18 August 2010

In May, Les Potter, Headwork’s Superintendent, Coffs Harbour City Council, won the WIOA Operator of Year Award, sponsored by the Water Directorate. As part of the award he attended the WIOA Study Tour to New Zealand. Below is a report from Les about his trip and experience on the study tour.

“I attended the 2010 WIOA Conference and Exhibition in Bathurst as a representative water operator for Coffs Harbour City Council. I had the extreme honour of being chosen as the NSW Operator of the Year. I was completely taken by surprise as I believed I had no chance of winning because, previously, the 2009 title was won by an operator from Coffs Harbour.

At the time of presentation I was literally speechless and completely forgot to thank many people that made the award possible. I would therefore like to take the opportunity to thank the following people:

• WIOA Committee members for organising the NSW Conference. The event was extremely large but from my point of view it was organized professionally, so it ran smoothly and was generally a pleasure to attend.
• CHCC for nominating me, in particular Simon Thorn and Adam Wilson.
• NSW Water Directorate for sponsoring the award and the accompanying prize of a fully funded trip to attend the Water Conference in Hamilton, New Zealand.

This trip was worthwhile and greatly appreciated as I was able to visit a variety of water treatment plants and participate in some unique cultural experiences. In particular thanks are extended to the WIOA crew for looking us and the WIOG members: Dave Neru, Martin Simpson and Murray Clayton, who organized a memorable NZ conference. I particularly commend the cultural elements of the trip that were facilitated by Damian Lawsen, Raelyn Rika and Nick Hewer-Hewitt. This included a welcome dinner with the Whakatane Mayor, an awesome day of fishing, and culminated in being hosted by the Ruatahuna people in their village. I was able to experience a traditional Maori Hakea, Hungi and overnight stay in the Marae which was a special and memorable event for all involved in the trip.

The plants visited included Norske Skogs paper mill water and wastewater treatment plants near Whakatane, the wastewater treatment plant in Rotorua, as well as water treatment plants at Matamata Piako, Rotorua and Hamilton. All were worthwhile and we were able to exchange knowledge between operators which was of benefit and value to all involved. I found that visiting these plants as well as talking to all the operators reinforces confidence that the current procedures of running my plant are equal to best practices used in other treatment plants.

I would encourage other organisations to nominate their respective operators in future years as it is rewarding to both, operator and the organisation. Thank you!”

Congratulations again to Les Potter. The Water Directorate is pleased to again sponsor this award in 2011 and we encourage our members to nominate a suitable candidate for this great award next year.

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