Reliant Solutions Chatham Islands wastewater project delivers for community
Project brief:
Reliant Solutions’ wastewater project on the Chatham Islands – 800km offshore of New Zealand – has delivered a critical piece of community infrastructure on time and under budget.
The project was to supply and install a 100m3 Glass-Fused-to-Steel wastewater tank including Glass Fused to Steel floor at the isolated location.
Our client, the Chatham Islands Council, included the new tank system as a key infrastructure project to ensure safe reliable and sustainable wastewater services for island residents. The Council owns and operates the Waitangi village sewerage system. About a quarter of the island’s 640-strong population live in Waitangi.
This tank replaced two timber tanks and will double the plant’s operational capacity, forming a critical piece of infrastructure for the island. The collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater contributes to the health of the community and minimises adverse environmental effects.
The Chatham Islands and its people are a unique community, isolated from mainland New Zealand and with limited resources available, and this project was always going to be a unique planning and logistical exercise.
This was no problem for the Reliant Solutions planning and installation team, completing the installation of the new 100kl wastewater tank on time and on budget.
A site visit from one of our Project Managers revealed there was inadequate resources on the island to form our concrete ring-beam foundation. Cement and builders mix was sourced and shipped from Timaru, and mixed by hand to form the foundation.
Our Glass-Fused-to-Steel tanks can be built in less than a third of the time it takes to build a concrete or welded structure, and require minimal onsite machinery due to their modular design.
The highly durable nature of the Glass-Fused-to-Steel coating means it never needs recoating and requires low maintenance, meaning reduced lifetime costs — perfect for an island 800km from New Zealand where the occasional bit of rough weather is a given.
Our scope included:
Complete Foundation Works, digging the ring-beam, formwork, steel fixing, concrete pour
Tank Walls and Glass-Fused-to-Steel Floor
Mixer + Pumps and Guide rails.
Access Platform
By the numbers:
