Luke avoids ring of fire … and wins Young Water Professionals Award

There was something for everyone at the recent OzWater conference in Melbourne – but particularly for first-timer Luke Greenbank from Rous Water. Luke was the winner of the 2016 Young Water Professionals Award, provided by the Water Directorate and AWA to encourage young professionals and give them a broader understanding of the water industry.

One session that stood out for Luke was ‘Optimisation of Pumping Stations to Reduce Operation and Maintenance Costs’. “I saw how scheduling asset running times using SCADA could decrease operational costs,” he said. “As the network capacity charge ($/peak kVA) can make up to 50% of the entire electrical bill, scheduling to run the asset during off-peak and shoulder times can return financial savings. At Rous Water, at present over 65% of all electricity charges are generated at shoulder and peak times at our water treatment plants, therefore any savings would be welcome.”

Luke found the variety of stalls and products at the trade show incredible and loved the social events including the Gala Dinner. “The fire-twirling at the Welcome Networking Evening was quite fun; in hindsight it was probably best I did not jump through the hoop of fire, as the performer requested.”

Luke Greenbank (centre) with award sponsors from the Water Directorate to his right and AWA to his left.