All-purpose upgrade for Hawkes Bay Protein
Swinglift’s long history of continuous improvement dates back to the 1960s, leading to a new evolution of its innovative container side-loader that will debut at the Melbourne Truck Show in May.
Trailer, 18 april2016 - Since 2005, container side-loader expert Swinglift has been flourishing under the Patchell Group, a heavy transport trailer manufacturer based in Rotorua, New Zealand.
A decade has passed since the Swinglift product joined the Patchell catalogue of specialised equipment – including log transport trailers, food grade stainless steel tankers, drop decks and skel trailers – but the long and successful Swinglift story goes back a lot further than that.
According to Swinglift Australia General Manager, Gordon Dyson, the company’s practice for developing innovative equipment began in 1968 with the advent of the first truck-mounted container side-loader in New Zealand, purpose-built to carry 10’ rail containers and later modified to accommodate 15’ sea freighters.
The development continued in May 1976 when the first road legal 20’ side-loader in NZ was introduced. Invented by Swinglift’s founder, Robin Wynyard, the first unit stood out for its utilisation of New Zealand’s then newly-introduced super single tyres on the front axles of a truck, a lift capacity of 20 tonnes and for being the first to comply with NZ road regulations for a 20’ Swinglift.
The full story has appeared in the April edition of Trailer. To get your copy, click here.
The Levin Water Treatment Plant upgrade is helping future-proof the town's water supply.
Levin, 15 April 2016 - Phase one of the upgrade features the construction of a new six-million-litre reservoir tank, measuring 31 metres in diameter and nine metres high. It adds to two existing concrete reservoirs - a four-million-litre tank built in 1965, and a 2.5-million-litre tank built in 1943.
The new reservoir at the Gladstone Road plant was blessed by Muaūpoko Iwi representatives at an official opening ceremony this morning, attended by Horowhenua District Councillors, staff, and contractors.
Council's Projects Manager Gerry O'Neill says this will provide the town with at least 24 hours of water storage capacity. Previously storage capacity had been 19 hours typically, but only 13 hours during peak demand in summer.
Mr O'Neill says the new reservoir tank is made of glass-fused-to-steel which makes it corrosion-resistant and easy to maintain.
Manufactured in the United Kingdom, the components were shipped to New Zealand and then assembled on site at the water treatment plant.
Mr O'Neill says the tank consists of seven rings and a roof structure. The first two rings were bolted together and then the roof was constructed on top of them. After that, the entire structure was jacked up off the ground to allow the successive steel rings to be bolted underneath.
"It was really quite a simple process, and then it was just a case of connecting the pipework between the new tank and the two existing tanks."
District Mayor Brendan Duffy said it was important to acknowledge the symbolism of this morning's ceremony, including the importance of the relationship with tangata whenua.
"It's not just a blessing and a walk around the tank, followed by a cup of tea; it symbolises the conclusion of this part of the project and it recognises the significance of the awa and the water from it that will be delivered to this community for the next 100 years," he said.
"You can drive past and see the tank, but what you don't see is what's under the ground and the magnitude of work behind it."
Future phases of the upgrade to be carried out in the next year include a new clarifier and UV treatment system. Mr O'Neill says this will improve the water quality to achieve a higher grading under the Drinking Water Standards of New Zealand.
Horowhenua District Council operates five drinking water supply schemes, with Levin's the last to be upgraded, following Tokomaru, Shannon, Foxton and Foxton Beach.
Will reduce food wastage between farm and consumer
No more Prego
One of the world-leading sausage casings company, Devro, has overcome an ammonia discharge issue in its Glasgow plant.
Meat Trades Journal, UK,14 April, 2016 - Problems were being inflicted at a local sewerage works as a result of the ammonia discharge, threatening the company’s strong eco-friendly record.
Devro was able to find a long-term solution to this issue by partnering with a water supply and waste water services company, BusinessStream.
Mobile equipment was initially provided to Devro from Business Stream to allow for a swift, temporary treatment solution. While this was taking place, Business Stream began laboratory work and ran diagnostic tests in conjunction with the Devro team to identify the problem and provide a permanent solution.
“Business Stream’s superior knowledge and expertise in this field made them the ideal partner – we challenged each other to come up with a unique solution,” said Muir Sneddon, site engineering manager at Devro Scotland.
Over a nine-month period of intensive work, a solution was developed that could eliminate ammonia pollution without interfering with Devro’s other plans, such as the ability to recycle the effluent waste water in future. The solution that Business Stream developed is designed using a combination of chemical treatment and an ‘air stripping’ process that neutralises the effects of the ammonia.
As a result of this partnership, Devro has achieved its aim of remaining within discharge consent levels, satisfying the regulator and preserving its environmental reputation.
In addition, the long-term resolution offers a saving over the alternative solution, which would have been to transport the ammonia-rich liquid offsite at an annual cost of £500,000.
