18 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Apex Water: Olam Food T T Richard Loader Treatment plant uses latest MBR tech The new wastewater treatment plant under construction in Tokoroa. T T to page 20 In June last year Apex Water was contracted to design and build the dairy factory wastewater treatment plant at Olam Food Ingredients’ new milk powder processing plant, currently in construction in Tokoroa. The wastewater is generated through the daily cleaning processes at the milk plant, and contains fats, oil and grease before being processed through the wastewater treatment plant to remove contaminants like ammonia and nitrates. The wastewater is run through a state-ofthe-art membrane bioreactor (MBR), then discharged to the South Waikato District Council’s water treatment plant as trade waste. Apex Water’s Project Manager Kennedy Boakye explains that the water discharged from the MBR is very clear, and visually identical to drinking water. “While the discharged water is not actually at a drinkable standard, if a few more treatment processes were added, it would be.” Apex Water commenced the design phase for the wastewater treatment plant immediately after being awarded the contract. “Design typically takes three months to complete. We then commenced procurement, starting with the long lead time items. The civil work was outside of our project scope, and we were able to mobilise on site and commence construction April this year. Industrial Electricians Water Management Expertise Branches throughout New Zealand www.kinetic-electric.co.nz Kaitaia Kerikeri Whangarei Rodney Auckland Pukekohe Hamilton Tauranga Rotorua New Plymouth Taupo Hawkes Bay Palmerston North Whanganui Kapiti Coast Wellington Nelson Wanaka Queenstown Dunedin Gore/Southland Kinetic Electrical Emblazoned in magenta, the word ‘Smarter’ underlines the logo of Kinetic Electrical; a powerful statement to the company’s clients and team that its ethos is about thinking and working smarter to achieve the best result for its customers. Business Development Manager/ Director Ken Parsons says there is a constant drive for continuous improvement and to use every project as a learning opportunity. Founded in Hawke’s Bay over three decades ago, over the last 15 years Kinetic Electrical has established a strong national presence with 25 branches spread across the country from Kaitaia to Gore, with multiple branches in the major centres. Within the Kinetic group there has always been a keen interest in advanced electrical and the more technical industrial work, while o ering a broad range of industrial, commercial, residential and rural services across all branches. “We work hard to provide interbranch support when it comes to supplying expertise that enables us to undertake complex water treatment and industrial projects,” Ken explains. “For instance, in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay and Queenstown we have specialised teams that include industrial electricians, designers, engineers and project managers who work in the water management space. And those teams are used to provide support to our smaller branches to deliver water management projects all around the country.” While water treatment plants form a large portion of Kinetic Electrical’s industrial o ering, it is also heavily involved in major manufacturing factories, processing lines and automated cool stores. “Using water management as an example, our customer might be Apex Water who would be the lead contractor delivering on the water treatment plant. Our operations include general electrical design and schematics, PLC and SCADA automation programming and development, the electrical installation, testing and full commissioning. Then there is the on-going support, trouble shooting, and maintenance post project completion. Because the scale of the electrical projects reach into the multi-million dollar range, there is also a big focus on project management capability. We have been doing water treatment projects for over twenty years now, and over that time we have formed close relationships with the end clients, who are often the district councils. From a residential perspective we do itouts for new homes and renovations, and we do commercial shop and building itouts and commercial EV charging infrastructure.” Working with Apex Water in the new Olam Food Ingredients factory in Tokoroa, Kinetic Electrical has been engaged to undertake the full electrical design schematics and project management on the electrical side.
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