Taupo District Council staff recognised at water conference

Staff from Taupo District Council's Three Waters team have been recognised as leaders in their field, winning a trifecta of awards at the Water Industry Operations Group (WIOG) association awards dinner held in Palmerston North.

Water treatment plant operator Jake Hanshaw received the coveted Young Operator of the Year Award (under 25 years), and was acknowledged by industry peers as a standout trainee. Special mention was made about his enthusiasm and passion to learn about the water industry and his excellent progress in training.

Jake's award was followed by Operations Manager Three Waters Kevin Sears winning the Best Operations Paper Award for a paper he presented at the conference that discussed 25 years of land disposal sites in the Taupo District.

Taupo District Council staff also won the operations competition that runs throughout the conference. The Sonny Katae Operators Award was picked up by the hard-working team of Colin Little, Jake Hanshaw, Dwayne Rudnicki, George Jackson, Harry Cryns and Huia Anderson.

Mr Sears said he also wanted to acknowledge assistant manager of water and wastewater treatment Richard Kruze, who was heavily involved with the organising of the conference by volunteering many hours of time.

"It was 100 percent a whole team effort," he said.

May 16 2018

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Matt MortimerCommunications advisor 07 376 0641 022 407 4990

Andy TaylorSenior communications advisor 07 376 0781 027 570 4651