Most of our samples fell within global reference ranges for drinking and surface waters,” Carbery said. “But the wet weather batch triggered elevated dioxin-like activity, pointing to the potential mobilisation of chemicals during heavy rainfall.”

That spike prompted plans for follow-up surveys, including passive samplers to monitor long-term, low-concentration exposures. By comparing bioassay results to established effect-based trigger values for both ecological and human health, the utility is building a layered understanding of risk across its water sources.

“We need to manage what we can’t always see,” Carbery said. “This approach lets us focus on the effect, not just the presence, of contaminants.”

While emerging contaminants represent a hidden risk, climate change is a more visible and system-wide challenge. Another presentation that resonated at Ozwater’25 highlighted the urgent need to integrate climate impact assessments into asset planning and investment cycles.

Sewer programs built on trust and purpose

In Melbourne’s established suburbs, Yarra Valley Water’s Community Sewerage Program is resolving a long-standing issue: residential reliance on outdated septic systems.

Sally Crook and Dean Anderson explained how reframing the program around purpose, partnerships, and agility enabled them to exceed delivery targets while maintaining cost control.

The program delivered 3081 property connections, well above the initial goal of 2927, within six per cent of its $122 million budget. The success hinged on the “5Ps” framework: Purpose, Program, Partnership, Process, and People.

“Our partnerships matured into true collaborations,” Anderson said. “We reduced contractor turnover, shared risks transparently, and worked from the footpath rather than the desk.”

The program prioritised community engagement, working to avoid unnecessary vegetation loss, fast-track planning approvals, and ensure customer preferences were reflected in property works. It now serves as a model for scalable community-centred infrastructure delivery.

Building resilience: Climate risk assessments across Western Australia

While much of Ozwater’25 focused on operational innovation and water equity, Water Corporation’s Matthew Stenhouse delivered a crucial reminder: climate change is reshaping risk across every asset class.

His presentation detailed the corporation’s systematic climate risk assessment, covering 2.6 million square kilometres and a $46 billion asset base.

“What’s changed is not just the science; it’s the expectation that we must act,” Stenhouse said. “Beyond drying climate, we’re now seeing risks from sea level rise, extreme weather, and bushfire across our infrastructure.”

The risk assessment evaluated multiple emissions scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) and considered five hazard categories, including temperature extremes and long-term shifts in rainfall and evaporation.

Notably, wastewater pump stations in low-lying areas were identified as being at high risk of exposure to sea level rise and storm surges. At the same time, inland water source assets were most vulnerable to long-term drying and extreme heat.

The findings are already informing design standards and capital planning, with results shared through an internal Power BI dashboard. By embedding climate risk into its business-as-usual framework, Water Corporation is turning spatial data and projections into practical investment decisions.

“Risk is no longer theoretical,” Stenhouse said. “We’re building resilience into every system, starting with how we assess and prioritise action.”

Basin reform meets investment opportunity

Few topics at Ozwater’25 carried the economic and policy weight of the Murray-Darling Basin. Stuart Peevor of Waterfind outlined how the Restoring Our Rivers Act 2023, coupled with financial innovation and policy reform, is reshaping the future of water markets and sustainability in the Basin.

“Reform now means opportunity,” Peevor said. “We need to stop viewing it only as a compliance burden. It’s also a pathway to investment, resilience, and productivity.”

With a projected 9.4 per cent reduction in the consumptive pool by 2027–28, stakeholders face immense pressure. But Peevor highlighted the rise of AgTech, water rights financing, and smart trading platforms as essential tools for navigating the transition.

“Growers are already shifting to precision irrigation, using remote sensing tools, and planning with digital platforms,” he said. “Now we need capital markets and regulatory structures that match that innovation.”

The session also touched on urban greening, First Nations water rights, and liveability as emerging policy frontiers.

First Nations leadership in water governance

One of the most compelling demonstrations of inclusive water planning came from the Northern Territory (NT). Nerida Horner and Dr Susannah Clement from the Office of Water Security shared how the Territory Water Plan is embedding Aboriginal interests at every stage of water governance.

Four key pillars shape the NT approach: access to safe drinking water, communication and knowledge-sharing, participation in decision-making, and access to water for economic development.

The plan’s early impacts include legislation to support safe drinking water standards, reforms to expand regulatory coverage to remote communities, and co-investment of more than $100 million in First Nations water infrastructure. The Aboriginal Water Reserve, an allocation of more than 70,000 megalitres (ML) set aside for Aboriginal-led economic development, was another key highlight.

With more than half of the Adelaide River Water Advisory Committee composed of Aboriginal representatives, and cultural water projects underway in Ti Tree and Adelaide River, the NT is demonstrating what co-governance looks like in practice.

“This is about enabling self-determined water security,” Horner said. “Not just consulting but investing in shared leadership.”

Looking ahead, Ozwater’25 left the sector energised and equipped for action. From smart metering to Aboriginal co-governance, delegates gained fresh insights and a renewed sense of purpose.

As Corinne Cheeseman noted at the event’s close, the momentum behind digital solutions, sustainable infrastructure, and policy evolution is real—and growing.