Servicing petrol station forecourt interceptors is specialized work. The staff must be trained and have the relevant certifications and the equipment must be certified. Due to our customer base requesting us to carry out this work we are proud to announce the arrival of our new A3 vacuum truck.

We call him JAMES.

We work closely with SPEL (Pump and Valve) in understanding and servicing their devices nation-wide. This addition to our fleet has increased our capacity to carry out more work for the major fuel companies as we expand our capabilities. The addition of James has meant we need someone to drive this truck or one of the other trucks.

We are lucky enough to have a man named Ali Mehr who has stepped up from Stormwater Technician to vacuum truck operator. Ali has his DG and Class 2 License and will work his way up to being able to drive our A3 truck in the next six months.

The growing team

We as a company are extremely proud of how we have dealt with this Global Crisis. Our staff are have come through this unscathed. Unlike many other businesses we have employed five new staff members:

Cat
Cat has experience in our industry. This is a bonus as we have employed Cat because she is so capable, kind and straight up with people. Welcome.

TJ
TJ was a casualty of the Warehouse closure in Birkenhead a few months ago. I got talking to him and a few of his mates outside the warehouse. He came in for an interview and tried out for a few days. His enthusiasm and character shone through. Not to mention, TJ is an extremely strong young man who loves servicing sand filters.

Seb
Seb has been with us for a few months now as is a smart, fit, well spoken individual who will go far in our business. He works extremely hard and I have watched him gain the respect of our crew through his actions.

Sue
Sue has joined us out of the blue – like most of our new staff – and she is here to relieve the burden on Claire in the accounts department. Sue has helped immensely and has such a helpful, calm energy about her.

Andrea
Andrea completes the Sales Dream Team with Conrad. Andrea is a switched on, organized and detail oriented individual. These two are unstoppable and I am grateful to have Andrea working for me.

It is with great pride that I write this announcement.

We have been awarded the contract from Healthy Waters to maintain the treatment devices for the Auckland Region for the next five years.

This is a culmination of years of working for contractors for Council and immersing ourselves in the stormwater treatment device space. We have stayed true to this course. We do not have departments for Procurement, so to the team that worked on producing this tender – I am so proud of you and I thank you for the many hours of work you did to put together the winning document.

To the team who will now deliver this contract, I believe in you and I appreciate everything you do for me and our business.

In this same month we have become a partner to Sustainable Coastlines. We have been patient and discerning in our quest to partner with a worthy organisation. We are proud of this step which will grow into a powerful and helpful partnership for all.

With a hot Auckland this summer, the city has broken its water consumption record twice since the start of February. Aucklanders are being urged to cut their shower times and areas in Northland have outdoor water bans in place. On Saturday, it was 40 consecutive days since the region had rainfall, which means the Auckland region broke a record for the longest dry spell, according to NIWA forecasters.

So, what has this got to do with storm water maintenance?

During dry spells, stormwater systems can be far from top of mind, and yet stormwater filters are faithfully collecting litter, and lead particles are creating a layer on city roads from exhausts and lead, copper and zinc particles are gathering in our atmosphere and layering roofs and roads through dry deposition.

Many activities in urban areas emit metal contaminated particles into the atmosphere. The first rainfall will wash lead and other pollutants from roads and carparks into the city’s stormwater system. Rain will wash** suspended pollutants from the atmosphere to join those already flowing toward the sea.

The first big rainfall of autumn is critical to manage well

A large rainfall after a dry summer means that pollutant levels in storm water systems will be higher than normal – and the ‘first flush’ of the water moving through the storm water filters will have the most! It is thought that 40 – 50% of contaminants can be mobilized in the first 20% of the increased flow after a storm or heavy rainfall in an urban area.***

This is why it is crucial that storm water filters are well maintained during summer and ready to work hard… rather than being jammed with litter and in need of maintenance.

