Trade Displays

On-site '07
"Innovation and Technology for On-site Systems"

held in Armidale at
University of New England
Tuesday 25th to Thursday 27th September 2007
Technical tour 28th September 2007

this site was updated 16-Apr-2008

A copy of the proceedings may be purchased by downloading request form  (On-site '07 proceedings)

Patterson, RA & Jones, MJ (Eds). 2007. Innovation and Technology for On-site Systems. Proceeding of On-site ’07 Conference. 25-27 September 2007. Published by Lanfax Laboratories, Armidale   ISBN 978-0-9579438-3-4.   360 pages

Sponsors:

International Keynote Speaker
1.    Professor Robert Siegrist, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado, USA
Keynote address: 'Advancing the Science and Engineering of Integrated On-site Wastewater Systems: Progress and Possibilities'

Dr Robert L. Siegrist earned his B.S. (High Honors,‘72) and M.S. in Civil Engineering (’75) and his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering (’86) at the University of Wisconsin.  During his career, Dr Siegrist has held academic and research positions with the University of Wisconsin, Norwegian Institute for Georesources and Pollution Research, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Colorado School of Mines. 

Since 1995 he has been a faculty member with the Colorado School of Mines where he is currently Professor and Director of Environmental Science and Engineering. Dr Siegrist is an internationally recognized expert in on-site wastewater reclamation and reuse, and remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater. During the past 20 years he has directed interdisciplinary research projects sponsored by government agencies and private industry with budgets totaling more than $12 million dollars.

Dr Siegrist has published over 150 technical papers and a reference book and has given invited talks at workshops and conferences across the U.S. and in 20 countries around the world. He has served as an expert panel member and advisor for many U.S. agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, National Research Council, and Government Accountability Office, as well as for several foreign government organizations. He has served as a Fellow with the NATO Committee for Challenges to Modern Society and has recently been appointed to the U.S. EPA’s Board of Scientific Counsellors Subcommittee on Land Preservation and Restoration.

Dr Siegrist has received numerous recognitions and awards for his activities and accomplishments, including his recent award as Principal Investigator for the Outstanding Project of the Year for 2005 within the DOD Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program.

Australian Keynote Speakers:
2.    Dr Clare Diaper, CSIRO Urban and Industrial Water, Melbourne.
Keynote address:    'Thinking outside the tank: innovation and research in on-site water systems'

Clare Diaper is currently a Senior Research Scientist in the Urban and Industrial Water research theme at CSIRO. Clare has been in the water industry for well over ten years, with experience in many different treatment technologies and techniques. During her MSc she investigated the use of biological systems for the removal of fats, oils and greases in food industry wastes. At Cranfield University her PhD investigated the application of a novel membrane process and the application of other advanced oxidation processes for the treatment of textile and other industry wastewaters. Clare's focus then moved from industrial to domestic wastewater, when she led the Water Recycling Opportunities for City Sustainability project which, in addition to treatment technologies, also incorporated the social, economic, environmental and risk assessment techniques of integrated urban water management. During this time Clare was also seconded to Thames Water to help develop the water recycling and monitoring system at the Millennium Dome. Since joining CSIRO in 2002, Clare has developed projects in greywater treatment and wastewater characterisation and has broadened CSIRO's analysis capabilities with the completion of two microbiological laboratories. Clare strongly believes that on-site and decentralised systems offer a viable alternative to large scale water supply and wastewater treatment. The importance of education and information dissemination on these alternatives to the wider community is also important to Clare and she has worked with many universities in Victoria, the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and the CRC Construction Innovation to get the message to a wider audience. Clare will be presenting some of the content of the IWA Advanced Sanitation Conference, which is being held in Aachen in March 2007.

3.    Ben Kele, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton.
Keynote address:  Square tanks into round holes

Ben Kele is a wastewater researcher with the Plant Sciences Group of the Central Queensland University. Ben started working in the on-site wastewater industry at his family’s pre-cast concrete factory. This involved the construction, delivery and installation of septic tanks in Central Queensland. The Kele family has been a part of this industry since the 1930’s. Ben actually did a Biology degree as a change of pace to working with septic tanks and wastewater; but somehow or other on-site has ended up being a career.  

Ben completed his Master’s in Applied Science in 2005 and commenced his PhD in January 2006. The on-site treatment and reuse technology developed during his Master’s has been patented and commercialised by a company called GBG Project Management Pty Ltd. This company now employs 7 people full-time and has begun installing on-site wastewater treatment and reuse systems Australia-wide.

 Ben has worked on wastewater projects for local government, Queensland Health Department, Queensland EPA, and private industry. He also works with the Research House sustainable housing venture in Rockhampton.

 In 2005 Ben was awarded a Queensland Regional Achiever Award by Awards Australia. Ben is also a share-holder in Sewer-side, a t-shirt company specialising in products for the wastewater industry.

New Zealand Keynote Speaker

4.    Brent Fletcher, Environment Waikato, Hamiton, New Zealand.
Keynote address:   Innovation and Technology in the New Zealand Wastewater Industry

Brent Fletcher began his working career in a trade qualified background in Automotive Diesel Engineering (Heavy Equipment), followed with a Marine Engineer’s Certificate for operation of steam and electricity generation plants, and thena  period in the late 1980’s at a small Hamilton brewery.  In 1990 he took a career change and gained his Social Sciences Degree with Honours, completing it in late 1993. In 1994 Brent was employed as a Resource Officer with the Waikato Regional Council (Environment Waikato) and has been there since. 

His current is with the regulatory side of Council and focuses on consent processing, site monitoring, public interaction and policy formulation.  For over 12 years he has specialised in the field of wastewater treatment and disposal. He says he traded one type of fermentation for another.

His special interests are in individual on-site systems and how well they can be configured to remove nitrogen. He is currently involved in a trial that has been running for a year where a number of commercially available package plants are being tested for nitrogen removal.

Brent is also involved in the implementation of the “Taupo Variation” project where Environment Waikato has set out to prevent the degradation of the large regional lake that has very high quality water. The Taupo Variation involves controls on land uses such as farming practices and wastewater discharges to reduce the amount of nitrogen that is entering Lake Taupo.

Papers presented at the conference and printed in full in the proceedings.

Previous conference abstracts:
Click here to view
Abstracts for On-site '07
Abstracts for On-site '05
abstracts from On-site '03
abstracts from On-site '01
abstracts from On-site '99