The Rain Gardeners is a sister company to Dutton Stormwater and we’ve been proud to collaborate on some great rain garden maintenance projects this spring. We’ve also agreed some regular rain garden mainenance contracts with Dutton Stormwater clients as well maintained rain gardens are essential for great performance wherever they are included as part of a stormwater maintence system.

You can check out the website here – raingardeners.co.nz – and you might see the van out and about with Sonny on board.

Raingarden refurbishment – Onehunga

In the month of September, we helped one of our clients with a major refurbishment of their raingarden. The job spanned 268m² and we excavated approximately 135m³ of contaminated material out of the garden. We divided the garden into stages and the engineer came to site at various intervals to inspect the media. When she was happy with the depth of material removed, we replaced the excavated contaminated material with fresh, clean raingarden mix. This media was initially shaped by our skilled excavator operator and then finished by Sonny himself.

We then repaired the riprap which ensures there is no scouring of the garden when water flows into it. We laid 75mm of beautiful bark over the garden and planted new plants at 500mm intervals. This raingarden is now in mint condition, and we will be maintaining it monthly to keep it this way.

This raingarden is part of the stormwater system on site and is part of the treatment train for the stormwater the site discharges. We are specialists in servicing these stormwater treatment devices. The Rain Gardeners work closely with Dutton Stormwater to ensure the Raingarden maintenance forms part of the Stormwater Management Plan for the site. This is a more comprehensive service and will ensure your site is complying with your stormwater discharge consent.

If you are unsure about your stormwater management plan for your site, please do not hesitate to contact the crew at Dutton Stormwater to take the worry out of managing your stormwater system.

Mt Albert Rain Garden Rejuvenation

Our Rain Gardeners team also carried out a refurbishment on a rain garden in Mt Albert where there have been years of neglect. The raingarden has had new life breathed into it.  They removed all the litter, aerated all the media, replaced any dead plants, and cut back weeds and overgrown plants. We are happy with the result of this maintenance, and we look forward to keeping this raingarden as it should be.

Here’s a little video where Ed talks about how strategic planning and proactive involvement help keep Dutton Stormwater’s team on focus and thinking ahead.

It is with great pride that I announce that on the 2^nd of November we will unleash a crew on the South Island, enabling us to provide better service than ever for our South Island clients.

Many of our national customers have been wondering when this was going to happen. In October last year I committed to sending a crew to the South Island in 2020. We are going.

The redoubtable Yannick will be the Commander in Chief of our team for the South, and we will have crew coming and going each week to work with him.

This side of our business can only grow in the future and I am excited to see where this will lead us as a business. I want to personally thank Conrad and Andrea for the mountain of work they have done preparing the way for us. It is now over to Michelle and her team to make it happen!

Very exciting times.

I often use metaphors to explain how I see a situation. I mentioned to the team on 24 March that I felt we were like an army platoon enclosed by a great wall, walking in darkness toward a tiny distant light. I knew our platoon would emerge from this crisis shining and strong – and we have. We have broken through the wall with our heads held high, not consumed by what other companies are doing, rather focused on our own game.

As we emerge from Lockdown, I applaud our country and government for helping us, and am proud to say:

1. From 1 July 2020 we are the official contractor to Auckland Council Healthy Waters for Treatment Devices, Auckland-wide.
2. We have promoted two innovative and talented individuals: Claire Story to Office Manager and Sonny Chan to Quality, Environmental, Health & Safety Manager.
3. An A3 7000l vacuum truck is on order, to be delivered in October.
4. Despite the knocks and challenges of Covid19, all Dutton Stormwater staff have retained their positions.

I feel proud of how Dutton Stormwater has operated throughout this crisis and am proud of each of you for being brave and kind.

On the 8th of June, World Oceans Day, Foodstuffs North Island launched a new pilot programme to stop waste flowing to the sea, rolling out a significant investment in rubbish traps for store-based stormwater drains.  

11 New World and PAK’nSAVE stores installed 125 LittaTrap™ catchers from innovative New Zealand company Stormwater360, to stop toxic waste and plastic flowing through drains to our waterways. 

Dutton Stormwater were very proud to be the installers of LittaTrap™ stormwater filters into 11 designated Foodstuffs sites around the north island. We were trained by Stormwater 360 and hit the road for a great cause!