Issue: December 2022
An end of year snapshot of TRILITY’s contracts and projectsnews
2022 - That’s a wrap!
TRILITY news
Newsletter for TRILITY Group and Joint Venture clients
In this Issue
TRILITY further expands
its footprint
Page 4
A fellowship trip with
Sydney Water
Page 5
KDX - Making waves
Page 7
What’s involved in the
replacement of diffuser pads
Page 8
Flooding across the nation
Page 9
Broughton Pass flooding
event
Page 10
Seawater inlet cleaning
Page 12
Building on our future
Page 14
In 2023 TRILITY is aiming
to have your water sector
training requirements
covered
Page 15
Improving the water supply
in remote communities in
regional New South Wales
Page 16
How nature links us to
the history of our First
Nations people
Page 17
Solutions expand its
network services
Page 18
Effective and pre-emptive
water-quality strategies
Page 21
Australia’s best-tasting tap
water has been announced
Page 22
Celebrating ten years of
operations at the Adelaide
Desalination Plant
Page 22
TasWater’s UV Stage 1 project
is on its way to completion
Page 23
TRILITY’s cyber security
uplift program progress
Page 24
TRILITY product portfolio
Page 25
TRILITY news
Newsletter for TRILITY Group and Joint Venture clients
Welcome
Dear valued clients and partners,
On behalf of the TRILITY Group, we wish you and your families
a safe and very happy festive season. We also want to take this
opportunity to thank you for another successful year which has
been achieved despite several challenges.
2022 has seen the ever-present and ongoing pandemic and some of
the worst floods on record. We are all dealing with cyber vulnerability,
the challenges and benefits of employees working remotely, digital
transformation and optimisation and extracting organisational value
from it. With that comes the ever-evolving regulatory process,
reporting changes and impacts. Despite the challenges, TRILITY
has had a reasonably successful year.
As the year ends and we prepare for the New Year, we typically wrap up
the year’s activities, reflect, plan strategic initiatives for the coming year,
and celebrate our accomplishments. Our reflections revealed another
year of excellent service delivery, growth, and many positive learnings,
for example, our most recently awarded contract with Sydney Water
and what we are doing concerning cyber security.
Within our contracts, we deep dive into the impacts of the New South
Wales floods on our Macarthur Water Filtration Plant. Then there’s the
success of our newly implemented traineeship program and our plans
to expand our training capabilities further in 2023. We look at the
expansion of our Network capabilities and services, what’s been
happening within the Water Consultancy Services arm, and the world
of data analytics with KDX, and we celebrate ten years of operations
at the Adelaide Desalination Plant. Murray Bridge takes out South
Australia’s ‘best-tasting tap water award’, what’s involved in cleaning
a desalination plant’s inlet, and much more.
This year’s success, as in prior years, is due to the dedication and
focus of our wonderful employees and the special relationships we
have built over the years. TRILITY would not be where it is today
without you, our clients and our partners.
Our growth journey will continue during 2023, making for exciting
times, for so many of our learnings include better ways to work,
communicate, and deliver services. We look forward to increased
opportunities to meet with our employees and clients in person
across New Zealand and Australia in the coming year.
From the entire TRILITY team, it’s been a privilege to work with
you and the communities we serve, and we look forward to
working with you again in 2023.
Francois Gouws
Managing Director
Francois Gouws
Managing Director
TRILITY Brands
October marked the award of Sydney Water’s latest project. They formally awarded the contract to construct and operate the new Upper South Creek Advanced
Water Recycling Plant (AWRC) in Western Sydney, together with associated pipelines, to a consortium of TRILITY, John Holland, GHD, and Jacobs.
John Holland will be responsible for the construction. At the same time, GHD and Jacobs will provide engineering and design services, and TRILITY will provide
operations and maintenance advice during the design and construction to ensure the plant’s operations requirements can be achieved once completed.
TRILITY, in a Joint Venture with John Holland, will be responsible for the operations and maintenance for the initial 5-year term of the facility once completed,
during which TRILITY will provide the leading role.
