Seeking a Marae Partner for a Wastewater Treatment Wetland Trial

Building upon the knowledge gained from the greywater treatment wetland installed at the Kokiri Centre, and after several years of trialling and testing new wastewater treatment approaches at a small scale, we are keen to partner with a marae to design and install a combined wastewater or blackwater treatment wetland.

We have experience in the design and implementation of improved wastewater management systems and are looking to design and apply the ecotechnologies and ideas developed at a marae-scale to:

• Demonstrate that engineered wetlands can provide reliable and cost-effective treatment i.e., resilient to highly fluctuating flows and load conditions that are typical of marae.
• Provide real-world information and data to develop practical guidelines for other marae and communities to follow and assist others in considering options available to improve onsite wastewater management.
• Monitor and prove the performance and effectiveness of appropriately designed and constructed wetland-based systems at addressing common challenges with onsite wastewater management.

Participation in the project will provide the marae with an opportunity to collaborate with experienced scientists and engineers to:

• Identify and address existing onsite (site specific) marae wastewater management challenges and consider alternative water and wastewater management scenarios and options to address those challenges.
• Provide leadership in onsite wastewater management to others and greatly contribute to resolving significant onsite wastewater management challenges through the installation of a trial wastewater treatment wetland.
• Deliver improved onsite water and wastewater management with reduced environmental impact and capital and operating costs.

We are looking for a partner who has sufficient land and resources available to construct the trial wetland within the next 12–18 months, and who over the next two months, will be in a position to start the initial planning for the project.