OPENING TITLE: We asked real graduates their opinions on the water industry.

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NATHALI CHRISTY (Chemical Engineer, Melbourne Water): My first perception of the water industry is that it’s very straightforward.

CLAIRE O’REILLY (Civil Engineer, Melbourne Water): The tap goes on, the water comes out. You don’t need to know about anything else.

JEANNE DROUET (Strategic Projects Engineer, City West Water): I thought it was about laying pipes and billing customers for water.

NICK STETTER (Civil Engineer, South East Water): I thought the water industry was only for civil engineers.

ASTRID HARTONO (Strategy Program Manager, Yarra Valley Water): ‘So, if you’re not a civil engineer, don’t bother applying’ was the rumour that goes around the university campus.

SEAN HANRAHAN (Senior Environmental Strategist, City West Water): I thought it was a pretty old-school industry where there weren’t new and exciting things happening, and opportunities to improve water in the future.

TITLE: The reality...

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BROCK TUNNICLIFFE (Customer Compliance, City West Water): I love the variety of my job. Every day is different for me. Some days I could be out training a customer about OHS aspects of recycled water use; other days I could be in the office looking at volumes, soil samples, water quality reports...

ANDREW TIPPING (Chemical Engineer, Melbourne Water): It’s not sitting at a desk all day. There’s a lot of collaboration: it’s a very diverse team that you work within. That involves, of course, going out to site and physically doing things and physically seeing the problems that you’re dealing with.

AMANDA CHEANG (Chemical Engineer, South East Water): Getting out in the field is one of the aspects I love about my job. It gives you that freedom, that flexibility, and I honestly thought that, when I’d start working, I’d be behind my desk all the time. But it’s nice to know that you can break your day up like that.

NATHALI CHRISTY: So, there is a new plant at Cardinia – the Cardinia fluoride plant – and I was involved when it was still in the commissioning phase. I thought to myself ‘I am very lucky to work on this!’.

ANDREW TIPPING: When you have the opportunity to see your work out in the field, there’s a big sense of pride about what you have accomplished, and also a big sense of responsibility about the decisions you’re making. Sometimes, it’s a bit overwhelming when you realise that what you have been working on, on your computer, is this huge 140 megalitre a day sewerage treatment plant.

CLAIRE O’REILLY: I love my job because I get to go outside and see some beautiful places. There’s some amazing sites: whether it’s reservoirs, or treatment plants, or huge pipelines ... there’s always heaps going on and I love that you can get out and see it and embrace the nature, as well as the huge infrastructure.

BROCK TUNNICLIFFE: We’re looking at new technologies to enhance things that we do such as drone condition monitoring, virtual reality design review, augmented reality ... being able to potentially see underground assets out on the field.

JAMILLA HULL (Process Engineer, Melbourne Water): During my first rotation in the grad program, a project that I took on was to develop a business case for an improved treatment process plant and to take that through to the design phase and have it ready for construction. So that felt really good as a beginner, or a grad, to be able to branch out at such an early stage.

ANDREW TIPPING: The most interesting thing about the water industry is, really, the impact that we have on everyone’s lives.

ASTRID HARTONO: I went into this because I wanted to give something back to the community and I’m certainly not alone in this industry with that kind of mentality.

AMANDA CHEANG: It’s extremely fulfilling because you’re giving back to the community and you’re providing an essential service that everyone takes for granted.

JEANNE DROUET: That’s meaningful when we know it has a long-term impact. We want to make sure there is water for the next generation.

JAMILLA HULL: I definitely feel like I am growing as a professional each and every day and there’s also a lot of personal development that comes with the job, too.

SEAN HANRAHAN: There are a lot of exciting things happening in renewal energy, virtual reality, technology that will shape the future of water and sewage.

NICK STETTER: Not only is it a great place for you to learn and grow in many different technical skills, but you also have the ability to give back to your community.

CLAIRE O’REILLY: It’s a great industry to be in. You may not know exactly which area of the industry you want to be in, because it’s so big, but a graduate program’s a great place to start.

TITLE: Your future in water starts here...

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