This project established unifying framework for the calculation of robustness metrics, which assists with understanding how robustness metrics work, when they should be used, and why they sometimes disagree. The framework categorizes the suitability of metrics to a decision-maker based on the decision-context, the decision-makers’s preferred level of risk aversion, and the decision-maker’s preference towards maximising performance or minimising variance. This conceptual framework describes when different robustness metrics are likely to agree and disagree.

PhD Thesis completed by Cameron McPhail in August 2020.

The environmental conditions which cause blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) blooms vary according to location, the climate, and other attributes of aquatic ecosystems. This variety has made it difficult to develop one broadly applicable predictive model for cyanobacterial blooms. Water utilities monitor source waters to implement cyanobacterial risk management programmes but there are no standard protocols while limited information transfer between utilities has prevented the identification of management strategies that do or do not work. This research reviewed literature about early warning systems (Almuhtaram et al., 2021) and source control strategies, conducted a survey of 35 utilities in America and Canada (74%) and Australia (Kibuye et al., 2021) and evaluated selected control strategies. These different types of information were synthesised into decision trees within an overarching guidance document. It was concluded that a 3-tier framework to detect algal blooms which monitored biological activity, then confirmed the identification of cyanobacterial genes and associated metabolites gave sufficient early warning, while multi-barrier control strategies gave field-scale efficacy and enabled timely responses.

The aim of Project 1127 was to help the water industry better manage and understand contaminants of emerging concern (CEC), through:

• The creation of a CEC database
• The development of a classification system based on source, treatment and effects to facilitate management of CEC by the water industry
• The development of risk assessment approaches based on different classifications (i.e., source, treatment and effects) and integrate this functionality into the database as a prioritisation tool
• Guidance on including CEC into current water quality risk management plans/frameworks (e.g. ADWG, AGWR)

Several cyanobacteria species are well known for their potential to produce cyanotoxins. However, not all genotypes of known toxin producing species produce cyanotoxins and of these there is significant variation in the spatial and temporal dynamics of toxin production. The water industry currently relies of observational measurement of the presence of ‘potentially toxic species’, toxin gene and toxin presence to inform management of cyanobacteria blooms in water supply storages. Predictive tools and preventative management are limited by a lack of simple environmental predictors to predict toxin production events. Understanding the drivers for toxin production that inform risk management frameworks would be of great benefit to water supply managers and to inform alternate management options. These tools would enable better responses to bloom events and allowing for the establishment of pre-emptive measures to minimize cyanotoxin production by targeted manipulation of environmental drivers.

Wastewater must be treated to remove four classes of pollutants to levels that regulators consider safe for discharge to the environment: these are nutrients, micropollutants, total suspended solids and pathogens. Utilities are granted licenses to discharge based on the performance of their wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and legislation-derived guidelines which consider the social, economic, and environmental impacts of wastewater discharge. The problem is that there are substantial interpretative differences between States and jurisdictions. This research established a standard risk assessment framework that provides a transparent method for assessing the relative benefits of different disposal and treatment options, and which can be applied uniformly across Australia.

Predicting the effects of climate change is a complicated business. A climate change model might relate temperatures to air flow and patterns of rainfall in a defined geographical area, important information for planning the construction of future dams and water storage reservoirs. The problem is that it is difficult to extract and transfer knowledge from the climate model into the planning and design process; there is a gap between climate science and those who need to apply the knowledge. This project bridges that gap through the establishment of a suite of strategies to further improve the ability of decision-makers to understand and integrate climate change into their ‘business-as-usual’ water planning and management practices.

The development of a toolkit of climate change adaptation supporting resources, called ‘Resiliwiki’, provides Water Research Australia members a valuable resource, allowing them to rapidly identify appropriate decision evaluation methods for a given decision. Although aimed at the water industry, this decision framework for transferring climate change science into adaptive practice is also valuable for government organisations and environmental, health and economic planners.

The Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling (AGWR) require water recycling treatment processes to be validated in ways that ensure that recycled water does not pose a risk to health, safety or the environment. Stage I of this project developed a National Validation Framework (WaterRA project 3009). This Stage II develops and describes detailed protocols that utilities can apply to implement the validation framework and achieve compliance with the AGWR.

The Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling (AGWR) encompass acceptable health, safety and environmental targets for different types of recycled water. This research begins development of a series of processes that utilities can apply to achieve compliance with the AGWR. This Stage 1 of the project describes six systems for recycling water (natural, managed aquifer recharge, membrane treatment, chemical and photooxidation, biological and adsorptive treatments); six aspects of recycling validation systems which included regulator, utility and technology provider perspectives in different States and jurisdictions, as well as micropollutant risk assessment, instrumentation performance and knowledge transfer, training and capacity building. Current and emerging techniques for scheme validation, and relevant guidelines and case studies were reviewed, and knowledge gaps and core issues were identified. Altogether these were used to develop a ‘National Validation Framework’ and were the basis of a plan for completing Stage 2 (WaterRA project 3018).