Business Stream is now working alongside Devro to make its waste water system even more efficient, by recycling much of its effluent back into its processes.
Editors Note: Here in New Zealand SCANZ Technologies Ltd offer advice on waste water recycling processes, technologies, equipment and installations. They represent Netherlands based AQUA Industrial Watertreatment who have developed the Curieau technique, a system which Tony Rumbold, principal and founder of SCANZ says is ideal for industrial situations in New Zealand. Tony is based in Auckland and they also have an office in Victoria.
The Commerce Commission is alerting businesses that they are under no obligation to pay an invoice being sent in the post by TM Publisher to New Zealand trade mark holders.
WELLINGTON, 14 April 2016 -The invoice for $1,638 relates to an overseas trade mark registration service, which is not necessarily a service that the recipient has agreed to buy. Anyone who does not want the service has no obligation to pay the invoice.
The Commission is investigating TM Publisher; a company based overseas which purports to offer a web-based trademark registration service. TM Publisher’s bank account has been frozen while decisions are made about how to deal with the $200,000 in payments that have already been made into the account by New Zealand businesses.
If your business has paid this invoice, you may be able to get a refund. Please contact the Commission on 0800 943 600 or through our online form.
Commerce Commission General Counsel, Mary-Anne Borrowdale, says that unfortunately, this type of pro-forma invoicing model hits New Zealand businesses on a fairly regular basis.
“The trader here uses a similar method to the Corporate Portal and Global Map Index letters we’ve warned about before, as businesses are misled into thinking that they are obliged to pay for a service that they have not agreed to.”
“These schemes aim to exploit businesses by sending seemingly legitimate invoices in the hope that companies will pay them without reading all the fine print. In this case, some businesses have paid the fee, not realising that it was for an on-line listing on a private trade mark directory,” Mrs Borrowdale said.
It appears that TM Publisher has used details of the businesses and their trademarks which are available from the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) website as the same details have been used in the letter. TM Publisher is not connected to IPONZ.
Mrs Borrowdale said that unlike similar pro-forma trade mark registration schemes this trader has a registered New Zealand address and bank account, in this instance with ANZ Bank NZ, although the trader is based overseas.
“This example is another important reminder for businesses to always be vigilant in checking any unsolicited mail thoroughly, no matter how believable it may seem,” Mrs Borrowdale said.
Unlike the rest of the world New Zealand has a plentiful supply of water so the pressing issues are allocation, quality, distribution, storage and future planning for water which is critical to the nation’s future, New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI) chief executive Susan Houston says.
Dunedin – April 13, 2016 -Whether it’s a water treatment facility or a system to irrigate the country’s dairy farms, water is a major issue being discussed at the NZPI annual conference in Dunedin this week. More than 500 planners, resource managers, urban designers and environmental practitioners from all over the country are attending.
Global demand for water is expected to increase by 2050 as the world’s population is forecast to grow by one-third to more than 9 billion, according to the United Nations. This in turn will lead to a 70 percent increase in demand for food, putting more pressure on water through farming, which is already the biggest consumer of water.
As climate change contributes to rising sea levels and extreme weather, at least one in four people will live in a country with chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water by 2050, the United Nations estimates, making it more important to focus on expanding rainwater harvesting and recycling wastewater.
Houston says consent agencies around the country are facing disputes and challenges to water consent applications from dairy and environmentalists, agriculture and energy generation and horticulture and recreational users.
“The annual conference is debating how small dairying communities respond to increasing water supply and allocation pressures on their local groundwater resource. We want to see collaboration as a solution to allocation issues. We need to improve knowledge of groundwater resources over time and resource management decision making.
“Many Maori are concerned at the modification of rivers and what they perceive to be inappropriate flow regimes. Maori want to see instream flows that are not limited solely to a consideration of ecological and economic values,” Houston says.
“Water resource management is a key issue for resource planning in New Zealand. Managing water effectively to meet competing expectations and values can be complex, confrontational and costly. We are discussing the Resource Management Act framework over-arching our management of water resources and are looking at potential solutions.
“Urban expansion onto new greenfield sites inevitably changes our water environment. Threats to water quality from urban growth were identified around two decades ago. Maintaining existing water quality in areas where urban growth is occurring, requires new urban development to employ active stormwater management techniques that reduce the volume of stormwater and improve its quality, as close to the source as possible.
“Major cities such as London, Philadelphia and New York are facing estimated costs of over $US1 billion to address water pollution stemming from an overreliance on costly to maintain or upgrade traditional hard-engineering drainage solutions. In the push to increase urban areas and housing supply, there is an opportunity to build in future safeguards on water quality.
As New Zealanders, we do not want to repeat the mistakes of other overseas cities. Growing cities do not need to conflict with water quality goals, but if not well managed, it will,” Houston says.
Press release from Make Lemonade
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242