BY DI SNEDDON
Given he knew his competition well, Brendan Dagg was delighted just to be named a finalist in the Australian Water Association’s (AWA) 2025 New South Wales Water Awards.
When he was announced as the winner of the Young Water Professional category at a gala dinner in Sydney on Saturday night, he didn’t even have an acceptance speech prepared and speaking with The Hunter River Times on Sunday morning, he said the award was only just starting to sink in.
Brendan completed his education in Singleton and after completing a chemical engineering degree at Newcastle, his interest grew in ensuring water is safe for drinking and safe for the environment.
He now holds the position of Senior Process Engineer with Beca Hunter H20 and is based in Newcastle, but this is a job that sees him travelling nationally and internationally to ensure safe water processes for regional councils and non-water businesses.
It is a job he loves and attributes his chosen career path to his inclination towards maths and science at school and his capacity to do work placement during Year 12 at the Ravensworth Coal Preparation Plant.
This is where he ‘fell in love with the idea’ of working with water.
“I also did some work with AGL at Liddell Power Station and always thought I would end up working in mining like a lot of Singleton kids do and never anticipated my career would see me working in the Pacific, in Fiji, across Australia to address water challenges,” Brendan said.
He specialises in water infrastructure design and optimisation, leading projects in Australia and internationally.
His pet project was working at Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group where they implemented a water efficiency management system to reduce their use of potable water, delivering cost savings to their business and reducing the demand on the region’s drinking supply, the equivalent of 1,700 residential homes annual water usage.
But it wasn’t just his career achievements that earned him this prestigious honour, as his volunteer work was also highly regarded by the judges.
He is dedicated to mentoring future generations through school STEM programs and only last year was a career speaker at Singleton Heights Public School. He also advises University of Newcastle engineering students.
He attributes the volunteer aspect of his life to his role models in grandparents, Alan and Jude Harrod and Brian and Margaret Dagg and of course his very proud parents, Ian and Alison Dagg. Brendan will now go on to represent the state in the national Australian Water Awards, with winners presented at the AWA’s annual water conference and exhibition, Ozwater’25, in Adelaide in May.
