TasWater prepares to take on the world

TasWater team members from the Barrington water treatment plant which last month was named as having Australia’s Best Tasting Drinking Water have been formally recognised at a presentation in Launceston.

Barrington which supplies water to Sheffield and Railton won the title at the Water Industry Operators Association of Australia (WIOA) water tasting competition held in Marysville, Victoria.

A panel of water industry specialists and locals from Marysville tested the water for clarity, colour, odour and taste.

Craig Mathisen, WIOA Chief Operations Officer says the competition is a testament to the high-quality of Australian water and the diligence and commitment of the operational employees to provide a supply of safe, great tasting water to communities across Australia.

“Most members of the general public would be surprised by the complexity and hard work that goes into delivering household water.”

“That’s one of the reasons for the water tasting contest, we want to celebrate our unsung heroes – the water operators and their crews who work all year-round to ensure we have water, which is essential to keeping us alive.”

TasWater CEO Michael Brewster says it’s a great honour for Tasmania and particularly the team at Barrington to have won the title of best tasting water in Australia.

“We acknowledge while some communities in Tasmania have unsatisfactory water, TasWater supplies drinkable water to 98.5 percent of our customers connected to a water supply network.”

“We have made a commitment to upgrade those underperforming water systems over the next two years as part of TasWater’s spending on infrastructure upgrades of around $100 million a year.”

Tasmania has a lot of very small water systems serving many small communities which makes the job of upgrading infrastructure expensive and at times complex.

Of 19 water utilities across Australia and New Zealand, TasWater is responsible for 38 percent of the total number of water treatment plants while supplying less than 3 percent of the customers across the two countries.

Water from Barrington will now vie for the title of the best tasting water in the world at Berkeley Springs, West Virginia in America next February.

TasWater – training our way to better water

A significant milestone will be recognised in Launceston today with the presentation of more than 80 training certificates to TasWater staff. Included are 25 newly qualified water operators who work at our water treatment plants ensuring our drinking water meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

And TasWater is going to need them. With 76 drinking water systems already operating and a commitment to upgrade more than twenty more, TasWater has to keep training staff.

To achieve its aim of improving the quality of drinking water its essential TasWater develops a team of skilled staff to manage new infrastructure being rolled out across the state.

TasWater Chairman Miles Hampton says in the area of both water and sewerage, TasWater will need to spend at least $1.5 billion dollars on infrastructure upgrades over the next decade.”

“The financial requirements are considerable but so is the need to focus on employing the right people with the right knowledge, skills and passion to tackle this once in a generation program of public works.”

TasWater CEO Michael Brewster says by ensuring our people have these skills and knowledge, we can work together to achieve our aim of reducing public health alerts and provide safe drinking water.

Other qualifications gained by TasWater staff recognised today cover areas of expertise including Project Management, Plumbing, Management and Information Technology.

“As one of the state’s larger employers, we have more than 900 employees and contractors working across a range of areas from field based employees with trade qualifications and operations and maintenance skills, through to engineers, project managers, accountants and managers.”

“It is vital that skills are upgraded and expanded and that this is achieved and measured through formal qualifications.”

TasWater is proud of its commitment to training and is pleased it’s been recognised with its training team named as a finalist in the large employer of the year category at the Australian Training Awards to be decided in Darwin later this month.
TasWater