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This report, the “Pyrmont Ultimo Precinct (PUP) Scale Organics Management Scoping Study” has been prepared by the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), University of Technology Sydney (UTS). The research, conducted by ISF and funded through a collaboration between Sydney Water Corporation (SWC) and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), has investigated at a high level, a suite of innovative organic waste management options that could potentially be piloted in Pyrmont-Ultimo, currently the densest urban area in Australia. The Pyrmont-Ultimo precinct (PUP), encompassing Pyrmont, Ultimo and the newly developed Central Park, has been specifically chosen due to the significant potential in the area, existing network of sustainability practitioners (i.e. Smart Locale1) and ISF’s/UTS’s direct involvement in research in food waste management.

The Victorian water utilities have been active in the implementation of water efficiency for many years. Similar to other jurisdictions this intensified during the Millennium drought. The approaches employed during the drought involved both individual and joint water utility initiatives, often in collaboration with the Victorian government. These initiatives covered both the residential and non-residential sectors and were supported by the important collaborative research initiated in 2003 under the $50m Smart Water Fund (now closed). This research report “Assessment of Future Water Efficiency Measures” has been developed by the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), University of Technology Sydney, on behalf of the three Melbourne retailers, Melbourne Water, Barwon Water and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. The rapid study does not aim to be exhaustive but to begin to gather information to assist in taking stock of the current efficiency situation and to look on the horizon in terms of how efficiency might change. It aims to gather information that will be useful to assist in testing alternative potential scenarios of long term demand forecasts and new potential short and long term efficiency program opportunities that can be actioned when deemed appropriate into the future. There is significant additional conservation potential available as we look to the future in terms of new more efficient appliances and ways to interact with customers by tapping into new technical and behavioural opportunities.

Now an ideal time to reflect, to take stock of where the Australian water industry is at, to scan the trends, disruptions and innovation opportunities that lie ahead, to imagine what the water industry could look like in the next 20 to 30 years, and to work out what it would take to realise that vision. As the weight of history, the push of the present and the pull of the future unfold, there is a need to take control, innovate, advocate and consciously head in the desired direction to ensure that the collective vision of the future water industry is fulfilled. The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), the peak industry body that represents over 70 public and privately, owned water or water related organisations, commissioned the Institute to research and write this discussion paper on the trends and potential disruptions to Australia’s urban water futures.

© Author(s) 2016. The majority of anthropogenic CO2emissions are attributable to urban areas. While the emissions from urban electricity generation often occur in locations remote from consumption, many of the other emissions occur within the city limits. Evaluating the effectiveness of strategies for controlling these emissions depends on our ability to observe urban CO2emissions and attribute them to specific activities. Cost-effective strategies for doing so have yet to be described. Here we characterize the ability of a prototype measurement network, modeled after the Berkeley Atmospheric CO2Observation Network (BEACO2N) in California's Bay Area, in combination with an inverse model based on the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting/Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (WRF-STILT) to improve our understanding of urban emissions. The pseudo-measurement network includes 34 sites at roughly 2 km spacing covering an area of roughly 400 km2. The model uses an hourly 1 × 1 km2emission inventory and 1 × 1 km2meteorological calculations. We perform an ensemble of Bayesian atmospheric inversions to sample the combined effects of uncertainties of the pseudo-measurements and the model. We vary the estimates of the combined uncertainty of the pseudo-observations and model over a range of 20 to 0.005 ppm and vary the number of sites from 1 to 34. We use these inversions to develop statistical models that estimate the efficacy of the combined model-observing system in reducing uncertainty in CO2emissions. We examine uncertainty in estimated CO2fluxes on the urban scale, as well as for sources embedded within the city such as a line source (e.g., a highway) or a point source (e.g., emissions from the stacks of small industrial facilities). Using our inversion framework, we find that a dense network with moderate precision is the preferred setup for estimating area, line, and point sources from a combined uncertainty and cost perspective. The dense network considered here (modeled after the BEACO2N network with an assumed mismatch error of 1 ppm at an hourly temporal resolution) could estimate weekly CO2emissions from an urban region with less than 5 % error, given our characterization of the combined observation and model uncertainty.

