Chairman`s message From the EO

Kiwi Clarifier
Chairman’s message
In this issue
Greetings fellow WIOGians
I trust you had a great Xmas break and even though
the weather was patchy I am sure we are all thinking
of our Aussie cuzzies as their ooding tragedy
unfolds. Since the last newsletter we have had to
deal with our own tragedies and disasters so let’s
hope for a better year.
A Kiwi contingent of nine attended the WIOA
September Conference in Bendigo and it was
another great experience. The mini tour enabled the
group to visit excellent water & wastewater plants
in Bendigo before the conference and a visit to the
mind blowing Hoppers Crossing wastewater pump
transfer station on the way back to Melbourne. The
conference was of the usual high standard with the
best water industry expo in Australasia on show and
lots of interesting and thought provoking paper
presentations.
Front L to R - Garry Baker, Matt Keil (WIOG Operator of the
Year), Martyn Simpson (WIOG Chair/President), Stu Urquhart.
Back L to R - Ken Shaw, Ani Satterthwaite, Dave Neru (WIOG
EO), Paul Slattery. Missing from photo - Julie Baker
The Memorandum of Understanding between WIOG
& WIOA was signed at the Bendigo conference for
another three years. This is an important document
that binds the two organisations into an ongoing
commitment of mutual support and ‘brother’
relationship. We will be endeavouring to work even
closer over the next couple of years.
L to R – George Wall
(WIOA Secretary/
Treasurer), Anthony
Evans ( WIOA President), Martyn & Dave.
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Chairman’s Message
From the EO
lnvercargill workshop
Cam McGrail
Industry profile
A message from Julie Baker
Water Operations Professionals
On 9 December a very successful WIOG
regional workshop was held in Invercargill, as
Stu has reported. We recognise the importance
of these workshops and the Committee will
be organising more of them, ideally two in
the North Island and two in the South Island
each year. The ongoing success of these is
dependent on your support and attendance.
We are yet again thrust into another busy year
and your Committee has been hard at work
to ensure the success of this year’s events and
to build on the ever growing strength of the
organisation. Stu will update you on where we
are with the Water Operations Professionals
scheme (WOP). Most of the organising
has been completed for our Queenstown
Conference on 10 – 13 May. We still need
another 4 or 5 operator papers so please visit
our website, www.wiog.org.nz, for conference
details and the paper presentation form.
Cheers,
Martyn Simpson, Chair/ President
From the EO
The New Year has begun in the usual busy
manner – I am currently in Papua New
Guinea until early March. I can assure you
all, however, that planning for this year’s
Queenstown Conference is progressing well
in the Committee’s hands.
Conference programme and registrations
will be available during March.
Cheers
Dave Neru, Executive O cer
Kiwi Clarifier
continued from page 1
WIOG Invercargill
Workshop
In December almost 50 operators and
suppliers attended the day workshop in
Invercargill. After morning tea we were
welcomed by WIOG chairperson Martyn
Simpson, and then guided on a tour of
the Invercargill City Council’s wastewater
treatment plant at Clifton.
It was then off to the water treatment plant
at Branxholme where BBQ Bill awaited with
the Orica and Filtec lunch.
Greg Gordon (Filtec) aided the after lunch
digestion with his excellent presentation
“10 MUST HAVE TIPS TO TAKE AWAY TODAY
& THE SIEMENS CHLORINE ANALYSER –
CALIBRATION “ that covered all aspects of
chlorination equipment and maintenance.
Nick Knight - Chief Operator Branxholme WTP
stressing a point to a group of fellow operators .
It was an excellent and very enjoyable day, and
our thanks go to
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Workshop host –Invercargill City Council,
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Workshop sponsors – Filtec and Orica for the
fantastic lunch
Jeroen Smal and Roger Fraser(Orica)’s
presentation “SAFE DISCONNECT /
RECONNECT CHLORINE CLYINDERS” was a
very good and timely presentation on a task
that we can get all too blasé about.
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Downer NZ Ltd for the morning tea, the
seating and electronic equipment.
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Peter, Paul, and Darryl at the wastewater
plant and
The boys from Branxholme then played tour
guides and guided us around the treatment
plant. .
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Nick, Kawa, and Chris at the water plant for
allowing us to visit their plants and being
superb hosts.
Kiwi Clarifier
continued from page 2
Cam McGrail
2010 Young Operator of the Year
Cam McGrail from Kaimai Valley Services was our young operator of the year in 2010.
Part of the award was a “Holiday” at Outward Bound and Cam has sent us a little diary of
his activities there. Job title and location:
continued on page 4
Kiwi Clarifier
Industry Pro le - Blair Jarvis
Now it’s time for some serious questions:
What three things do you always have in
your refrigerator?
Beer, meat and veggies.
What was your favourite birthday
present as a kid?
Getting a fly fishing rod so I could go fishing with
my dad.
Tell us about your 15 minutes of fame?
Job title and location:
Local Body Infrastructure Assets and
Services, Aoraki Mount Cook Area Office,
Aoraki Mount Cook National Park.
