Mangonui Haulage owner Dennis Sparksman was the centre of attention for a Māori TV crew on Friday as the first business owner in the country to install a commercial electro coagulation (EC) wastewater cleaning unit, a move described by local guardianship group Clean Waters to the Sea (CWTS) as "bold".
Trustee Tiger Tukariri said he had always looked at the water outfall from the company's stock truck washdown pond into the harbour with concern, and when the opportunity to clean the water with EC technology arose, he talked to Mr Sparksman. The pond system had been consented by the Northland Regional Council, but Mr Sparksman had been open to the idea of using the technology.
"I needed to know that the EC machine could in fact do a better job though, so I give credit to Clean Waters, and especially Andreas Kurmann, who made the water testing trial a school project for the Mangonui school kids. They stuck at it for two years, and produced the scientific data that proved it did the job. That was fantastic," he said.
The EC unit would be mounted in a small shed on a newly-laid concrete pad, and would be switched on next month.
"The wastewater will go from the pond, through the unit, and then into two settlement tanks from which clean water will overflow, but I want to put in a small third tank so I can pump the water up and use it again when I need it, especially in summer, when we often have to buy water," he added.