The majority of anthropogenic CO2 emissions are attributable to urban areas. While the emissions from urban electricity generation often occur in locations remote from consumption, many of the other emissions occur within the city limits. Evaluating the effectiveness of strategies for controlling these emissions depends on our ability to observe urban CO2 emissions and attribute them to specific activities. Cost-effective strategies for doing so have yet to be described. Here we characterize the ability of a prototype measurement network, modeled after the Berkeley Atmospheric CO2 Observation Network (BEACO2N) in California's Bay Area, in combination with an inverse model based on the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting/Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (WRF-STILT) to improve our understanding of urban emissions. The pseudo-measurement network includes 34 sites at roughly 2 km spacing covering an area of roughly 400 km2. The model uses an hourly 1 × 1 km2 emission inventory and 1 × 1 km2 meteorological calculations. We perform an ensemble of Bayesian atmospheric inversions to sample the combined effects of uncertainties of the pseudo-measurements and the model. We vary the estimates of the combined uncertainty of the pseudo-observations and model over a range of 20 to 0.005 ppm and vary the number of sites from 1 to 34. We use these inversions to develop statistical models that estimate the efficacy of the combined model-observing system in reducing uncertainty in CO2 emissions. We examine uncertainty in estimated CO2 fluxes on the urban scale, as well as for sources embedded within the city such as a line source (e.g., a highway) or a point source (e.g., emissions from the stacks of small industrial facilities). Using our inversion framework, we find that a dense network with moderate precision is the preferred setup for estimating area, line, and point sources from a combined uncertainty and cost perspective. The dense network considered here (modeled after the BEACO2N network with an assumed mismatch error of 1 ppm at an hourly temporal resolution) could estimate weekly CO2 emissions from an urban region with less than 5 % error, given our characterization of the combined observation and model uncertainty.

Recycled water has increasingly been considered as a means to deal with water supply-demand imbalances, treated wastewater disposal and stormwater management. It contributes to the sustainability of urban water systems and the regeneration of the urban landscape. However, recycled water schemes are not mainstream, and are often confronted with numerous challenges. By considering the contextual and project related risks associated with a diverse selection of recycling projects in Australia, a range of business related risks have become apparent. There is now evidence that shifts in both the contextual landscape and the objectives of the various players involved can occur over the life of a project, resulting in risk and uncertainty often not foreseen. Many guidelines on recycling have been produced which focus mainly on technical risk. Drawing on the experiences of a diverse selection of case studies in Australia, this paper contemplates the additional risks and uncertainties, often not initially considered at the inception of a recycling scheme. This paper presents an overview and discussion of six key issues to consider when planning a recycling scheme.

This Guide lays out a way to undertake urban water planning, using a consistent framework, which creates benefits for the whole community. It was originally developed by the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) at the University of Technology Sydney for the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) and has been updated with the support of the Australian Governments National Water Commission (NWC). The Guide is intended for both WSAA members and the broader Australian water industry

In many locations, climate change may significantly reduce urban water supplies and could also affect water demand. With uncertainty around future climate, supply-demand planning needs to adapt. This paper addresses the question: How does climate change alter Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) for urban water? The paper covers the setting of planning objectives in the face of climate change, assessing the impacts of climate change on urban water supply and water demand, and considers the available responses. While climate change represents a major challenge for urban water planning it also reinforces key principles of IRP such as adaptive management, the central role of water conservation and need for public engagement in water planning.

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This paper reviews recent research undertaken to extend the integrated Supply-Demand Planning (iSDP) model, a tool developed by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS, and the CSIRO together with water utilities across Australia. The research seeks to provide a transparent, open-source tool to assist urban water resource planners nationally. This paper reviews the role of the model and details several novel developments. These include an integrated analysis of wastewater, energy, nutrient and greenhouse gas flows, facility for testing alternative scenarios, a series of outputs for assessing the impact of alternative strategies, and an embedded library of region-specific assumptions and references.

