Dunedin Rural Networks - Wastewater and Water Modelling

This paper discusses the contributing factors which led to the development of hydraulic models for small rural communities and the benefits that council believes these models will bring.

Three rural wastewater treatment plants are nearing resource consent renewal and a strategy to improve current discharge arrangements was required. Modelling these areas was the first stage in this strategy. In tandem a treated water model was developed to replicate the network servicing these rural communities. Network planning to ensure economic renewal of these assets is the desired outcome. An additional water model was built for another rural community where sustainable accommodation of growth was the main driver.

Building these models in-house has virtually removed consultant fees. The council’s hands-on approach has highlighted data inadequacies and their consequence, including information availability, accuracy and integration across applications that may otherwise not have been discovered.

When model builds are undertaken internally, staff acceptance is generally quicker due to direct involvement and a sense of ownership of the entire journey. Like any project, communication is key and early definition of data requirements and model outcomes keeps all staff expectations consistent through the model build, calibration and end use.