Ozwater'11 - Around the World in Three Big Days

摘要

If you were at OzWater'11 in Adelaide you already know that over 1,100 people attended over the three days of the conference and exhibition - and that they came from 19 different countries. In those three days, we gained an illuminating snapshot of the challenges the water industry faces. A big thank you and congratulations to conference chairman Professor Don Bursill and his organising committee, and to AWA's Wayne Castle and his events team for an excellent program that ran seamlessly from the welcome drinks to the closing ceremony. An insightful discussion on what is keeping our utility CEOs awake at night, both here and in the United States, revealed the many parallels from those two sides of the world - in facing shortages of supply, people and cultural issues - especially the safety of those delivering projects - and the trust required of operational staff who go into people's homes. Another common theme was the availability of capital and operating budgets in times of reduced revenue. Utilities on both continents still need to secure water resources in urban and rural areas to support our cities and industries. It remains an ongoing challenge to manage the investment.