This independent review aims to assess the Queensland Government's proposed strategy for meeting the long-term water supply-demand balance for South East Queensland, of which the Traveston Crossing scheme is a major and controversial component. The review, conducted by a team from the ISF at the UTS and Cardno, concludes that a diverse portfolio of options can ensure supply security for South East Queensland (SEQ) well into the future, certainly to 2050. Such options include: increasing water supply availability (supply-side options); decreasing the demand for water (demand-side options); and meeting water supply needs during deep droughts (drought response options). A number of the elements of such a portfolio are already being implemented as part of the current Queensland Government strategy. With the extension and addition of low unit cost demand-side options and supply-side drought response readiness options, a clear conclusion of this study is that the proposed dam at Traveston Crossing on the Mary River is neither necessary nor desirable as a part of the portfolio for ensuring supply security to 2050. The increase in supply from this proposed dam will not assist in the short-term during the current severe drought in which water (from savings and supply) is needed over the next two to three years. Planned completion of the Traveston Crossing Dam Stage 1 is in 2012. Additional time will be needed for the dam to fill, which could take an additional two years, resulting in the yield from this source only potentially being available in 2014. Neither is the Traveston Crossing scheme needed for supply-demand balance in the longer term with the suite of other more appropriate drought response measures being implemented by the Queensland Government and strategy being proposed as part of this study. The proposed dam at Traveston Crossing on the Mary River represents a high total cost, high unit cost, high risk and high environmental and social impact option.

In February 2007, the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) and Cardno Australia released a Review of Water Supply-Demand Options for South East Queensland (the Review). The Review was submitted to the Senate Rural & Regional Affairs and Transport (RRAT) Committee Inquiry into Additional Water Supplies for South East Queensland. The key finding of the ISF/Cardno Review is that Traveston Crossing Dam will not be useful to provide water security in the current drought and is unnecessary to ensure water security for South East Queensland after the drought and for decades to come. The suite of supply and demand options â excluding Traveston Dam â which are currently being implemented as part of the South East Queensland Regional Water Supply Strategy (SEQRWSS) sufficient to ensure the supply-demand balance to around 2030. For the period 2030-2050, ISF/Cardno suggest a number of enhanced demand management programs that will maintain the supplydemand balance to 2050. The demand management measures suggested by ISF/Cardno are more cost effective than Traveston Dam (in terms of $ per kilolitre) and perform significantly better than Traveston Dam when assessed on social and environmental criteria including greenhouse impact. In the event that a period of water scarcity worse than the current drought occurs, ISF/Cardno propose that a âreadinessâ strategy be adopted whereby water supply projects with relatively short construction and delivery times are planned and approved but only built if and when absolutely necessary to defer a crisis in water supplies. This strategy avoids investing in infrastructure that may not be needed. This represents a lower cost strategy than building capital works pre-emptively. It is important to note that the water supply projects outlined in the ISF/Cardno Review are suggestions of appropriate âreadinessâ options.

Section 2 of this report details the iSDP base case and compares the current demand prediction with one based on a more detailed understanding of the factors underpinning demand. Because the base case is based on year 2000 conditions, it also estimates the impact of introducing the two-days-per-week sprinkler restrictions on demand in late 2001 and the rebate scheme that was introduced in February 2003 and revised in June 2005.

The water industry in Australia and international is involved in a period of significant change. The conventional roles of water and wastewater utilities are being redefined with the objectives of resource conservation and sustainable development added to existing responsibilities. Least cost planning (LCP) has emerged as the way forward for water utilities in regions where water conservation has become an objective or where ongoing supply expansion is constrained. It involves techniques for the design and evaluation of demand management programs and aims to compare demand- and supply-side options on an equivalent basis. The approach is based on the key ideas that: demand is for the services water provides rather than the actual volume supplied; and that a drop of water saved is equal to a drop supplied. This paper contends that LCP has much to offer the water sector beyond demand management. It is an approach that has potential for options assessment across the water cycle and can aid planning towards more sustainable outcomes within the sector. The paper concludes that LCP concepts and techniques will have worth in addressing the challenges of sustainable development for both urban water systems and catchment management

