Site Tours

Date: Monday 19 May 2025
Time: To be announced
Duration: 2.5 hours
Capacity: 25 people 

This tour will be lead by Karl Winda telfer, Burka, Senior Man of the Mullawirra Meyunna tribal clans (Dry Forest People) of the Kaurna Meyunna people. 

Participants will gain insights into the historical and cultural importance of the river to the Kaurna people, the traditional custodians of the Adelaide Plains and how it has been a vital water source for thousands of years. The river is known as Karrawirra Parri, meaning “Red Gum Forest River.” The tour will highlight the importance of water management, the challenges facing the River and the traditional knowledge of the First Nations in managing natural resources. 

Schedule
To be announced 

PPE Requirements

Walking shoes, hat and sun protection. 

Catering

Not included

Cost

Member $90
Non-Member $125

Date: Monday 19 May 2025 
Time: 8:30 am - 12:10 pm
Duration: 4 hours
Capacity: 20 people

Happy Valley Reservoir, located in suburban Adelaide, was opened to the public for recreational access in December 2021.  Since opening, it has proven to be a very popular destination, offering walking, cycling, picnicking, canoeing/kayaking and fishing.  This tour will offer insights into the history of the reservoir, enabling public access to the site and the current recreational offering. 

The tour will also include a visit to the Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant, the largest Water Treatment Plant in South Australia, providing insights into treatment technologies and the broader reticulated water network in southern Adelaide. 

Schedule  

8:15am Meet at Adelaide Convention Centre

8:30am Bus to depart  

9:10am First location: Happy Valley Reservoir  

10:10am Bus to next location

10:20am Second location: Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant 

11:30am Bus to depart  

12:10pm Bus to arrive back to Adelaide Convention Centre

PPE Requirements 

Closed shoes, long sleeves, long pants, and sun protection. 

Safety glasses and/or hard hats will be supplied where required. 

Cost 

Member $90

Non-Member $125

Catering 

Morning tea provided.

Date: Monday 19 May 2025
Time: 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Duration: 2 hours 
Capacity: 24 people

Groundwater treatment for use in Coopers’ beer production. 

Challenge 

As the capital city of the driest state in Australia, water is always a major talking point in Adelaide. With sometimes scarce drinking water supplies, it’s often left to proactive local industries to lead the way in adopting measures for conservation and Adelaide’s iconic Coopers Brewery is no exception. As part of their move to a substantially larger site, the team at Coopers actively sought out water-saving measures, including the replacement of mains water with groundwater. Due to the slightly saline groundwater source, Coopers' management turned to Osmoflo, who are committed to delivering a circular future for water, having previously provided a 200 kL/d reverse osmosis plant at their original Leabrook facility, for assistance with water treatment. 

Solution 

The solution was to design and deliver a customised plant that would meet the initial needs of the new brewery following commissioning in 2001 while allowing for future expansion. The water supply needed to be sustainable, helping to solve and not add to, the existing problem of water scarcity in the state. In 2007, the brewery expanded, requiring the capacity of its plant to be increased by 50% to 3ML/d. Following pre-treatment to remove suspended solids the reverse osmosis plant now reduces the salinity of the groundwater from around 6,000mg/L TDS to 60mg/L. The concentrate or reject water from the desalination process is held in tanks and mixed with rainwater, making it suitable for the irrigation of a three-hole golf course at the Regency Park site. 

Result 

With a focus on sustainability for the future, the use of groundwater instead of mains water is resulting in net savings for Coopers, while the use of reject water for irrigation is also reducing the cost of effluent discharge. We also offered Coopers a ‘Build Own Operate’ arrangement whereby Osmoflo owns and operates the RO plant, and the brewery is billed on consumption. Under this scheme, we have the responsibility of providing water to the required standard, while Coopers can concentrate on what it does best – brewing high-quality beers. 

Schedule  

12:15pm Meet at Adelaide Convention Centre

12:30pm Bus to depart  

12:50pm Arrive at location: Coopers Brewery  

2.15pm Bus to depart  

2.30pm Bus to arrive back to Adelaide Convention Centre

PPE Requirements  

Closed shoes

Cost 

Member $45 

Non-Member $62

Catering 

Not included

Date: Friday 23 May 2025 
Time: 8:15 am - 12:15 pm
Duration: 4 hours
Capacity: 20 people

The Adelaide Desalination Plant has been in operation since December 2012, providing a climate independent source of water to metropolitan Adelaide. Attendees can expect a complete walk through and technical discussion of the desalination process from intake to outfall with SA Waters contract partner AdelaideAqua. 