TRILITY will bring to the project its in-house developed data analytics platform KDX which will have an ongoing role to provide real time operational control input
with its cutting-edge software developed specifically for advanced wastewater treatment. By viewing utility operations as a whole, using remote support and
digital twin capabilities, TRILITY and KDX bring confidence and clarity to operations with purpose-built wastewater management applications.
TRILITY’s Solutions arm will also bring its expertise by providing the dosing and disinfection equipment.
The AWRC will produce high-quality water suitable for a wide range of non-drinking uses in homes, various industrial uses, in businesses, in agriculture, and
for the watering of public open spaces.
Above: L - R, Francois Gouws - TRILITY Managing Director, Roch Cheroux - Sydney Water Managing Director and Jayne Whitney - John Holland
Chief Strategy Officer
TRILITY news
Newsletter for TRILITY Group and Joint Venture clients
TRILITY further expands its footprint
Sydney Water awarded its contract to construct and operate its new Upper South Creek Advanced Water Recycling Centre
For more information on this project - click here
To read the media release- click here
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TRILITY news
Newsletter for TRILITY Group and Joint Venture clients
A fellowship trip with Sydney Water
After a few false starts due to COVID-19, the knowledge transfer fellowship trip
between Sydney Water and TRILITY became a reality in early October 2022.
Led by Greg Wood (Regional Operations Manager, NSW, Victoria and
Tasmania), the trip demonstrated some of the innovative treatment practises
related to domestic sewerage and biosolids processing that TRILITY operates.
This allowed our client (Sydney Water) to obverse and learn more about the
variety of work we do around the country.
The trip started with a tour of the Yarra Park WRF, adjacent to the MCG.
During our visit, one of the Membrane Bioreactors was offline for maintenance,
allowing a once-in-10-year opportunity to look inside. There were also valuable
operational lessons shared, relating to aeration intervals and influent
composition variability and its effect on plant performance. The following
day we made our way to Barwon Heads, where TRILITY operates the Barwon
Biosolids thermal drying facility.
The fellowship formed great new relationships between TRILITY and
Sydney Water and has led to an increased interest in the work that TRILITY
is completing. Following the trip, the Sydney Water fellowship attendees
expressed a keen interest in visiting the Macarthur WFP and are excited to
observe the similarities and differences between the organisations so we
can learn from each other!
Left to right: Richard Wickham, Stella Modyanto, Greg Wood, Elyssa
Kirton, Maximilian Curtis, Alice Carney, and Phoebe Lingat
We look forward to continuing this fellowship with Sydney Water next year as
we continue to share our knowledge and form relationships with our clients.
Above: L - R, Jason Julius - John Holland Project Director, Steven Blanch - Sydney Water Head of Legal Claims, Pouya Razavi - Sydney Water Procurement
Director, Stephanie Clarke - Sydney Water Project Director USC, Shaun Kempton - John Holland Precontracts Manager Water, Kate Day - GHD
Operations Manager Sydney Region,Roch Cheroux - Sydney Water Managing Director, Phil DeGroot - TRILITY Operations and Maintenance Manager,
Mary Kanavoutsos - Jacobs Executive Director Water, Jamie Hollamby - Sydney Water GM Finance and Business Performance, Jayne Whitney - John
Holland Chief Strategy Officer, Francois Gouws - TRILITY Managing Director, Margaret Riley - John Holland General Manager Water and Optimisation,
Xavier Decomps - Sydney Water Head of Procurement
Stella Modyanto, Senior Process Engineer Sydney Water said, “we had a great time, developed new relationships and
learnt so much through this visit.”
www.KDX.ai
Designed by operators, for operators
Next generation
water management
The suite of KDX solutions for water and wastewater treatment,
and networks
Vantage+
Scorecard
Smart compliance
manager
Filter+
Optimiser
Filter health
monitor
Stock+
Manager
Chemical stock
manager
Demand+
Manager
Network demand
prediction
Aer+
Optimiser
Wastewater
aeration optimiser
ChemDose+
Optimiser
Chemical dose
optimiser
KDX provides world-leading predictive analytics software designed to maximise the
efficiency of water and wastewater operations, saving time and money.
Designed as a modular, cloud-ready solution, KDX can be adapted to your specific
operational goals, whether they are financial, environmental or customer-drive.