This report forms part of a larger study (Stage 1 of the International Demand Management Framework (IDMF)) which has been undertaken under the auspices of the International Water Association Task Force 7 of the Specialist Group Efficient Operation and Management. Current practice often utilises litres per capita per day (LCD) to describe and forecast water demand; however this practice has been found to be limited for planning purposes within water utilities. In its place, an emerging way forward is based on disaggregation of demand and robust comparison of both demand and supply options to improve reliability. Disaggregation of demand into sectors and end uses allows accurate forecasting of demand and strategic design of demand management options which may be used in complement to supply options. The findings indicate that Canal de Isabel II has completed excellent work in certain areas, such as drought and risk management, management of water losses, knowledge of supply and distribution system, and sector and end use data collection. There remains significant opportunity for Canal de Isabel II to incorporate other improvements toward best practice, including the following: ·approach the planning process in a coherent way that considers both demand and supply options and works through a logical sequence of steps ·utilise in-depth knowledge of sector and end-uses to strategically identify and design demand management options ·compare demand and supply options using a consistent economic analysis so that the solutions with the lowest cost to society can be selected and implemented ·involve a larger group of stakeholders at appropriate points in the planning process ·conduct pilot and implementation of chosen demand management options to initiate on-going learning about what works and doesn't in the local context & ·monitor and evaluate pilot and implementation programs using robust statistical methods.

Through the State Water Strategy the Government of Western Australia has committed to using Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) in its water allocation and licensing processes (Government of Western Australia, 2003). There is currently limited experience in using IRP methods within the state and methods used elsewhere may need to be adapted to take account of the specific water environment within Western Australia, especially the relative complexity of the states water sources, the high outdoor use component and self-supply options such as domestic bores. Improved management of existing water resources (e.g. catchment thinning, plantation management) to release more water are also not well covered in many past uses of the method. The Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) commissioned and recommends the use of an End Use Model (since renamed, the Supply and Demand Planning Model) to detail how water is used on both a customer sector (e.g. domestic, commercial) and end use basis (e.g. toilet flushing, garden watering). Such a model allows water suppliers to better predict future demand (forecasting) and to develop options to meet a future water supply demand balance (backcasting). Importantly, it allows water supply and demand management options to be compared on a consistent economic basis. Alternative methods of assessing supply and demand options often only consider the financial impact on the water service provider, whereas the government needs to also consider the impact on consumers and on the general community

The immunofluorescent staining of Jurkat cells by a panel of eight CD-13 monoclonal antibodies has been investigated. With unfixed cells all antibodies were negative, in contrast to the CD-13-positive cell line, HL60, which gave staining in each case. These results were in line with our previous enzymological studies in which we showed that the aminopeptidase activity observed with intact Jurkat cells was located in the cytoplasm and was distinct in properties from aminopeptidase-N (CD-13), which is expressed by HL60 cells. After fixation of Jurkat cells, four antibodies, 22A5; MCS-2, 72a and WM-15, gave consistent positive staining, while the other four, WM-47, RMAG6, MY7 and CLB-mon-gran/2 were consistently negative. Prior fixation was an absolute requirement for staining, but was observed over a range of concentrations of paraformaldehyde from 0.4% to 4%, as well as with acetone or methanol/acetic acid. Confocal fluorescence microscopy confirmed that the positive fluorescence given by 22A5 was located in the cytoplasm, contrasting with that given by an antibody to a cell-surface marker, HLA-DR, which was associated with the plasma membrane. The fixatives thus appeared to have rendered the cells permeable to the antibodies, but the molecular size of the antibodies could not explain the different behaviour of the two classes of antibodies, since IgG1 isotypes were present in both positive and negative groups. We exclude the possibility that Jurkat cells express an intracellular form of aminopeptidase-N; the identity of the protein(s) bearing the epitope(s) to which four of the antibodies bound has yet to be determined.

Summary Random blood sampling of 8,448 dairy cattle in two Shires of Victoria revealed that 194 (4.5%) serums, from south-eastern Victoria and 147 (3.6%) serums from northern Victoria were positive to the International tube agglutination test for Br. Abortus. Of these reactions at least 82 (1.9%) and 56 (1.4%) of the serums indicated that these animals were or had been infected with Br. Abortus. The results show that 65% and 73% of the herds in the two areas did not contain Br. Abortus infected cattle. Two factors influenced the incidence of infected animals in herds. First the incidence of infected animals decreased with increasing length of time during which herd re-placement calves had been vaccinated with Br. Abortus strain 19. Second, the introduction of mature previously calved cows increased the incidence of infected animals. Some discussion is given to the usefulness of the revaccination of animals and the control of brucellosis in Victoria with is possible effect on cattle meat export markets.