First through effluent pond course

The Farm Dairy Effluent Pond Training Course was established by DairyNZ in conjunction with InfraTrain New Zealand and Opus International Consultants (Opus).

The course is based on Practice Note 21: Design and Construction of FDE Ponds, released by the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) at the end of last year.

DairyNZ sustainability team leader Dr Theresa Wilson says the information in Practice Note 21 is the first industry-agreed set of good practice standards for the design and construction of new effluent storage ponds.

"The course is part of work to ensure the standards outlined in the practice note are met," says Wilson. "Those that have completed the course are listed on the InfraTrain website and we encourage dairy farmers to use this list when looking to build an effluent pond."

The course, delivered by New Zealand Water and Environment Training Academy (NZWETA), was split into three days. The first day provided an overview, the second day focused on construction, and the third day on pond design.

InfraTrain's national operations manager, Ross Leslie, says the workshops, held in six locations across the country, covered the practical aspects of design and construction.

"The course aims to ensure that those building storage ponds have all the information they need to build an effluent pond that is compliant and will provide farmers with a great return on investment," says Leslie. "The practice note provided a good solid base to model the course on and also means there are consistent messages around pond construction."

Hugh Ratsey, from Opus, says it was really good to see such a range of companies across the North and South Islands participating in the course.

"This course required a high level of participation and those that attended responded well to the practical examples and the expert guest speakers used throughout the programme," says Ratsey.

"Our course trainers have many years' experience in this business and were heavily involved in drafting Practice Note 21. Attendees made the most of having these experts on-hand."

Farmers can access the full list of contractors and designers at www.infratrain.co.nz/dairy_effluent.htm.