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TRILITY news
Newsletter for TRILITY Group and Joint Venture clients
Making waves
The Macarthur Water Filtration Plant (WFP) in Sydney successfully navigated extremely difficult circumstances,
weathering unseasonal rainfall and water quality challenges. To meet this challenge, the KDX ChemDose+
application was used for coagulant dose prediction, water quality management, and process performance
monitoring, enabling a new era of data-driven incident response management.
This capability, combined with a commitment to operational excellence, saw the team not only achieve, but
exceed expectations for production, availability, and water quality during these very trying conditions.
With a focus on operational excellence and confidence in meeting climate and regulatory challenges, our
compliance tool, Vantage+, was deployed at; GWMWater plants in Ararat, Stawell, Halls Gap, and Great
Western. It is also being deployed at Macarthur WFP, and all water treatment plants operated by Lower Murray
Water and Mackay Regional Councils.
By giving operational teams the ability to automatically pre-process online data and calculate filtration and
disinfection log removal value; the compliance software allows quality teams to be ahead of the curve for
health-based targets compliance under the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines in real time.
We also continue our focus on innovation, with our flagship digital twin and co-simulation technology for
wastewater operations, Aer+, which has been deployed for Victor Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP)
and other utility partners in 2023, including Mackay regional council.
This technology allows teams to optimise and automatically calibrate a real-time digital twin of the WWTP,
benchmarking to industry standards, dynamically optimising, and drastically improving energy usage and
bioreactor performance in real-time.
Access to our expert teams is one of our fundamental value propositions enabling us to offer hands-on help
with core operational issues; demonstrating how the service can provide the right solution for many
operational problems.
2022 saw a multitude of KDX applications utilised across the industry
and within TRILITY operations
Designed by operators, for operators
TRILITY news
Newsletter for TRILITY Group and Joint Venture clients
Empty IDEA Cell, waiting for cleaning
What’s involved in the replacement of diffuser pads
Like all equipment, maintenance is a given. After 15 years of near-continuous
service, the rubber pads in the diffusers of the Intermittent Decanted Extended
Aeration (IDEA) cells at our Echuca Wastewater Treatment Plant had reached
their expiry date.
Through routine inspections, our operations team scheduled the replacement
of the pads. The team set about planning the changeover, with IDEA cell two
being chosen to be emptied due to a damaged boot on the outlet pipe and a
damaged valve that could not be changed without fully emptying the cell.
The process is both time-consuming and complex.
The changeover process commenced with the cell being drained of part of
the contents, some of which were sent out to the drying beds, and the thick
sludge being pumped into the sludge digester over the course of a week. Next,
some time was spent hosing down and cleaning the cell floor at the outlet end,
followed by removing the diffusers to clear the area for two scissor lifts.
The lifts were used in tandem over the course of a day; the boot was changed,
and the diffusers were put back in preparation for changing the diffuser pads.
The process of changing the pads, while considered simple, is very time
consuming because of the sheer volume of diffusers. There are approximately
2500 diffusers per cell, and this involves the undoing of the PVC ring holding
each of the pads in place, the removal of each pad and the plate underneath,
then scrubbing clean the PVC parts, lubricating the edges of the new pads, and
then putting everything back together again. Once complete, the team filled
the cell to just over the diffuser level; to identify any air leaks, it was essential
to ensure there were no leaks before completely refilling the cell. Where an air
leak was found, it had to be resealed. This was done manually with someone
carefully walking out in waders and blindly tightening the seals where the leak
had been located, which was challenging in the slippery, sludgy, muddy water.
The Echuca operations team aimed to get a row and a half of diffusers done per
day; the process took over a month to complete. The team are now scheduling
the same approach across the plant’s remaining cells.
To find out more, email us at info@trility.com.au
Dropping one of the scissor lifts into the cell
Changing the diffuser pads in IDEA Cell 2
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TRILITY news
Newsletter for TRILITY Group and Joint Venture clients
Flooding across the nation
Eastern Australia battled its fifth
major wave of floods over the past
19 months. Across October, heavy
downpours flooded large areas of
New South Wales, Victoria and
Tasmania and the abnormally wet
conditions are expected to last until
2023. The same floodwaters then
made their way down the rising
River Murray into South Australia,
impacting Riverland towns from
Renmark to Tailem Bend.
