Case Study New Plymouth Wastewater treatment plant

Challenge

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.

With Covid-19 level-4 lockdowns in full force in New Zealand, Lutra collaborated remotely with the team at NPDC to confirm suitable approaches for the hydraulic model structure and a method for data collection.

Solution

Together with the team at NPDC, Lutra were able to develop and calibrate a hydraulic model using operational data from site and online readings recorded by the plant PLC. The outcome was a representative model which accurately predicted the hydraulic capacity and resulting headloss of the headworks at various operational conditions.

The model is now a tool which can be used to update plant documentation and allow for greater insight into the anticipated performance and capacity of the new system.

Who are Lutra?

Established in 2006, Lutra have been helping our customers to improve their water and wastewater operations with our range of software and engineering services for well over a decade. With representation across numerous industries bodies and working groups, Lutra have become a trusted partner for government municipalities and industrial clients both here and abroad.