Chairman s message. L to R George Wall (WIOA Secretary/Treasurer), Anthony Evans (WIOA President), Martyn & Dave.

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1 Greetings Fellow operations staff In this issue Chairman s message EO message Invercargill Workshop Cam McGrail Industry Profile A message from Julie Baker Chairman s message 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 flooding 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. On December 9 th a very successful WIOG regional workshop was held in Invercargill, as Stu will detail. 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 May. We still need another 4 or 5 operator papers so please visit our website, for conference details and the paper presentation form. Cheers Martyn Simpson Chair/President Water Industry Operations Group NZ (WIOG) WIOG Invercargill Workshop December saw almost 50 operators and suppliers attend the day workshop. After morning tea we were welcomed by WIOG chairperson Martyn Simpson followed by a guided 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. 1

2 An excellent and very enjoyable day. Our thanks to the workshop host Invercargill City Council, workshop sponsors Filtec and Orica for the fantastic lunch, and Downer NZ Ltd for the morning tea, the seating and electronic equipment. Our thanks also to Peter, Paul, and Darryl at the wastewater plant and Nick, Kawa, and Chris at the water plant for allowing us to visit their plants and being superb hosts. Greg Gordon (Filtec) aided the after lunch digestion with 10 MUST HAVE TIPS TO TAKE AWAY TODAY & THE SIEMENS CHLORINE ANALYSER CALIBRATION An excellent presentation covering all aspects of chlorination equipment and maintenance. Inventing golf Along time ago two Scottsmen are in a pub.one scottsman says, "I'm going to invent a game." The second man asks, "What do you have to do?" The first man says, "You have to get a ball in a hole." The second man asks, "So it's like billiards?" The first man says, "No, its going to be much farther away." The second man asks "So, it's somthing like bowling?" The first man says, "No, it's going to be played on grass, and it's going to twist and turn." So the second man asks, "So it's kind of like croquet?" The first man says, "NO, I'm going to put in tall grass, and water, and sand, and trees, just to annoy you!"so the second man asks, "So you do this once?" The first man replies, "NO, you do it EIGHTEEN TIMES!!" Greg was followed by Jeroen Smal - Roger Fraser - Orica SAFE DISCONNECT / RECONNECT CHLORINE CLYINDERS Another very good and timely presentation on a task that we can get all to blasé about The boys from Branxholme then played tour guides and guided us around the treatment plant. Nick Knight - Chief Operator Branxholme WTP stressing a point to a group of fellow operators. 2

3 Cam McGrail from Kaimai Valley Services was our young operator of the year in Part of the award was a Holiday at Outward Bound and Cam has sent us a little diary of his activities there. Industry Profile Blair Jarvis 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. Now it s time for some serious questions: What three things do you always have in your refrigerator? Beer, meat and veggies. 3

4 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? 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. And lastly, the quick fire round... Three loves: My Fiancée, My family, 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? Is the Kakapo they are a very cool species Off 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 7 of the other Kiwi's, 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 were sharing knowledge around to help me understand. Next was the Bendigo Sewage Treatment System. This was exactly what I expected - smelly and grose. This made me appreciate flushing the toilet and the work which is involved in treating sewage after each flush which everyone takes for granted. Meeting the Aussies was great, they were all so friendly. There wasn't the All Blacks and 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. 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. 4

5 Day three and the guys and gals went off to the conference again and Of course I had to go shopping and 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. The entertainment was comedy singing which finished our trip off with a laugh. Day four and the conference was over and fond farewells were had with the Aussies. All of the Kiwi's 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 - Water Operations Professionals scheme (WOP) After we launched this 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. 5