The removal of contaminants before they can enter a watercourse is an ideal intervention, protecting both freshwater environments and the marine eco-system. For example, Auckland Transport removes over 6,400 tonnes of sediment from its roads per year!****

Auckland’s industry and population have a high impact on freshwater quality

Tom Porter from the Auckland Council explains that although the Auckland region covers less than 2% of New Zealand, it contains over a third of the population, and is growing fast. This places severe pressures on freshwater quality in the Auckland area, especially regarding to sediment, metals and other contaminants. (MFE, 2017b).

Auckland is also adjacent to the ocean on both sides!

We believe this means that we have an additional duty to manage our stormwater systems exceptionally well! 

We’d love to help you ensure that your stormwater filters are ready and primed for our city’s first big rainfall, and the winter that will follow!

Contact us for a free quote today – 09 974 9888

* Dry deposition is the process where atmospheric particles, and any contaminants associated with them, settle via gravity or are deposited by wind onto the surfaces of roofs, buildings or the ground.

** Wet deposition is how atmospheric particles and soluble trace gases are removed from the atmosphere by dissolution and incorporated into water droplets, either in clouds or falling raindrops.

*** Park et al. 2010.

**** Auckland Transport unpublished briefing, 2018.

We cleaned a CDS unit in East Tamaki and we were honored enough to have the Right Honorable Mayor Phil Geoff come and see what we were doing. It was also on TV1 which gave many of our crew their first TV debut.

Katie Bradford reported for TV1 News:

“The Auckland stormwater treatment system collects roughly 5000 tonnes of plastic waste each year, but plenty of other plastic makes its way straight into the coasts surrounding the city. To help combat that, the council wants to upgrade every major storm pipe in Auckland.

“It’s going to cost millions of dollars because we are going to have to retrofit the system so that every storm water pipe filters out the sort of storm water rubbish we have seen today,” Mr Goff said.”

Challenge to the city

Our challenge to you this month is to pick up a piece of rubbish every day, even if it is not yours!

Each morning when the crew stand in the shed waiting for the WIFLE to start, I drive in wondering how the mood of the crew will be? It is cold, dark and often wet and I am about to ask them to head off into the darkness to service stormwater devices all over Auckland.

I am always astounded at their positivity and enthusiasm. This is a team anyone would be proud to be a part of. I am proud to be the leader of this group and I am grateful for what they do for our business.

Changes to the Dutton Stormwater team

In June we said goodbye to Jezza – Jerry Neho. He is off to Australia to make a new start and we wish him well. This has left the Operations team a little light on manpower for servicing stormwater filters. The boys have stepped up, and for the month of June we completed 97% of our planned jobs. This is a stellar effort considering we had a major Litta-trap project for one of our largest customers – Foodstuffs – to finish before World Ocean’s Day on the 8^th of June.

We are in the process of recruiting two more staff members who will join in August as Stormwater Technicians.

Let’s not forget the trucks – our man Leon gave two of our trucks a full birthday and painted them our pristine Ice White. Small Boy and Big Boy are repainted and ready to start playing their part in cleaning up Auckland’s oceans.

LittaTrap™ Foodstuffs project major focus in June

Our major focus for June was to complete the roll-out of the installation of LittaTrap™ stormwater filters into 11 designated Foodstuffs sites around the north island. We geared ourselves up, got ourselves trained by Stormwater 360 and hit the road. This was a major team effort.

• Our sales team had to plot and measure the dimensions of each cess pit we were installing a litter trap into.
• Our logistics team had to order the correct number of Litta-traps for each crew.
• The Logistics Crew then arranged the journeys in the most efficient manner possible and booked all the accommodation.
• The operations team got themselves geared up with cordless dynadrills, hammer drills and Stanley knives and hit the road going north, south and east.

We finished the project well before the deadline and on the 8^th of June one of the LittaTrap™ we installed in Wellington New World was on TV with the environment minister and other Foodstuffs representatives. It was a most enjoyable project and we look forward to rolling it out to the rest of the stores in the north island.