1. H istry develops DWAP and TAP training resources
By Rob Wall, Opus International Consultants
Most members will be aware of the
recent increase in emphasis by the
Ministry of Health on the creation of
resources for the use of water suppliers.
This reflects a significant investment by
the Ministry and is set to continue. The
resources are designed to cover as wide
a range of participants in the water
sector as possible.
Attheacademic, or atleastveryknowledgeable, end of thisspectrum
are the Draft Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality Management for
New Zealand. The 2005 Guidelines remain in draft form until the
final form of the Health (DrinkingWater) Amendment Bill is clear.
It's well worth having a browse through the Guidelines as they
form a very comprehensive up to date textbook on water written
specifically for New Zealand. They're available to download off the
net at www.moh.govt.nz/water (scroll down to near the bottom of
the page to find the ink). If you're going to print them, even double
sided, they come to around two reams of paper.
Other technical training material available for download from
the website includes;
•
The Drinking Water Assessor training notes,
•
Various guidance documents on the preparation of public
health risk management plans,
•
Pamphlets and fact-sheets on water-borne diseases, water
treatment in emergency situations and other drinking-water
related issues.
Drinking Water Assistance Programme (DWAP)
While the Guidelines are very comprehensive and useful, they're
written for larger water suppliers such as local authorities and
require a good level of expertise to understand them. NZWWA
Journal readers willhave no trouble of course! White MoH have
produced a variety of materials describing the production of
safe water, there remains a shortfall in the level of water specific
training of those responsible for many small supplies.
In the past there hasn't been a mechanism available to small
water supplies for accessing information about how to run a water
supply and getting face to face contact for training, mentoring and
networking. Unlike larger water suppliers, they can't normally hire
experienced staff or send people away for specific training, such as
the New Zealand Certificate in Water Treatment.
As part of addressing this identified need for training and
support, as well as a long standing need for capital assistance, the
Government has recently commenced the Drinking Water Assistance
Programme (DWAP) which includes Technicaland Capital Assistance
Programmes. This has funding totalling $154 million (including
GST) to help improve drinking-water systems in small New Zealand
communities. Included in this, the Government have allocated $17.5
million over 7 years for the Technical Assistance Programme (TAP).
Many readers will already be aware of the TAP. It is based on
collaborative groups of drinking-water suppliers, administered by
Ministry of Health facilitators. These groups are meeting in locations
around the country to discuss issues relating to their water supplies
and to work towards developing Public Health Risk Management
Plans (PHRMP).
Participation is also a pre-requisite for receiving capital
assistance from the Government and there's no denying that this is
giving people an incentive to take part!
All small drinking water supplies are eligible to take part in
the TAP programme. This includes commercial operations and
government departments who are excluded from Capital Assistance
Programme (CAP) funding. Local Councils are eligible for both
the TAP and CAP programmes under the new criteria and they're
encouraged to take part, both to qualify for CAP funding and as
a resource to the vvider group, given that they have access to
many useful tools like GIS mapping and their Water and Sanitary
Services Assessments.
In order to support the TAP groups the Ministry are developing
a range of new training material, both for the water suppliers and
for the TAP Facilitators. These include DVDs, booklets, PowerPoint
presentations and lesson plans. The mix of format is based on
feedback received to public consultation.
DVD series
The first of the training material to be released is the DVD 'Don't
Bug Me' (Reference HE 1815) starring a number of New Zealand's
'water treatment celebrities' disguised as cartoon figures. Grab
a copy and see if you can guess who they might be.You might
even feature yourself? 'Documation' animators the Simmonds
Brothers have produced the DVD series to a script written by the
Ministry. Since the work started they've won Screen Production and
Development Association of New Zealand (SPADA) New Filmmaker
of the Year (2006). This was for "A Very Nice Honeymoon"
which tells the story of Elizabeth and Mariano Vella who were
shipwrecked on the SS Wairarapa on Great Barrier Island, New
Zealand, in 1894 on their honeymoon.
The first DVD will be followed by the titles 'Making it Safe' about
principles and methods oftreatment for small water supplies, 'Tanks
Pumps and Pipes' covering small drinking water supply reticulation
systems and 'Checking It Out' describing sampling and monitoring
for small supplies. Copies of the DVD are to be distributed free to
participants in the TAP programme.
A recent TAP workshop in progress
24 THE NZWWA JOURNAL• MAY 2007
Booklets and presentations
Aside from the audio visual resources, the Ministry's consultation
phase indicated a need for written material that can be taken away
and referred to when it's needed. This written material has been
produced under contract by Opus International Consultants
using staff from the Environmental Training Centre and the
Environmental Division.
Opus were able to draw on their experience with water sector
training to create material targeted at the small water supply sector.
The primary resource is a series of booklets expanding on the
information given by the DVDs. Each booklet also contains a section
of worked examples for scenarios that a typical small water supplier
might encounter. Corresponding PowerPoint presentations have
been written for use in TAP working groups along with the relevant
lesson plans. This initial set of training resources is divided under
five titles;
1. 'Pathogens and Pathways and Small Drinking Water Supplies'
explains what pathogens are found in water and how these can
enter the water and find their way to the consumer.
2. 'Treatment Options for Small Supplies' describes the various
contaminants that affect water quality and goes on to cover the
variousmethods available to small water suppliers to remove
them. As a result, simple treatment systems, such as cartridge
filters, are emphasised over treatment methods that have more
relevance in larger plants.
3. 'Sustainable Management of Small Supplies' is about planning
for the costs that come up over the life of the water supply.
It includes advice on budgeting, collecting funds,
benchmarking of costs as well as general topics like water
demand management.
4. 'Optimisation of DrinkingWater Treatment Systems' is a guide
to evaluating water treatment plants and improving their
performance. It includes 'problems and solutions' guides for
problem solving, much like the troubleshooting section in a
user manual.
5. 'Monitoring and Sampling for Small Supplies' is a guide to
collecting samples, testing, recording and storing the results
written specifically for the operator of a small water supply.
The series to date covers the issues that are seen as most urgent.
lt is envisaged that there will be further training material produced
on specific topics like distribution systems, roof water collection
and treatment. The work will be driven by demand from the
TAP programme.
Covers ofthe training CDs
Themostimportantrequirementhasbeentokeeptheinformation
simple and relevant as in many cases the audience will have little
or no formal water training, even though they will normally have a
sound practical understanding based on hands on experience.
The material is intended to help the TAP to empower water
suppliers to achieve optimum performance from their water
supplies. !t can then also be used to assess the need for further
improvements to their treatment processes. They may then apply
for funding towards these improvements under the CAP. The concept
is that significant improvements to a large number of water supplies
can be delivered at relatively low cost by providing this training at
the grass roots level.
Feedback on the resources
Mark Hunter, Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Health and ToiTe
Ora TAP group has this to say about how the training material is
being received.
The video material just produced by the MoH team was
informative and generally well accepted by the communities.
Effort has been made by the MoH to present the material in a light
hearted manner and to pitch it at a level where the issues at hand
are communicated without making things too technical. The genera!
purpose of the video material is to give the communities a brief
introduction into the different components that make up their water
supplies and to highlight potential risks to their systems.
After completion of the video series in the workshops there is
definite evidence of raised awareness of the issues at stake in the
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THE NZWWA JOURNAL• MAY 2007 25