Australian Water Association

01/09/2026

Young Water Professionals do not need to wait for seniority to help shape a more sustainable water future.

Melbourne Water Sustainability Champion Mandhy Senewiratne encouraged emerging professionals to define their purpose, communicate it with confidence and build the relationships needed to turn ambition into action during her keynote at the 2026 AWA/IWA Young Water Professionals Conference.

Senewiratne challenges YWPs to look beyond compliance and consider how projects can leave communities and ecosystems better off. This means pairing technical knowledge with storytelling, staying true to a clear sustainability vision and building a strong network of people who can help carry good ideas forward.

Read more: https://hubs.la/Q04vs5JQ0

Mandhy Senewiratne shares how Young Water Professionals can turn sustainability ambition into action through purpose, communication and strong networks.

01/09/2026

Save the dates: National Water Week returns 19–25 October 2026 💧 Getting involved doesn’t have to mean organising a major event.

You could run a quiz with your team, share a local water story, connect with a school or help spread the Water is Life message through your networks.

The Workplace and Community Participation Kit includes practical ideas for workplaces, organisations and communities to take part during National Water Week.

Choose an activity that works for you and join communities across Australia in celebrating why Water is Life.

👉 Download the participation kit: https://bit.ly/4yc42sw
🔗 Learn more at the NWW homepage: https://bit.ly/4x0K6I6

31/08/2026

What changes when we stop seeing water simply as a resource to be managed and start recognising it as living Country?

Quandamooka man and Chief Executive Officer of the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, Cameron Costello, challenged the water community to consider this question during his Ozwater’26 keynote.

Drawing on Quandamooka knowledge and his decades of experience across environmental management, native title and advocacy, Costello explores how recognising water’s connection to Country, culture and identity can strengthen governance, stewardship and long-term decision-making.

Building a more resilient water future, he argues, depends on meaningful First Peoples participation, place-based governance and a shared responsibility to care for water for generations to come.

Read more: https://hubs.la/Q04vrWNz0

Cameron Costello explains how seeing water as living Country can strengthen stewardship, First Nations governance and Australia's water future.

31/08/2026

This week’s water community updates highlight water security, community connection, infrastructure investment and water education.

🌊 Hunter Water has completed marine works for the Belmont Desalination Plant, including the 830-metre seawater intake tunnel, marking a major milestone in strengthening long-term water security for the Lower Hunter.

🎨 TasWater is working with the Cressy community to shape a new reservoir mural that will celebrate the town’s history, identity and connection to water.

🚧 Yarra Valley Water and MFJ Constructions have completed the $20 million Love Branch Sewer, delivering additional capacity for more than 20,000 existing and future properties in Wollert.

💧 Power and Water Corporation has expanded its That’s My Water! education program to Alice Springs, using hands-on activities and immersive technology to help students explore their local water story.

Read about these stories and more: https://hubs.la/Q04vrVFj0

28/08/2026

🌏 Water scarcity is not an inevitable outcome and Singapore’s transformation offers valuable lessons for water-stressed nations worldwide.

Despite limited natural water resources, Singapore has built a diversified and resilient water supply through long-term planning, water recycling, desalination, local catchments and demand management.

Drawing on insights from Singapore International Water Week, KBR Senior Director, Water, Margaret Riley explores how governments and utilities can respond to accelerating challenges, from climate change and ageing infrastructure to the growing water demands of data centres.

Read more: https://hubs.la/Q04tGf5J0

Explore how Singapore’s integrated approach to recycling, desalination and climate resilience offers lessons for tackling global water scarcity.

27/08/2026

🏟️ What lies beneath one of Australia’s most iconic sporting precincts?

Young Water Professionals attending the AWA/IWA Young Water Professionals Conference went underground at the Yarra Park Water Recycling Facility to see how wastewater is transformed into a reliable resource for irrigation, cleaning and toilet flushing.

Owned by the Melbourne Cricket Club and operated and maintained by TRILITY, the facility produces up to 600 cubic metres of Class A recycled water each day during summer.

The site tours, hosted by TRILITY, gave delegates a practical look at the treatment processes and operational controls required to produce recycled water safely beneath a busy public park.

Read more: https://hubs.la/Q04tG4rD0

Explore the MCG’s underground facility, producing Class A recycled water for Yarra Park irrigation, cleaning and toilet flushing across the precinct.

