Blog
This is the home of all of our Blog Posts, these include case studies, webinars, training sessions, and so much more!
May 10, 2022
In our everyday lives we constantly think ahead of what we may encounter, and we plan ahead. You are going on a holiday and you’re unsure if it might rain? You bring your raincoat anyway. There is no phone reception where you’re going? You may let someone know when you should be back. These are examples of how we apply preventive risk management in our daily lives. The same approach is expected of a water supplier.
April 27, 2022
The drinking water safety guidelines state that “Drinking water suppliers must maintain a personal sense of responsibility and dedication to providing consumers with potable water.” Marie McIntyre discusses what this means in an organisational context and the questions that all suppliers should be asking themselves as the powers under the Water Services Act come into force.
April 14, 2022
How are two contamination events, in completely different countries and years apart similar? Tim Miskimmin gives us insights as to how the events at Havelock North 2016 are eerily similar to an event that took place in Canada, 16 years earlier.
April 13, 2022
What does maintaining multiple barriers against contamination actually mean in a water treatment context? Jonathan Church looks at practical examples of the different barriers that have been put in place in the past and describes what he sees as some of the common failure points.
April 4, 2022
It seems like common sense; however, the protection of your source water can often be overlooked in the process of creating your treatment process. Join Shaun as he discusses the importance of source water protection, as well as how his understanding of Te Mana o te Wai has helped to remind us all of the importance of safe, clean water.
April 1, 2022
Join Amanda Slater as she discusses what the first principle of supplying safe drinking water means to her and how this principle is embraced everyday by the team at Lutra
March 16, 2022
Drinking water safety is Lutra’s core business. With the establishment of the water services regulator Taumata Arowai and the introduction of the Water Services Act 2021 (WSA), we are encouraged to see the six principals being brought to life. See what they mean in practice and how the WSA supports their practical implementation.
February 14, 2022
Jemma joined Lutra at the beginning of November 2021 as an Engineering Intern. Three months on, she tells us how she has found the internship and what she has learnt.
January 26, 2022
Lutra and Cawthron have partnered to provide an end-to-end service offering for the analysis, understanding and management of Cyanobacteria in Surface and Ground Water sources.
To celebrate our collaboration, we have created a three part series, explaining cyanobacteria, the risks and how the new Drinking Water Standards will recognize these.
November 4, 2021
Lutra are excited to announce that we have recently released our YouTube channel - Lutra TV. Designed to offer insights into new and existing technologies, information about challenges faced within the Water and Wastewater industries and expert opinions from across the industry, Lutra TV is a free resource for our industry.
October 8, 2021
In the middle of June 2021, Matamata Piako District Council (MPDC), Filtec and Lutra began physical work on the renewal of all 12 gravity filters in the district. The project comprises of renewal of the existing media, replacing the nozzles and increasing the height of the backwash launders.
September 13, 2021
Lutra are offering free drop-in training sessions to learn how Infrastructure Data (ID) can support you as your teams move to remote working.
August 19, 2021
Lutra are offering free drop-in consulting sessions to support your teams as they are working on site. There will be two sessions, each with our seasoned Principal Process Engineers and Process Scientist, on hand to answer your Water & Wastewater questions.
August 18, 2021
Lutra are offering free drop-in training sessions to learn how Infrastructure Data (ID) can support you as your teams move to remote working.
August 8, 2021
Lutra have recently opened an office in the heart of Hamilton. Check out our office and opening event.
April 20, 2021
Ciaran joined Lutra at the beginning of 2020 as a Graduate Process Engineer. One year on, he tells us how he has found his first year and what he learnt.
March 12, 2021
Join Lutra as we cover off the proposed changes to the compliance monitoring and reporting for the Drinking Water Standards and show how these can be achieved.
February 28, 2021
Wellington Water operates the Te Marua water treatment plant (WTP). Earthquake strengthening is required on the Kaitoke flume bridge which connects the primary source (Hutt river) to the WTP. Modelling of supply and demand was required to determine the risk with isolating the primary source to the water treatment plant and determine the best strategy for shutdown planning.
February 3, 2021
Join Lutra as we discuss the Draft exposure of the Drinking Water Standards Operational Rules and the affect these will have on local authorities across New Zealand.
December 20, 2020
There is a lot to get through in Taumata Arowai’s new Drinking Water Supply Operational Compliance Rules, so we have highlighted what we think are the top 45 need to know facts.
November 9, 2020
Lutra's Chief Engineer, Louis Ortenzio, recently presented a paper at the Water NZ 2020 conference on the development of a Wastewater Safety Plan (WWSP) at Matamata-Piako District Council (MPDC). Read the full whitepaper here.
November 1, 2020
Following the successful commissioning of the Tairua water treatment plant, Lutra’s Senior Process Engineer, Emily Clapham, and Principal Process Engineer, Iain Rabbitts have returned to the Thames-Coromandel district to provide commissioning oversight for the Pauanui water treatment plant.
October 26, 2020
When New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) recently upgraded their wastewater treatment plant’s headworks, they needed an advanced hydraulic model to better estimate the types of headlosses they would experience under various flow conditions. They approached Lutra to help develop such a model.
October 26, 2020
Following the successful commissioning of the Tairua water treatment plant, Lutra’s Senior Process Engineer, Emily Clapham, and Principal Process Engineer, Iain Rabbitts have returned to the Thames-Coromandel district to provide commissioning oversight for the Pauanui water treatment plant.
July 14, 2020
970,000 people connected to registered water supplies were provided with water that did not meet New Zealand Drinking Water Standards in the 2018-2019 compliance year. Read our comments on the report here.
October 29, 2019
1,008,000 people were supplied with water that did not meet the New Zealand Drinking-water Standards (2008) in the 2017-2018 compliance year. 322,000 people were supplied with water that did not meet the bacteriological requirements of the standards.
July 9, 2019
There is a lot of discussion these days about improving training and competency in the water industry but not a lot of information about what’s happening to improve training outcomes. Two years ago, Connexis, a New Zealand training organisation and water industry representatives came together to implement a revamp of national qualifications. The results of which are now bearing fruit.
July 3, 2019
1,008,000 people were supplied with water that did not meet the New Zealand Drinking-water Standards (2008) in the 2017-2018 compliance year. 322,000 people were supplied with water that did not meet the bacteriological requirements of the standards.
June 10, 2019
Manganese is probably the biggest cause of discolouration of treated water and resulting customer dissatisfaction in the public water supply. An understanding of how manganese impacts water supply networks can help you manage this issue.
May 14, 2019
Most treatment plants have the instrumentation necessary to be able to create great analytics in real-time, turning data into actionable process insights. Yet despite all the talk of digital transformation in our industry there are precious few plants where this actually happens. So here are 10 analytics that you could implement at your plants to kick start your own digital transformation.