Mrs Krogh received the award at the Australian Water Association awards in Sydney on Friday night.

It proved to be a successful time for Shoalhaven Water, with former employee Kaitlyn Bell, receiving the undergraduate award.

“It was very gratifying to be recognised,” Mrs Krogh said.

“It was very humbling. I have received some lovely sentiments from quite a lot of people which has been very nice.”

Nominated by a colleague, Mrs Krogh was one of three finalists in the awards that not only recognise and reward outstanding achievement of individuals and organisations in the water sector, but also identify those who have displayed conspicuous service to the profession and exceptional performance in the practice of water management.

In making the announcement NSW Water said Mrs Krogh had been a leader in the water industry throughout her career.

“From when she was the first female engineer to graduate from UTS to her leadership as director of Shoalhaven Water and as a director of the Australian Water Association. What makes Carmel so effective, is how well she connects with a broad range of people, from employees on the tools through to chairs of boards, from individual customers through to regulators, which she has to manage and influence on a day to day basis. Carmel’s natural ability to engage, has contributed significantly to her many professional successes” the citation read.

A trainee engineer with Shoalhaven Water last year as an undergraduate, Kaitlyn Bell has since completed her training and has taken up a job as a consultant in Sydney.

The University of Wollongong graduate was recognised for the development of a performance measuring device for improved monitoring of sewer pump stations.

Her thesis addressed the requirement for an accurate and reliable method to measure the operational performance of sewer pumps.

Her project delivers a new, revolutionary, mobile method which has significantly changed the accuracy of testing and has the potential to significantly reduce operational costs, decrease expensive reactive maintenance, and educate staff on the operation of sewer pump stations in the network.

Mrs Krogh and Ms Bell will now proceed to the national awards as finalists, with the winners announced at the Ozwater’17 gala dinner.