What water professionals really think about water quality

At Ozwater'25, the Water Quality Specialist Network (WQSN) were let loose. Armed with nothing but a phone, some voice transcription software, and a burning desire to find out what it was that people were really thinking about when they thought about water quality.  

During morning tea and lunch breaks, members of the WQSN committee took their enthusiasm (and perhaps a little dose of over eagerness) to talk about all things water quality to the friendly attendees who were at the AWA morning tea stand, or to those attendees who might have just walked by a little too slowly. 

Experimenting with a ‘tiny mic’ type interview format, committee members posed quick fire questions to each willing participant and recorded the responses. Questions included: what did water quality mean to people, what would they do if they were the next water minister, what was their view on PFAS, and finally, what did coming to Ozwater mean to them, and how did it assist in their role.  

Around 100 people took part, each asked questions in one theme only. The number of answers per theme ranged from 9 to 15. Responses were then analysed using AI.

Aside from getting to meet a lot of great people and have a lot of intriguing and fascinating discussions, committee members asked from the following questions:  

• Finish this sentence: "Good water quality means _____. 
• If you were the next Minister for environment and water, what would be your top priority for water quality? 
• Do you drink tap water – why/why not?
• What do you think is the biggest risk to receiving environmental water quality?
• What’s one water regulation you think needs a major overhaul?
• PFAS is overhyped or under addressed?
• What are you hoping to take away from Ozwater this year that could help you tackle water quality challenges in your role? 

Out of all the responses, we found the following common themes:  

For “Do you drink tap water?”, 13 people gave answers. Most mentioned safety and testing when talking about tap water, while a few raised taste or safety concerns.

For “What are you hoping to take away from Ozwater this year that could help you tackle water quality challenges in your role?”, 15 people gave answers. Most people who answered this question spoke about the value of connection - seeing Ozwater as a chance to build networks and collaborate. A smaller number focused on technology and innovation, and a couple highlighted knowledge sharing and insights. The overall flavour was that people value both the human connections and the fresh ideas they take back to their workplace.

A summary of the other five themes follows:

• Finish this sentence: "Good water quality means _____? For most people, good water quality was centered around public health and safety.
• Future ministers’ priorities. When asked what our next lot of water ministers should focus on, infrastructure and technology came out on top, closely followed by policy, governance, and regulation.
• Which regulation needs attention? Water quality regulation was the standout as the area most in need of an overhaul.
• PFAS perceptions. On the issue of PFAS, views were mixed, but the sense that it remains under-addressed just nudged ahead of the view that it is over-hyped.
• Environmental risks. Looking outward, runoff into receiving waters was seen as the biggest environmental risk to water quality.
  
  

The results

Most encouraging result? For the author, how quickly and steadfastly everyone answered the water quality question, showing our deep understanding of how important our roles are in public health.

Most controversial? Definitely PFAS. While we understand we have a limited number of responses, the close numbers of the opposing answers highlights the controversial aspect of the issue.  

Overall it was a valuable experiment to delve a bit deeper into the current issues and have some thoughtful discussions with like minded people. Perhaps the hardest part was cutting the conversations short! 

We would love to continue this in years to come to track what are the pressing issues, and how people’s views of water quality and indeed Ozwater, may change.