Ventia manages day-to-day operations and minor capital works delivery of 17 wastewater plants, 9 water treatment plants
As Ventia’s Alliance Manager in Far North New Zealand Mathew Arthur explains, partnering with one client across your entire operations can have a number of benefits for both client and service provider.
In New Zealand, the ownership and management of water assets is primarily the responsibility of local councils. These councils are tasked with operating and maintaining water assets, regulatory compliance, investment decisions and sustaining water supplies and services.
In the Far North dsitrict of New Zealand, Ventia’s Mathew Arthur oversees an 80-strong Ventia team managing the day-to-day operations and minor capital works delivery of 17 wastewater plants, 9 water treatment plants, urban stormwater infrastructure and approximately 750km of associated pipeline infrastructure on behalf of the Far North District Council.
The District Council provide asset management and supporting services. Collaboratively Ventia and the District Council operate as an Alliance. What is unique is that the Ventia teams operate treatment plants independently of the asset owner.
It's a model of operations, maintenance and minor capital works delivery that might seem unique for many Australian utilities, one partner operating right across the water and wastewater network from end to end.
Our water team in Northland really understand the network and assets
“There needs to be an element of trust first and foremost,” Arthur says. A trust in each other’s capabilities and what it delivers.
“Once that is established the benefits are clear in terms of having one point of contact, greater efficiency in managing and operating and consistency of decision making.
It gives our team this end-to-end intelligence across the network from the operations of the assets, the maintenance as well as minor capital investment.
“It means our people really understand the assets and how they operate across water and wastewater.
“Some clients may prefer to spread services by having several suppliers and perhaps combining with their own inhouse capabilities and not having the confidence to have a one supplier approach.”
This deep knowledge of assets of one partner can also be of advantage when it comes to designing upgrades and improvements.
“Fundamentally our partner is looking for Ventia to deliver on the ground, including where improvements can be made,” Arthur said.
“When it comes to the integration of new assets, we work alongside all stakeholders, including the designers to ensure that upgrades are fit for purpose.
“This includes sitting down and talking about what works well and what doesn’t work well in plants as well as how the network comes together.
Our depth of knowledge in this area is really relied upon and it benefits everyone
Knowing the network so well also allows those in the field to bring ideas and concepts back to the management teams and asset owners.
“We’re always looking at new technology and things that might be less operator intensive which can improve the way the asset performs as well as the health and safety of the operators,” Arthur said.
“When you can bring that knowledge of the operation and maintenance regime and have a seat at the table you can have meaningful discussions to influence long term investment plans, compliance, and sustaining services.”
The benefits also include the ability to enhance the skills of employees, giving them deeper knowledge across entire water networks.
Ventia’s team in Northland are part of the community and manage the water network operations 24/7, 365 days
“We’re always encouraging our O&M and minor capital works team to study and improve skills and the size and scope of the network also allows them to potentially learn a broader range of skills.
We have people in the contract here that can manage capital projects, people here who are experts at delivering compliance for drinking water standards and people who really know water and wastewater operations and technologies.
“These are valuable skills for an organisation like Ventia to have and it provides the opportunity to share knowledge from one project to another across New Zealand and Australia.”
Whilst there is no perfect model and requirements vary from one asset owner to the next it’s clear that the one partner approach is a model that can benefits for both client and service provider.