THE Shire of Augusta-Margaret River won the 2008 Water Awards’ highest honour – the Award for Excellence – for its water efficient initiatives. The shire was also named the winner in the Management of Water Resources – Small Organisation, Community Group or Individual Project category. Speaking at the awards at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, Department of Water director general Kim Taylor said the shire had implemented a wide range of initiatives; from working with developers to ensure water sensitive design, to using recycled water to irrigate public areas and retrofitting grey water re-use systems. South Perth-based Satterley Property Group was given the Management of Water Resources – Commercial Project award for its water-wise design of the Heron Park residential estate near Armadale. Mr Taylor said Heron Park not only featured extensive water-efficient mechanisms and practices, but allowed for the preservation of nearby natural wetland. “Despite facing a range of significant environmental challenges on this site, Heron Park has been developed into a quality estate that offers a sustainable choice to those looking to build a new home,” Mr Taylor said. The Burswood Entertainment Centre won the Water-wise Business More Than 100,000kL award for its water saving initiatives, while the CSIRO won in the Water Recycling – Commercial Project category. Alcoa captures top honours GLOBAL aluminium producer Alcoa has been named the Minerals Processing Plant of the Year for its Kwinana refinery at this year’s Australian Mining Prospect Awards. The refinery was awarded largely for its carbon capture technology which locks up significant amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. The south of the river plant has the capacity to capture 70,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, or the equivalent of taking 17,500 cars off the road. Alcoa’s WA residue manager Allan Bermingham said: “We’re investigating options for deployment of the technology across all three of our WA refineries, which could lead to carbon dioxide savings of 300,000 tonne per year, which is equivalent to taking 70,000 cars off the road.” Alcoa’s global refining research and development team, the Technology Delivery Group, set a new world benchmark for the alumina industry with the creation of carbon capture. “Through our membership of the Kwinana Industries Council, we continue to contribute to research into how Kwinana industries can achieve waste synergies by using each others’ by-products – carbon capture is one of those ways,” Dr David Cooling, residue development manager, said. PTA message on target WHEN the Public Transport Authority’s communications team organised the official opening of Mandurah rail line in December 2007, its message was right on target, according to the Public Relations Institute of Australia. PRIA last week awarded the PTA a Golden Target for a “fantastic concept” at its national conference in Fremantle. The PTA was the only Western Australian recipient of a Golden Target, which recognises excellence and best practice in public relations. The organisation was a finalist in two sections; Special Event/Observance and Community Relations, after winning state awards in these two categories at a PRIA function two weeks earlier. Another PTA entry, The Shutdown, relating to the seven-day closure of the Fremantle rail line and part of the Joondalup line in October last year, was highly commended in the state awards. PTA chief executive Reece Waldock said the communications efforts around the opening of the Mandurah line coincided with the importance of the rail line’s construction. “The communications team delivered exactly what we were looking for, a joyful occasion that was embraced enthusiastically by the community, especially those along the line,” Mr Waldock said
