Sewer Corrosion And Odour Research Project Wins IWA Global Grand Project Award

Award will be presented at the International Water Summit’s World Water Congress and Exhibition in September

The Sewer Corrosion and Odour Research, or SCORe, program was selected as the Global Grand Award recipient of the International Water Association’s (IWA) 2014 Project Innovation Awards (PIA). The award, which will be presented this month in Lisbon, Portugal, at the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition, acknowledges the beneficial tools and innovative technologies that the research has uncovered to help water utilities across Australia manage odour and corrosion issues within sewer systems.

CH2M HILL is pleased to have jointly delivered this project along with its five research and eleven industry partners: the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales, the University of Newcastle, the University of Sydney, Curtin University of Technology, Sydney Water Corporation, Barwon Water Corporation, City of Gold Coast, Hunter Water Corporation, Melbourne Water Corporation, South Australian Water Corporation, South East Water Limited, Veolia Water Australia and New Zealand, Water Research Australia Limited, and Western Australia Water Corporation. The project, led by the Advanced Water Management Centre at the University of Queensland and funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the sixteen industry and research partners, was completed in 2013 in conjunction with an on-going Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) ventilation research program and remains the largest, world-wide research project focused on sewer corrosion and odour.

The water industry is benefiting from the significant advances that have resulted from this world-leading innovative research project. SCORe is a national Australian achievement that demonstrates the value of collaboration between the innovative water industry and the excellent research capabilities of the world-leading Australian universities.

The project has helped utilities across the country save hundreds of millions of dollars by maximising the service life of sewer networks in a proactive approach, by providing utilities with a better understanding of in-sewer processes that lead to sewer corrosion and odour issues.

“CH2M HILL is pleased to be recognised as part of the larger SCORe research team for developing an effective strategy for the mitigation of corrosion and odour problems in wastewater collection systems,” said Jay Witherspoon, CH2M HILL Senior Fellow Technologist. “This sustainable and cost-effective solution has changed the way Australian utilities and the global water industry manages sewer corrosion and odour issues.”

In June, SCORe received IWA’s Asia-Pacific Regional Project Innovation Award during the Singapore International Water Week.

About CH2M HILL
Headquartered near Denver, Colorado, USA, employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in consulting, design, design-build, operations and program management for government, civil, industrial and energy clients. The firm’s work is concentrated in the areas of water, transportation, environment, nuclear, energy, facilities and urban environments. With US$6.6 billion in revenue and 26,000 employees, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record and named a leader in sustainable engineering by Verdantix. The firm was named Water Company of the Year at the 2012 Global Water Awards. For more information, visit ch2mhill.com.