Describe your role:
My role here in Aoraki Mount Cook Village
is unique in the fact that the department
operates a Local Body Team (similar to a
local town council) with each team member
operating in their own field of expertise
which varies from roading, waste water,
vehicles, administration, housing, refuse
collection and my area of operations which
are flood protection, storm water and the
supply of drinking water to stakeholders
businesses, residents and the general public
visiting the National Park and Campground.
Some of my other roles include snow
clearing and helping out with residential
housing as and when required. The work is
quite varied which is great and it gives me a
chance to learn new skills every day.
What kind of work /projects are you
currently involved in:
Working on bring the aged village water
reticulation infrastructure up to date.
What led you to your current role in
DOC?
Seeing DOC rangers out in the field in
Southland. So I looked into joining the
Conservation Corps in Invercargill and
applied to attend the course.
Back in the day when I got my first shepherding
job on a station in Northern Southland, I spent my
first day dressed up as a cowboy and acting in the
“Crunchy bar ad” that featured the Kingston Flyer.
It was a summer event and each week we would
put on shows for the tourists on the train.
What is your dream holiday location or
activity and why?
It would be a small town in Northland Southland
called Athol, and fly fishing with Dad.
What do you like to do when you're not
at work?
I like hanging out with my fiancée in Christchurch
and catching up with friends.
What was the most useful thing that
somebody once told you?
Be happy in your work and the environment you
work in.
Name a book, movie, and album that
you would recommend to read, watch,
and listen:
Book: Men of the Milford road, amazing read,
depicts the history of the area and how hard it
was to build the road in to Milford Sound.
Movie: Lord of the Rings with all the places
around New Zealand where it was filmed
Album: Garth Brooks, very cool country singer
and has one cool song called friends in lower
places. It reminds me of friends around the
country.
continued on page 5
Kiwi Clarifier
continued from page 4
And lastly, the quick fire round...
Three loves:
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My Fiancée,
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My family,
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Hunting and fishing.
Three pet peeves:
1. Having a dirty house.
2. Power goes out before a test
match.
3. When away fly fishing and I miss a
strike on a rising trout.
If there was a competition for best place
in New Zealand where would get your
vote?
Lake Mavora near Te Anau. It is a very
special place for me and an old friend,
we worked up there for some time
and the views are amazing when you
get on the tops.
If there was one native species that ruled
them all, what would be your pick?
The Kakapo –they are a very cool
species
to Bendigo
I have never been to a WIOA conference, but
after the September experience in Bendigo
Australia I would definitely jump for at
opportunity to go again.
I am the wife of Garry Baker who is Manager
of Water and Sewage at the Carterton District
Council in the Wairarapa, New Zealand.
When Garry mentioned the conference was
in Australia, I thought it was a great chance
to have a holiday, so off we went with no
expectation of what was ahead of us.
On arrival at Melbourne airport we met all
seven of the other Kiwis, jumped in a van and
headed for Bendigo. We had dinner that night
at KFC, and although none of us knew each
other we just seemed to click and it was as
though we had been friends for ages.
Day One in Bendigo was a trip to the Bendigo
Water Treatment Plant. Not knowing a
thing about water treatment, this wasn't
a trip I would usually pick. But after the
amazing tour of the plant it really makes you
appreciate turning on the tap and getting
beautiful clean water. Everyone in our group
was sharing knowledge around to help me
understand.
Next was the Bendigo Sewage Treatment
System. This was exactly what I expected smelly and gross. This made me appreciate
flushing the toilet and the work that is
involved in treating sewage after each flush
which everyone else takes for granted.
Meeting the Aussies was great, they were
all so friendly. There wasn't any All Blacks vs
Wallabies tension which you may expect. We
were the guests at the President of WIOA's
dinner - the meal and company was fabulous.
Day Two the guys and gals went to the
conference along with 400 others from all
over Australia. I had a day off to go shopping,
wahoooo. I had a ball visiting almost every
shop in Bendigo.
continued on page 6
Kiwi Clarifier
continued from page 5
to Bendigo
That evening we went out for dinner
again, but this time we had a hypnotist
as entertainment. All I can say about this
is hilarious.
Day Three and the guys and gals went
off to the conference again and of
course I had to go shopping. I also
headed out on some tourist attractions –
The Talking Tram, Art Gallery and a Gold
Mine.
Our last meal together had speeches,
prize giving and more entertainment.,
this time comedy singing which finished
our trip off with a laugh.
Water Operations
Professionals scheme (WOP)
After we launched this scheme at the
Hamilton Conference last year we hit a
little legal minefield to do with some
small details including how you actually
de-register someone who has acted in an
unprofessional way.
This has now been sorted and once again
is with WIT for final set up which, we have
been promised, will take place before this
years conference.
Day Four and the conference was over
and fond farewells were had with the
Aussies. All of the Kiwis then jumped
in the vans and headed to Hoppers
Crossing for a tour of the Sewer Transfer
Station. This is the largest in the
Southern Hemisphere and was 50 meters
underground. This too was amazing....
but it has to be because it is run by a
Kiwi.
Into the vans for the last time as we
headed to Melbourne’s Southern Cross
Station where we then all hugged and
went our separate ways.
So to sum this all up, it was just soo
much fun, welcoming and educational.
I would recommend this to any other
husband, wife or partner.
Julie Baker
66 Rawhiti Road
Pukerua Bay
Porirua 5026
www.wiog.org.nz
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