CONSTRUCTION
Queensland were approaching critical levels ,” Shepherd says .
“ The innovation was around the procurement and delivery model , and the ability within that model to quickly derive an efficient design , leveraging the experience of both John Holland and our technology partner , Veolia .”
The company has also worked on a number of other large-scale water projects in recent times , including a major capital works project with Melbourne Water , and a large-scale irrigation scheme in Christchurch , New Zealand . It has also carried out important work with Sydney Water .
Under-valued and under-rated – but not for long Despite his personal passion for the industry , Shepherd is well aware that water has a reputation as one of the most under-valued and underrated commodities in the world .
However globally , he is seeing a subtle shift in which water is being recognised for its true value , and for the economic benefit it brings about .
“ Water is a truly valuable commodity , yet in Australia , it is one of the most undervalued resources we have when you consider the relative low cost we pay for either urban and rural water ,” he says .
“ In Australia , we live in the driest continent in the world . As a result , the rest of the world looks to us in terms of the work we ’ re doing in river basin management and the irrigation space , along with the work we ’ re doing in the urban context to make our cities more livable .”
Creating a liveable city is one thing ; creating an enterprise that is capable of existing completely off the grid is quite another . As the world ’ s population continues to grow , traditional agricultural practices are putting increasing pressure on our planet ’ s finite resources , which has led John Holland Utilities to partner on one of its most ambitious projects to date , for its client , Sundrop Farms .
Sundrop Farms is a solar thermal desalination greenhouse project
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