Schedule 

8:00am Meet at Adelaide Convention Centre

8:15am Bus to depart  

8:45am Arrive at location – Adelaide Desalination Plant  

11:00pm Morning Tea 

11:30am Bus to depart  

12:15pm Bus to arrive back to Adelaide Convention Centre

PPE Requirements  

Closed shoes, long sleeves, long pants, and sun protection. 

Safety glasses and/or hard hats will be supplied where required. 

Cost  

Member $96

Non-member $135

Catering 

Morning tea provided 

Date: Friday 23rd May 2025
Time: 8:30 am - 3:00 pm 
Duration: 6.5 hours 
Capacity: 20 people

As one of the largest consumers of electricity in South Australia, SA Water has taken an industry leading approach to ensuring we have a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity to provide customers with reliable water and wastewater services, while keeping our customer bills as low as possible and meeting our net-zero objectives. 

Not only do we take an innovative approach to purchasing our electricity as a wholesale participant in the National Electricity Market, we also apply advanced data analysis and optimisation techniques to time the energy we use and the electricity we generate and export. This tour is designed to give you a taste of our energy management processes and systems; from our market operations to centralised control through to on the ground power generation and usage. 

On this tour you will: 

• Hear from the SA Water’s Energy team to learn about our electricity portfolio and how we operate in the market, learn about our energy purchasing journey, the capabilities we have developed along with future opportunities and challenges. 

• Visit SA Water’s centralised control facility to see how we operate our energy assets and bring our capabilities together to deliver optimal outcomes for our customers. 

• Tour the Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant including visiting our Solar Farm and Battery, digesters and engines to see how we bring everything together on the ground. 

Schedule 

8:15am Meet at Adelaide Convention Centre

8:30am Bus to depart  

8:45am First location: SA Water House  

11:00am Bus to depart  

11.35am Second location: Bolivar Waste Water Treatment Plant 

12:30pm Lunch  

1:00pm Tour continues  

2:30pm Bus to depart  

3:00pm Bus to arrive back to Adelaide Convention Centre 

PPE Requirements   

Closed shoes, long sleeves, long pants, and sun protection. 

Safety glasses and/or hard hats will be supplied where required. 

Cost  

AWA Member $115

Non-member $160

Catering 

Lunch provided

Date: Monday 19 May 2025
Time: 8:30 am - 2:00 pm 
Duration: 6.5 hours 
Capacity: 20 people

Willunga Basin Water (WBW), a wholly owned subsidiary of coNEXA infrastructure Partners, is a water utility based in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia. WBW is focused on providing on demand, high quality, drought tolerant recycled water for irrigation purpose in the broader McLaren Vale wine region. WBW plays a significant role in the sustainability of the region currently supplying 7,250ML of recycled water to irrigators, representing approx. 65% of the regions annual water demand. WBWC also plays a vital role in the local economy delivering approx. $700m of economic value to the region through supporting wine production and associated tourism. 

Tour attendees will gain an understanding of the following. 

1. Recycled Water Supply: How recycled water is managed and distributed to irrigation customers to balance seasonal and annual demands. 

1. Sustainability of the Region: By providing an alternative drought tolerant water source, WBWC supports the sustainability of wine production and tourism. End users value the reliability that recycled water provides.  

1. Environmental Benefits: Reduction in effluent discharged to the environment, nutrient rich water benefits to end users, reduced demand on strained ground water resources and conservation of potable water. 

1. Infrastructure: tour of WBWC extensive dam storages, pipeline network, pumping infrastructure and customer supply outlets. 

The tour will commence with a presentation of the WBWC scheme at the McLaren Vale visitors centre, followed by a tour of major delivery assets and customer supply infrastructure. 

Schedule 

8:15am Meet at Adelaide Convention Centre

8:30am Bus to depart  

9:30am Bus to arrive at McLaren Vale Visitor Centre 

9:45am Presentation and questions on WBW scheme 

10:30am Tour of WBW assets 

12:30pm Recycled water use discussion on site with WBW customer 

1:00pm Bus to depart 

2:00pm Bus to arrive back to Adelaide Convention Centre

PPE Requirements   

Comfortable walking shoes, hat and sun protection 

Cost  

AWA Member $125

Non-member $175

Catering 

Lunch provided