With Engineers Australia celebrating the Year of the Regional Engineering Team (YORET) the Northern Rivers Group is pleased to invite you to a Dinner & Presentation with guest speaker Mr Chris Hertle, Global Leader – Water, GHD

Chris Hertle is GHD's Global  Market Leader - Water. A Chemical Engineer with more than 25 years’  experience, Chris aims to  develop  and  strengthen GHD client  and stakeholder
relationships within the global water industry. Enhancing  GHD’s offering in  the  industrial water and waste management areas are his key focus points, along with leveraging GHD’s global  network to  share water  insight from around  the world. Chris was  involved  in the introduction of membrane bioreactors into Australia  and  has presented many papers at national and  international forums. He is currently a  member of the  Water Project Group for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Coal Seam Gas (CSG) is a rapidly growing industry in QLD because of the increased global demand for natural gas as a means of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The proved and probable reserves in the Surat, Bowen, Galilee, Cooper and Clarence Moreton Basins in QLD reached 18,289 PJ as of 30 June 2009, with production increased to approximately 151 PJ representing more than 80% of the QLD gas market. The extraction of the CSG results in the production of a high salinity "by product" known as Produced Formation Water (PFW) or Associated Water (AW). The current applied water management strategies of the QLD CSG industry typically involve the collection of the associated water from the well fields to centralized ponds where the water is treated using mainly membrane technologies such as Reverse Osmosis (RO) and the permeate is either used for irrigation,  aquifer recharge or provided to other industries for alternative uses. This water treatment approach generates reject streams known as brine, which contain the majority of the contaminants, such as salts, originally present in the associated water. The brine is typically further reduced in volume using brine evaporation ponds, or in a limited number of cases, enhanced mechanical evaporation ultimately leading to crystallization of non-commercial mixture of salts. This treatment approach requires high capital investment, high operating costs and creates significant environmental issues. This presentation will cover the development of the CSG industry in QLD and the implications to water management and will use this information as an analogy for understanding possible impacts of the proposed large scale CSG resources development in NSW

                                                           Saturday 25^th February 2012

   Venue:       Island Room, Best Western Ballina Island Motor Inn
                       Pacific Highway, Ballina

              Time:        6.30pm Pre-Dinner Drinks
                                7.00pm Dinner & Presentation

              Cost:         $25.00 pp (incl GST) for Young Engineers
                                 $35.00 pp (incl GST) for Members & Partners
                                 $45.00 pp (incl GST) for Non Members
                                   (Includes 2 course meal & drinks)                                        

            RSVP:  To register CLICK HERE or visit Events at www.engineersaustralia.org.au/newcastle
                           by Monday 20^th February 2012. For any inquiries please contact the office on 4926 4440 or jpapanicolaou@engineersaustralia.org.au

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) may be claimed for the presentation part of this event – (1 point)