26/08/2026

The Call for Papers is now open for the National Biosolids Conference 2027 🌱

Your work does not need to be a major breakthrough.
Incremental improvements, practical experience and candid lessons from initiatives that did not perform as expected can provide some of the sector’s most valuable evidence.

Under the theme Evidence into Action, we’re inviting submissions under the topics:
• Risk management and regulation
• Source control
• Best practice in operations
• Asset optimisation and infrastructure
• Thermal processing and technological innovation
• Circular economy, carbon and environmental outcomes
• End users, agriculture and land application
• Engagement, education and strategic planning

Submissions are welcome from professionals across the sector, including operators, utility teams, regulators, researchers, consultants, technology providers, farmers, agronomists and other practitioners.

Submit your abstract: https://hubs.la/Q04v8mjS0
Learn More: https://hubs.la/Q04v8LFw0

Important dates
📍 National Biosolids Conference 2027 | 3–4 March 2027 | Melbourne
📅 Abstract deadline: 21 September 2026
📣 Notification of selection: 16 October 2026
🎟️ Speaker registration deadline: 2 November 2026
📄 Final paper (optional) and presentation due: 24 February 2027

25/08/2026

What happens when recycled water infrastructure is designed around the needs of the businesses that will use it?

The Wamuran Irrigation Scheme delivers 2.6 gigalitres of high-quality recycled water to Queensland growers each year, strengthening drought resilience while preventing 11 tonnes of nitrogen and 1.8 tonnes of phosphorus from entering the Caboolture River.

Built through close collaboration with local growers, the scheme shows how understanding demand from the outset can create lasting value for utilities, agricultural businesses and regional communities.

🏆 The project earned Unitywater, Wamuran Irrigation Scheme Joint Venture partners Pensar, Twin View Turf and Piñata Farms, GHD and Abergeldie Complex Infrastructure the 2026 Infrastructure Project Innovation Award (Metro), sponsored by CPB Contractors, at the Australian Water Awards.

Read more about why here: https://hubs.la/Q04tG5cd0

Discover how the Wamuran Irrigation Scheme delivers recycled water to growers, strengthening agriculture, water security and regional resilience.

24/08/2026

This week’s water community updates highlight community connection, habitat restoration, regional water security and smarter stormwater treatment.

🏐 Unitywater and Sunshine Coast Lightning brought more than 1,000 primary school students together for the annual Unitywater Lightning Cup, promoting inclusive sport, healthy hydration and the use of reusable water bottles.

🐨 Sydney Desalination Plant and Veolia are expanding their eucalypt plantation at Kurnell to 2,000 trees. Delivered in collaboration with Symbio Wildlife Park, the project will provide a sustainable food source for koalas.

🚧 Tasmanian Irrigation has laid the final section of pipeline for the Northern Midlands Irrigation Scheme, bringing the project closer to delivering 25.5 billion litres of reliable irrigation water each year.

🌧️ UNSW Sydney researchers have developed smart rain gardens that use sensors, automated controls and rainfall forecasts to improve stormwater treatment and prevent more pollutants from reaching rivers and oceans.

Read about these stories and more: https://hubs.la/Q04tG5LS0

24/08/2026

🌏 This World Water Week, we’re exploring what it takes to build a more just, equitable and water-secure future for people and the planet.

The 2026 theme, ‘Water for People and Progress’, invites us to consider how safe drinking water, sanitation and water security support human development, health and resilience, and how climate change is intensifying pressure on communities and ecosystems.

Deepen your understanding of these issues by exploring a selection of resources from Indigo that examine the challenges, share practical insights and consider potential pathways forward:

🧭 A national strategy to achieve safe drinking water In regional and remote communities
Explore a proposed national approach combining consistent standards, transparent monitoring, targeted investment and community water workforce development.
Read more: https://hubs.la/Q04tGb8M0

🎧 Securing our water future: water resilience in a changing climate
Hear SA Water’s Dr Ashley Kingsborough discuss how diversified supply, community engagement and flexible long-term planning are helping build resilience during dry conditions.
Listen now: https://hubs.la/Q04tGhXs0

📊 Measuring progress to achieve safe drinking water for First Peoples
Learn how health-risk-based indicators could help measure progress towards Closing the Gap Target 9b and identify communities facing acute and chronic drinking-water risks.
Read more: https://hubs.la/Q04tGfpy0

Join us in marking World Water Week and the important message behind Water for People and Progress ✨