MAD MEXICANS, SILLY SYDNEY AND SMART(?) WATER MANAGEMENT

When Australia was hit by severe droughts a few years ago, the threat of chronic water shortages in major cities meant the obvious solution was to build desalination plants. Is this an example of smart water management?

Taxpayers in Victoria may not think so when you consider the key points of an article I found while trawling around the internet.

Dated 17 July 2015, the article said: "Victorians have been asked to consider a Melbourne Water proposal which would see the state's desalination plant take an extra 33 years to pay off.

The proposal would see the $18 billion bill spread out over 60 years, rather than the 27 years in the current contract."

It would initially reduce water bills by up to $11 a year but would cost longer in the long run due to borrowing costs.

So let me get this right. For the “benefit” of water bills being reduced by $11 a year, I get to be part of a repayment plan that runs for 60 years and comes to a mere $18 billion. And you thought bankers were cunning bastards with their loan repayment plans?

I think it highly unlikely that our neighbours in Victorian (AKA Mexico because it is down south and across the border from NSW) were lining up to sign on the dotted line for this doozy of a deal!

There again, these Mad Mexicans are capable of anything especially when you consider their most popular sport involves kicking a ball through four sets of poles the size of the Eiffel Tower because they aren’t skilled enough to kick it into something smaller like a soccer goal.

It's great to be an Australian but so much better to be a Sydneysider. Especially when you read this little nugget of info:

Water consumers have paid $534.7 million to keep the Sydney desalination plant in what its operators describe as a state of "hibernation" since it was leased to a private investment company by the Liberal government in 2012. This would include fixing the plant after a tornado tore through Kurnell inflicting significant damage. Maybe that would have been the time to walk away?

Greens MP John Kaye, who has previously described the plant at Kurnell as a "white elephant", which has never produced a drop of desalinated water outside testing, has called for it to be permanently mothballed, as he believes there is no likelihood of it being needed in the foreseeable future.

Figures from Water NSW show that dams this weekend are 82.8 percent full, with Warragamba dam, the largest of Sydney's five drinking water catchments, 85.5 percent full. Amid much controversy, the desalination plant was built by the Labor government as an insurance policy against drought, but critics say the state was already well served by reservoirs. They also say that the improvements in water efficiency. Thus, despite a growing population, the desal plant is unlikely to be needed – until its expected lifetime has expired!

That said, you can hardly blame any other state government for investing in infrastructure in order to future-proof us against drought. They were led up merde creek (pardon the bad wastewater pun) – and left without a paddle – because they panicked prematurely. The trigger point was meant to be a 30% level in the dam. Yet, we never reached that!

It means that our politicians decided to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure based on what?

However, all is not lost when it comes to smart water management. Governments – of all levels in Australia – have taken their medicine (washed down by some desalinated water no doubt) and are now investing some of our taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars in smart initiatives.

As just one example, The Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation, the Hon. Angus Taylor MP announced the launch of round one of the Smart Cities and Suburbs Program on 17 March 2017.

The $50 million program supports local governments, private companies, research organisations and not-for-profit bodies to work collaboratively and deliver innovative smart city projects. The goal is to improve the liveability, productivity and sustainability of cities and towns across Australia.

However, you had to be quicker than Superman getting changed in a phone booth to get some of the 50 big ones in funding as applications for round one closed on the 30th of June 2017 – just a bit more than three months after the announcement.

Utilities have also stopped smelling the roses and have realised that with populations in Australian cities growing rapidly, there will be a growth in water consumption and the need for much smarter management of water and wastewater infrastructure. 

Sydney and Melbourne, home to 40% of all Australians, are expected to accommodate another three million residents each by the mid-2050s. Such growth will massively increase demand for services that owners/operators of water and wastewater networks provide.

Already water and wastewater utilities across the globe are implementing Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, including smart water technology and smart water meters, as part of their strategy to meet these growth challenges of the future and to become smart cities.

We need to make sure our cities in Australia become water smart cities too.

We will achieve this if owners/operators of water and wastewater networks have access to real-time information - via smart technology, smart networks and smart meters - that will help their decision making not only now in maintaining current demand on their networks but also for their planning of and investment in water and wastewater infrastructure to meet future demand.

In closing, I would like to leave you with the following thought. In October 2015, an IoT think tank set up by Communications Alliance Australia released its report: Enabling the Internet of Things for Australia. According to this report, Australia has an opportunity for IoT competitive advantage and global market leadership that could be worth up to $116 billion to the Australian economy by 2025. Will we grab it or will it be yet another opportunity that we let go begging?