WIA Members Night At Smart Cities Studio
The Water Industry Alliance Members Night for February was held at the Adelaide Smart City Studio.
Members enjoyed a presentation from Beth Worrall, Studio Manager. Beth took us through what a Smart City is, global and Australian examples, and shared with us some of the pilot projects that are underway and how the Smart City Studio can assist industry.
The Lego City Model got a lot of interest, featuring many of Adelaide’s landmark buildings and streetscapes built from bricks. The impressive display is in fact a working model, and is used to demonstrate Smart City projects such as:
• Smart parking
• Smart lighting
• Energy monitoring
• Water quality management, and
• A city dashboard
One of the aims of the Smart City Studio is to help identify and generate commercial opportunities for innovators, and support their endeavours to build compelling smart city solutions for Adelaide and beyond. Water Industry Alliance members that are developing technologies and expertise to support smarter cities are encouraged to connect with the Smart City studio to gain access to advice and opportunities to build their smart city solutions and also showcase their results.
The Smart City Studio has a range of industry partnerships and collaborations to provide expertise and support to entrepreneurs in Adelaide. To read more follow this link to the Smart City Studio site.
Loxton Research Centre Redevelopment Opening
The Water Industry Alliance are proud to support the
redevelopment of the Loxton Research Centre.
Recently celebrating their official opening, the new centre is a hub for
research and business innovation.
Building on the impressive legacy of the original research
centre, founded in 1960, the Loxton Research Centre continues to offer meeting
spaces and facilities for industry, research, education and government.
WIA CEO Rachel Barratt attended the opening in February,
representing South Australia’s water sector.
“We’ve seen significant improvements in the technologies and management
practices our irrigators use to produce high quality food through the SARMS
program. This centre will help support
the ongoing focus on research and innovation in both established crops for the
region, and new opportunities for production.”
“The facilities are modern and encourage new ways of
working, supporting both digital conferencing, and meeting spaces for
face-to-face collaboration.”
The $7.5 million redevelopment is funded as part of the
South Australian River Murray Sustainability Program (SARMS), funded by the
Australian Government and delivered by Primary Industries and Regions SA, on
behalf of the Government of South Australia. To read more about the SARMS program, please click here.
Australian Water Partnership praises the WIA
Australian Water Partnership CEO Professor Gary Jones told WIA members in Adelaide that the Alliance was recognised for having played a major role in developing the industry over many years and was at the forefront of breaking into international markets.
“South Australia’s water industry is recognised as a global leader in areas such as irrigation, managed aquifer recharge, saline groundwater management and water policy and education”, Professor Jones told the group.
“Make no mistake about it, there’s a huge amount of international interest in what you’re doing here. The AWP sees it all the time in approaches from nations and from Australian embassies abroad. SA is seen as a State that’s taken adversity and turned it to advantage. The problems which you have fought against are common in many developing countries. They want clean, safe, secure water – but they want it in a tight timeframe.
“For you in South Australia it’s a challenge, but more than that, it’s a huge opportunity. SA has what the world wants: the know-how to provide a secure supply of safe water”. To read the full article, please click here.
Opportunities for Local Businesses to be involved in the New Water Centre of Excellence in Jaipur
The Centre of Excellence in Water and Resource Management in Jaipur, Rajasthan is moving closer to providing real opportunities for businesses to collaborate on joint projects and initiatives.
Karlene Maywald, the South Australian Strategic Advisor of Water Opportunities along with Hydro-dis, a WIA member, recently visited Jaipur to progress business opportunities and to attend the first Steering Committee meeting of the CoE. The Rajasthan CoE Steering Committee confirmed a suite of projects that will be delivered collectively with research and industry partners from both India and South Australia. Project leads are currently in the process of preparing project plans and liaising with Indian counterparts.
We anticipate that there will be a number of opportunities for South Australian industry and businesses to demonstrate their technologies, skills and expertise in India. Some of the projects which are likely to require industry involvement include a project looking at opportunities for Managed Aquifer Recharge, another on water sensitive design and village scale wastewater treatment project.
As these opportunities develop they will be shared with members. To read the full article, please click here .
Potential for more than 5000 Jobs as Northern Adelaide Irrigation Scheme Progresses
A proposal to expand the use of recycled water for primary production in the Northern Adelaide Plains suggests there is the potential to create more than 5000 jobs.
The proposal was developed by a consortium of companies after SA Water called for Expressions of Interest to use an additional 20 gigalitres of recycled water from the Bolivar Waste Water Treatment Plant as part of the Northern Adelaide Irrigation Scheme.
The State Government, through SA Water, will now progress the consortium’s proposal to the feasibility stage and examine the potential economic and employment benefits of the proposal, with interim results expected by the end of 2016.
The Water Industry Alliance (WIA) is working closing with the Government to ensure WIA members are involved in the initiative and receive opportunities as a result. To read the full press release, please click here.
SARMS-IIIP Capability Listing
The Water Industry Alliance has opened to all companies the opportunity to register their capabilities for inclusion in the Irrigation Capability Irrigation Industry Service Provider Directory.
The South Australian River Murray Sustainability Program (SARMS) will build strong and sustainable irrigation communities and help to secure water resources needed for a healthy environment and a prosperous state. SARMS is a $265 million funding package resulting from collaborative efforts between the Australian and South Australian Governments and the water industry.
SARMS will be delivered by the South Australian Government and has been designed to achieve the outcomes sought by the Water Industry Alliance in their original River Murray Improvement Program proposal. For further information on SARMS-3IP, head to the PIRSA website .
All the details both of how to access the service provider directory and how to submit your company's capabilities are available
here.
Smart Specialisation Clusters
The South Australian water industry has a number of areas where it has excelled and is now one of the global leaders. Some of these areas have been identified and specialisation groups have been formed to foster the continued leadership of the technologies and the companies, government departments and research & training institutions that drive them forward.
The WIA facilitates two globally leading smart specialisation groups, MAR Hub and WaRDA, cluster groups who hold expertise in managed aquifer recharge and wastewater for regional and decentralised applications.
For further information on MAR Hub and WaRDA, please click here.