Rapid Delivery of Fluoridation System Upgrades and Renewals

Julian Fyfe, Wellington Water; Brett Clapham, Stantec; Louis Ortenzio, Lutra; Mark Wollina, Stantec

In 2022, Wellington Water engaged Stantec, Lutra, and Brian Perry Civil to design, construct and commission new fluoridation dosing systems for two water treatment plants (WTPs), and to identify and implement improvements to the existing systems at its other two plants. The new systems had to be fully compliant with the Fluoridation Code of Practice (Water NZ, 2014), automated, safe and user-friendly for the operational teams. They also had to integrate seamlessly into the existing treatment plants.

The greatest challenge was meeting these objectives within a very tight timeframe for the two new systems. Wellington Water set a delivery target of five months from project initiation to dosing fluoride, much tighter than the 12-18 months a project like this would usually take. 

The project’s key driver was the rapid re-instatement of full fluoridation of the Wellington region’s drinking-water supply. Dosing facilities at the Te Marua and Gear Island WTPs had recently been shut down on account of operability issues. An ensuing review of all fluoridation assets found that the dosing facilities at the Waterloo and Wainuiomata plants had limited capacities and did not meet the Fluoridation Code. With the support of its council owners and stakeholders, Wellington Water committed to restore reliable fluoridation as a matter of urgent priority. For the Te Marua and Gear Island plants, a solution of new containerised hydrofluorosilicic acid dosing systems was devised in collaboration with consultant and contractor partners Stantec and Lutra. The other two facilities were to be refurbished to bring them into conformity with the Code and to improve capacity and reliability.

Given the fast-track nature of the project, regular and effective communication between the implementation stakeholders throughout the project was essential. Workstreams which would typically be executed in sequence occurred in parallel. While necessary for achieving the deadline, such accelerated delivery can increase the risk of missing key design elements as implementation steps took place simultaneously. Other challenges faced by the project included equipment, materials, and labour shortages and extended delivery timeframes caused by COVID-19. In some instances, temporary measures had to be applied while awaiting delivery of the permanent components.

A tight timeframe for restoring fluoridation required the development and implementation of a highly efficient and flexible delivery framework complemented with robust risk management. This approach helped to focus and streamline organisations and teams to successfully deliver both on their respective roles and the overall project outcomes. It also fostered development of local skills and capabilities, which will be essential given the attention now being directed towards fluoridation across the country following recent legislative changes. 

Through it all, the parties involved worked closely in a truly collaborative, bestfor-project approach to achieve the project goals. With the success of implementing this approach on a high-stakes project with public health implications, we believe it could and should be adopted on more public projects across the water sector. This is particularly so as we confront the stark contemporary challenges we face in drinking-water quality, environmental protection and climate change.