South Australia too was affected,
in November, having received some
of the highest falls on record.
The impacts were felt across the
state, resulting in most of our sites
suffering from flood-related
operational issues.
We would like to recognise the
efforts of our dedicated team. The
2022 eastern Australia floods have
been described as one of the nation’s
worst recorded flood disasters,
with a series of floods that occurred
from February to April in Southeast
Queensland and parts of New South
Wales. The floods then made
their way to Victoria.
To give some perspective of the flood water flow from across Australia, and travelling into the Murray Darling Basin,
click here to access the up to date Flowtracker map c/- www.mappingsa.com.au
October 2022: Floodwaters have risen around the old Echuca-Moama bridge on the Moama side. Image: Steve Huntley
Floods in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia, January 2022. Hundreds of people were evacuated after
650mm of rain in 24 hour period. Image: Fraser Coast Regional Councils
Click here to access video footage of the Riverland floods - c/- Riverland Commercial Photography
10
TRILITY news
Newsletter for TRILITY Group and Joint Venture clients
Broughton Pass flooding event
In recent years, weather patterns have changed in Sydney, whereby East
Coast low-pressure systems regularly produce concentrated rainfall events,
which usually last for three to four days at a time. When these occur, the
catchment that supplies water to the Macarthur Water Filtration Plant (WFP);
Broughton Pass raw water supply intake becomes flooded with high colour and
organically loaded raw water. Following these events, raw water colour
can increase to extreme levels, and it can take several weeks before the raw
water returns to pre-rainfall levels. For example, in late February 2022,
a rainfall flooding event occurred, and concurrent rainfall events, high raw
water colour, and organic levels continued into August.
As a result of the repeated heavy rainfall, a landslide occurred, which
deposited rock and soil into the weir at Broughton Pass. Thankfully there were
no personnel at the location at the time; however, access to our pump station
and infrastructure was blocked by boulders, and a large amount of silt blocked
the inlet structure, which needed to be removed. Rectification works required
coordination between TRILITY, Sydney Water, and Water NSW, and
all stakeholders worked together to ensure that the works progressed
safely and effectively.
Following the $20M upgrade of the facility in 2020, mechanisms are now in
place to hold undesirable water in storage so that it can be further treated
through the filtration process. At the flood’s peak, some state-of-the-art online
monitoring equipment installed at Broughton Pass as part of the plant upgrade
was washed away. The Macarthur team’s knowledge and experience ensured
that the filtration process continued to supply the required quality treated
water to over 300,000 customers in Western Sydney throughout
the event.
Flood water abated cable tray missing
Broughton Pass pre flood
Flood water abated with debris
Floodwater above Cable Tray
Due to the raw water’s extreme colour and organic load, high volumes of filter
residue sludge are being produced, which requires dewatering, drying, and,
ultimately, removal from the site. The Macarthur team has worked around the
clock to ensure this occurs effectively, and the Macarthur Management team
is working closely with Sydney Water to ensure that the situation can continue
to be managed long-term.
This is a personal note to pass on my congratulations and job well done for the
Macarthur Plant team in recent months.
I say thanks to Greg, Pat and the team but that can be a bit yeh yeh sometimes, as
success is often just taken for granted. It was an amazing effort given the extreme
wet weather conditions the plant has had to deal with this calendar year, let alone
the last two.
For my last 10 years there were always questions leading with “what’s happening
at Macarthur” It’s now noticeably not asked. In fact it’s nice to say upfront that
Macarthur is performing well despite treating severely deteriorated raw water
quality, atrocious weather and being a bit tired.
It’s really nice to say the improvements the team have been working on for a
long time are working well. We are not out of the woods, as the impacts of recent
floods will be felt for a number of years. But I know the Macarthur team have
done a lot of work, and I’m a bit proud of our successful operational teams here at
Sydney. Well done and thanks.
Ben Blayney - Head of Water Supply and Production