When Kim O’Rourke resigned from Veolia, she ended her farewell email with a simple wish: “I hope to return one day.”
After almost nine years, she was leaving behind colleagues she admired, work she loved and an industry she’d grown passionate about.
“They turned supportive words into real actions. I had never experienced that level of encouragement and belief before.”
But Kim had discovered a new ambition: project engineering.
To pursue it, she needed qualifications and experience she didn’t yet have. So she made the difficult decision to leave, hoping the opportunity to return might one day come.
Kim’s journey into water began in 2013, when she swapped retail management for a trainee wastewater treatment operator role with Hunter Water.
After years leading teams at Bunnings, starting again was daunting.
“It was both terrifying and exciting,” she said.
She loved coaching people, helping customers and contributing to community projects, but wanted a better balance between work and life.
Water offered something unexpected: hands-on work, technical challenges and the opportunity to make a difference to her community.
When Veolia took over the operations contract in 2014, Kim continued developing her career, moving into recycled water treatment and discovering a fascination with the processes and technology behind water quality.
Early in her operator career, two colleagues recognised potential Kim hadn’t yet seen in herself.
Marie Jourden and Deanne Pope encouraged her to write a technical paper about a reverse osmosis plant and present it at a water industry conference.
Kim was nervous. But Marie and Deanne did more than offer encouragement. They took time away from their young families to attend the conference and support her.
“They turned supportive words into real actions. I had never experienced that level of encouragement and belief before,” Kim said.
The experience brought industry recognition, but the lasting impact was personal.
Their belief gave Kim the confidence to embrace opportunities she might otherwise have overlooked.
“I hope I can do the same for others in my workspace.”
Over the following years, Kim gained experience across operations, laboratory services, instrumentation, training, auditing and project work.
It was project management that increasingly captured her interest.
Determined to develop the skills she needed, she pursued further qualifications and gained experience in residential construction.
Leaving Veolia was a risk, particularly when there was no guarantee she could return.
Then, in 2023, former colleagues alerted her to an opening in the Minor Capital Works team. Kim wondered whether she’d done enough to be considered. She applied anyway.
In July 2023, she returned to Veolia as a Project Engineer.
Today, Kim supports water and wastewater capital works through the Hunter Water Alliance.
One project at Dungog Water Treatment Plant involved addressing unreliable flow measurements that were contributing to filtration problems.
Working with operations, technical specialists and suppliers, Kim helped deliver a solution using ultrasonic flow meters.
The project improved operational reliability, reduced risks to ageing infrastructure and avoided more disruptive installation methods, while being delivered on time and within budget.
For Kim, the value extended beyond one treatment plant.
She documented the project and its lessons to help other water facilities, particularly those without the resources to investigate and test multiple technologies themselves.
It’s an example of what she loves about water: solving problems, sharing knowledge and contributing to services communities rely on every day.
Ask Kim what makes Veolia and the water industry special and her answer is immediate.
“The people, the people, the people.”
Her journey from retail management to wastewater operations and project engineering wasn’t planned from the beginning.
It grew through curiosity, practical experience, further study and people willing to invest in her potential.
For anyone wondering whether they have the right background for a career in water, Kim’s story offers a different perspective.
You don’t necessarily need to know where you’ll finish. Sometimes, discovering what’s possible is the best place to start.