Spotlight Plenaries

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Opening Address by Guest-of-Honour, Ms Grace Fu, Singapore’s Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Speaker:

Grace Fu Singapore Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu

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Plenary 1: Climate-Resilient Utility – The Way Forward

Presented by:

Together, NYCDEP and Ramboll have piloted several cloudburst resiliency planning studies over the years in flood-prone neighborhoods in Queens and Manhattan, in partnership with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). These cloudburst planning studies entailed development of blue-green infrastructure master plans through extensive information gathering, technical analysis, inter-agency coordination and stakeholder engagement. These pilot studies resulted in downstream design and implementation of cloudburst solutions, and, created motivation for NYCDEP to secure public funding for future build out of a citywide Cloudburst Management program that will result in improved urban stormwater management and drainage, resilience to future climate stressors, community co-benefits, improved water quality and livability for New Yorkers.

Speakers:

Michael Shum Assistant Commissioner and Acting Chief Information Officer, NYC Department of Environmental Protection Michael Shum

Christian Nyerup Nielsen Global Division Director, Ramboll Christian Nyerup Nielsen

Presented by:

Due to increasing climate pressures bringing noticeable changes to Scottish Water’s upland drinking water sources, Scottish Water and PWNT have been jointly researching the application of Ion Exchange and Ceramic membrane on Scottish waters for the last 6 years. In December 2022, they brought into service the first fully modular off-site built ceramic membrane plant at Bonnycraig. This collaboration has allowed Scottish Water to build, in partnership with PWNT and RSE, a complete water treatment plant off-site and go from initial design all the way to water into supply in less than 2 years. The new plant will achieve more reliable high quality drinking water against a backdrop of changing raw water quality whilst having a lower carbon footprint during construction and operation. Its robust design will also allow it to cope with fluctuations in demand.

Speakers:

Paul Weir Water Quality Excellence Manager, Scottish Water Paul Weir

Clement Pierart Chief Executive Officer, PWNT Clement Pierart

Presented by:

Exemplifying how utilities and industry can work together, DC Water and AECOM presents a case study that spanned 20 years from vision to reality in creating the largest advanced nutrient removal treatment plant in the world. Equipped with the first sidestream ANAMMOX treatment process in the Americas and the largest in the world treating centrate from thermally hydrolysed sludge, the plant is installed with the largest high-rate ballasted flocculation wet weather treatment process, and THP sludge digestion to biogas to steam to renewable energy to biosolids for agricultural reuse. Key outputs include contributions to enhanced environmental protection, GHG reduction, increased sustainability, and cost efficiency. As this vision is still underway with other planned undertakings, current highlights including challenges, successes, lessons experienced so far, and solutions implemented as new capabilities to utility customers, will be shared at this presentation. At DC Water, we believe there is not such thing as waste, just wasted resources.

Speakers:

Dr Robert Bornhofen Director of Innovation, DC Water Dr Robert Bornhofen

Dr Beverley Stinson Executive Vice President of Global Water Business, AECOM Beverly Stinson

Panel Members

Goh Si Hou Chief Executive, PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency Goh Si Hou	Dennis Herrera General Manager, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Dennis Herrera	Karlene Maywald Water Ambassador, Department for Environment and Water, Government of South Australia Karlene Maywald	Wayne Middleton Australasian Water Business Leader, Arup Wayne Middleton
George Butler Principal Water & Sanitation Specialist, International Finance Corporation (IFC) George Butler	Dr Piers Clark Chairman, Isle Group Dr Piers Clark

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Plenary 2: Smart Utility – Partnering Industry for Success

Presented by:

Tuas Water Reclamation Plant (Tuas WRP) will be the latest smart water reclamation plant when completed. Through the adoption of new technologies and the re-engineering of existing systems and processes, Tuas WRP will improve resource and manpower efficiencies, as well as making it a safer workplace.

With this in mind, Tuas WRP set itself the ambitious goal of achieving world-class digital delivery for integrated planning and design, construction and project management, and ultimately to deliver 6D data for operation and maintenance (cradle to grave) of this mega project. We have automated information extraction, improving engineering quality, efficiency and collaboration in the design, construction and commissioning phases. By establishing a connected digital platform, the plan is to deploy and integrate this with other real-time data into the operational phase, the longest duration and the essential purpose of the infrastructure. This includes providing smart systems for personnel safety, enhanced control & optimisation and a comprehensive advanced user interface, tools and dashboard with all asset data, KPIs, plant performance and design information.

Speakers:

Ong Lee Ching Deputy Director, PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency Ong Lee Ching

Colin Newbery Technical Director, Jacobs Colin Newbery

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Melbourne’s water utilities created a unique collaboration – in the form of a Joint Digital Metering Program (JDMP) – to progress the implementation of digital metering in the Melbourne metropolitan area. Over the course of the program, this will impact over 5 million customers that the water utilities jointly serve. Digital water meters help identify leaks, within the customer’s property and in the utilities’ water network, so they can be fixed quickly, saving water and money. These digital water meters also have the potential to provide customers with timely information on their water usage and bill so they can make informed choices about their water consumption. This presentation will cover the drivers of the collaboration, the approach taken, and the benefits derived.

Speakers:

Lara Olsen Managing Director, South East Water Lara Olsen

Pat McCafferty Managing Director, Yarra Valley Water Pat McCafferty

Presented by:

Global Omnium is a Spanish utility founded in 1890 that manages the entire lifecycle of drinking water – including catchment, treatment, and distribution – to three million citizens in Spain. Managing up to 400 different services in a highly dispersed geographical area, the utility needed to integrate its systems, sensors, and communication protocols. The solution – GoAigua, a smart water platform. Developed by Global Omnium’s sister company, Idrica, the platform integrates data from multiple sources using advanced algorithms, to optimise utilities’ operations, reduce costs, improve quality, and maximise resource-use efficiency. Most recently, Xylem partnered with Idrica to offer an integrated software and analytics platform – Xylem Vue powered by GoAigua – that enables water and wastewater utilities to connect and manage their digital assets and streamline operations in a simple, secure, and holistic view.

Speakers:

Jaime Barba Sevillano Chief Executive Officer, Idrica Jaime Barba Sevillano

Pedro Pina Senior Director, Client Success Development, Xylem Pedro Pina

Panel Members

Harry Seah Deputy Chief Executive (Operations), PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency Harry Seah	Lara Olsen Managing Director, South East Water Lara Olsen	Nigel Watson Chief Information Officer, Northumbrian Water Nigel Watson	Enrique Cabrera Co-Chair, IWA Digital Water Summit Enrique Cabrera
Deven Chhaya Partner, Infrastructure Advisory, KPMG Singapore Deven Chhaya	Dr Piers Clark Chairman, Isle Group Dr Piers Clark