The Kāpiti Coast District Council is now the proud home of the most highly qualified drinking water treatment team in the country after two team members, Tama Te Whata and Wayne Elley, joined the rest of their team in achieving their Level 5 Diploma in drinking water treatment.

Lloyd Dickens from the Paraparumu wastewater treatment plant also achieved his Level 5 Diploma in wastewater treatment.

Kāpiti Coast District Council chief executive Darren Edwards congratulated the team and thanked them for their efforts.

“I’m proud of our people who go the extra mile to extend their knowledge and skills in their chosen profession.

“Along with Council’s proactive investment in our water infrastructure, having highly qualified people running our treatment plants means our community can be very confident in the quality of their drinking water and in the way their wastewater is managed.”

Water Treatment Plants Water manager Bruce Nesbitt says getting his whole team qualified has been a goal of his for a long time.

“Being a fully qualified group means we’re a team of leaders, rather then operators. It means our discussions progress past what needs to be done and focus on trouble shooting to improve the plant’s performance.

“A current example of this is where Tama led an initiative to automate the dosing of powdered activated carbon. Carbon is used to control the presence of algae and is usually dosed according to an operator’s detection by smell and/or taste of the microorganism. Introducing a device to identify the presence of algae and dose accordingly has reduced the human variability factor and improved plant performance,” said Mr Nesbitt.

Grant Stuart, Wastewater Treatment Plants manager, is equally proud of his team.

“With Lloyd’s achievement, we’re well on the way towards also being a fully qualified team, with half of the team now diploma-qualified and the others working towards this goal.”

Martyn Simpson, water training consultant with industry training organisation Connexis, congratulates Kāpiti Coast District Council for being one of the most proactive councils in getting their water and wastewater operators trained and qualified.

“Trainees from around the country who attend training courses in Wellington regularly visit the Kāpiti water and wastewater treatment plants. They always comment on how exceptional the plants are, which is marvellous kudos to Bruce, Grant and their teams,” said Mr Simpson.

Council is currently consulting on how Kāpiti Coast water services are managed and delivered in the future. Have your say before midnight Sunday 13 April at http://haveyoursay.kapiticoast.govt.nz/LocalWater

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