Whether the issue at hand is scarcity, abundance, treatment, recycling, disposal or competition, the discussion around water is about securing our future and no issue is more important than the sustainability of our water supplies. Peter Fagan*, Asia Pacific Practice Leader, Sustainability for MWH, provides his opinions on this issue. [ + ]

When a pump station in northern Sydney required the installation of a flow meter to an existing pipeline, the downtime had to be kept to a minimum to avoid disruption of the water supply. The new section with the flow meter was put in place and connected to the remaining main line with two Straub Flex 2H 1296.0 mm pipe couplings. Because the Straub pipe couplings have a very short installation time, disruption to the water supply was kept to a minimum. [ + ]

New and better ways of measuring high-tech energy consumption could lead to significant environmental and economic gains, a study from The Australian National University has found. [ + ]

Canberra’s ‘Compass House’ is showcasing Europe’s thermally broken aluminium curtain-wall system THERM+ by RAICO. This externally glazed aluminium system does much more than simply keeping the weather out. [ + ]

Bar staff know that empty bottles are noisy, bulky and hard to handle behind the service area. BottleCycler provides a solution which quietly reduces glass bulk by 80% and deposits the crushed glass into a sturdy Sulo 60 L compact wheelie bin for collection and recycling. [ + ]

One of GE Energy’s natural gas-fired Jenbacher gas engines will be powering a cogeneration plant that will provide electricity and thermal energy for a major urban revitalisation initiative in Dandenong, Victoria. Built by Cogent Energy, the plant will play a pivotal role in the VicUrban-led Revitalising Central Dandenong (RCD) initiative that is rejuvenating the south-east region of Melbourne. [ + ]

Local Government Super (LGS) has announced one of its upgraded commercial properties has been awarded a 5.5 star NABERS rating (without factoring in its use of Green Power) and is now one of the lowest energy-intensity office buildings in any Australian CBD. [ + ]

Photovoltaic panels made from plant material could become a cheap, easy alternative to traditional solar cells. David L Chandler, MIT News Office [ + ]

Tenix has been awarded a contract by Whitsunday Regional Council to design and construct two sewage treatment plants in northern Queensland. Following construction, Tenix will operate and maintain the upgraded plants under a long-term contract with the council. [ + ]

Victoria University scientists have shown the viability of a new desalination technology that uses almost no electricity and has the potential to save huge amounts of water. [ + ]

Australians may strongly support the recycling of stormwater, according to evidence from three local water surveys. [ + ]

The laboratories at the AWMC (Advanced Water Management Centre) at The University of Queensland are set up to cater for numerous experiments to develop sustainable techniques for water management. For the range of biological and process experiments that are conducted at the university, it was important for the laboratory to have pumps that were accurate, flexible to be used in different applications and easy for the researchers to set up and integrate, with technical assistance if required. Watson-Marlow pumps were selected for this purpose. [ + ]

A mobile glass crusher has been installed at the Wellington Resource Recovery and Transfer Station. The Komplet MT5000 mobile glass crusher will increase glass recycling rates by processing glass bottles and jars collected through kerbside recycling and drop-off facilities and re-use the recovered crushed glass (RCG) locally in civil construction applications. [ + ]

The UniSort line of sorting machines developed by RTT Steinert uses a range of detection and separation technologies to automatically sort waste at different points along the recovery and recycling path. [ + ]

The pursuit of green-collar jobs - employment that contributes to protecting the environment and reducing humanity’s carbon footprint - is a key social and economic driver here in Australia. Currently, green job ads are at an all-time high. But as carbon emissions and temperatures continue to rise, we must continue looking for new ways in which to reach a green future. [ + ]