course our very popular field
trip on Friday 31st March. Don’t
forget the social events –
twilight putting and BBQ at the
Hagley Golf Club and, our
Conference Dinner and awards
at Rydges Latimer.
Registrations are open via our
website and pouring in steadily
- it looks like we’re going to
have a great turnout this year.
- continued on next page.
NZLTC NEWSLETTER
Newsletter Date 09-03-2017
Issue 53 NZLTC Newsletter
Inside this issue:
Update from LTC Chair 1
Update from TM 1
Spotlight on… Impact of dung
beetle activity on soil quality
2
How the LTC can work harder for
you
4
LTC Conference Programme 5
Happy New Year to you all
from the Technical Committee,
The 2017 conference is fast
approaching and if you haven’t
registered please do so soon,
so you can join us in
Christchurch from 29th to 31st
March. The theme for this
year’s conference, Resilience
and Innovation, is so
appropriate for the City of
Christchurch as it continues to
transform itself following the
traumatic effects of the
February 2011 earthquake.
Organisation for the
conference is fully underway
and we can look forward to a
series of informative
presentations, the usual mix of
social events (and the usual
characters), and a great
selection of sites to visit on
Fridays field trip. Some well-
known LTC members are
residents of Christchurch so
there’ll be lots of local advice
on hand to help you make the
most of your stay.
As you’ll be aware, the process
of transitioning NZLTC to an
Incorporated Society is
underway. The forthcoming
AGM is going to be one of the
more significant in the history
of NZLTC and I encourage all
members attending the
conference to stay on after the
presentations and attend the
AGM on Wednesday at
4:30pm.
Myself and the Technical
Committee look forward to
seeing you in Christchurch.
Grant Northcott
Chairperson
Update from NZLTC Chair — Grant Northcott
Update from the Technical Manager — Alma Siggins
These are busy times for the
NZLTC – we are in the final
stages of the formalities in
establishing the Collective as
an Incorporated Society and
hope to be able to let you
know shortly that it has been
completed. This has been a
huge task but a very necessary
one and we are confident that
it will safeguard the NZLTC and
its members going forward.
Thank you to everyone who
attended our Special General
Meeting last November. The
feedback was very positive
and the vote to change the
Constitution and form an
Incorporated Society was
unanimous. It is encouraging
to have the full support of the
membership throughout this
process!
We have also been working
very hard to bring you an
exciting and varied programme
at the upcoming Conference in
Christchurch from 29th – 31st
March. We have two full days
of presentations, a number of
poster presentations and of
Impact of dung beetle activity on soil water quality
Landcare Research
“We would also
like to thank our
Sponsors for
supporting our
conference, and
indeed the
Collective, this
year. ”
Page 2 NZLTC Newsletter
Dung beetles (Fig. 1) are described as key ecosystem service providers. Because of
their ability to decrease pasture fouling, ERMA has granted permission to import
dung beetles for release into pasture systems in New Zealand. However, concerns
remain about the impact of dung beetle tunnels and dung burial on the leaching of
microbial pathogens through soil.
To assess the quality of water leaching from soil containing dung beetles, a trial
was conducted using intact core lysimeters from a volcanic soil (Fig. 2) under in situ
soil moisture and temperature regimes. Twelve replicate, intact lysimeter cores
were collected (Fig. 3). Dung was applied to 8 of the 12 lysimeters, 4 of which
received equal numbers of dung beetles Geotrupes spiniger and Onthophagus
taurus. The remaining 4 lysimeters served as controls.
Dung beetles and dung were applied to the lysimeters in April and leachates were
collected over the following 6 months for analysis of Escherichia coli, an indicator
of microbial pathogens derived from faecal material, as well as N and P.
Most of the dung deposited on soil cores was removed from the surface by dung
beetles within 22 days (Fig. 4).
Numbers of E. coli in the leachates were low, with all but 7 samples below
detection limits (<1 E. coli / 100 mL).
The total mass of N in leachate at each collection ranged from c. 0.000 – 1.590
kg/ha.
There was no significant difference between the control lysimeters and those
treated with dung (with or without dung beetles).
The total mass of P in the leachates at each collection ranged from c. 0.000 –
0.068 kg/ha.
There was no significant difference between the control lysimeters and those
treated with dung (with or without dung beetles).
Results refer only to the volcanic soil sampled and may be different for other soils.
Spotlight on
Research
Contacts
Malcolm McLeod, Jackie Aislabie,
Alexandra McGill, Philippa Rhodes,
Landcare Research, Private Bag
3127, Hamilton, 3240
Shaun Forgie
Dung beetle Innovations, 94 Pomona
Rd Kumeu, 0841
You may have noticed that we
have been able to significantly
reduce the registration costs
we are offering this year, hope-
fully even more of you will be
able to attend. We would also
like to thank our Sponsors for
supporting our conference, and
indeed the Collective, this year.
That’s all from me for now – I’m
looking forward to seeing many
of you in Christchurch!
Alma
Impact of dung beetle activity on soil water quality cont.
Fig 1: Dung beetles.
Fig 2: collecting the lysimeters.
— continued on next page.
Figure 3. Lysimeter facility for dung beetles
at Landcare Research Hamilton.
Each year the LTC has an
operating surplus – this is
primarily a carry-over from
previous years.
This extra revenue just sits in
the bank, although it is useful
to maintain a small amount of
surplus in case of
emergencies, we’d like to see
this money working harder for
you.
One of the reasons the LTC
was set up was to “provide its
members with the most recent
information on land treatment
technology, research and
information”. There are
several ways we could gain
value from the surplus to
further develop information on
land treatment in New
Zealand. We’d like to discuss
these at the AGM at the
conference in Christchurch so
ESR (TM and communications):
34 Kenepuru Drive, Porirua 502
Phone: 04 914 0689
Email TM: [email protected]
Email Comms: [email protected]
LEI (finance management and
administration):
441 Church St, Palmerston North 4442
Phone: 06 359 3099
Email: [email protected]
NZLTC CONTACTS (ESR & LEI)
Dedicated to improving and communicating
technology for the land treatment of waste
products
Find us on the web!
nzltc.wordpress.com
You can also contact us at: [email protected]
Page 4 NZLTC Newsletter
How the LTC can work harder for you
Figure 4. Dung removal by dung
beetles after 22 days
Impact of dung beetle activity on soil water quality cont.
please have a think about it
and bring some ideas to the
AGM!
In the meantime below are
some suggestions for you to
mull over:
Supporting international
speakers attending the
annual LTC conference and/
or pre-conference workshops
Support research - e.g.
student stipend, contributing
to student project costs
Provide more/better
funded technical reviews
Conference Programme
The NZLTC would like to acknowledge the generous support of the following sponsors to
this year’s conference:
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Conference Award Sponsor
Northcott Research Consultants Ltd.
Social Evening BBQ Sponsor
Wednesday 29th March 2017
From 09:00
Registration and morning refreshments
10:20 Grant Northcott NZLTC Chairperson
Welcome and Opening Comments
Session 1: KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Chair: Grant Northcott
10:30 Mike Bourke Christchurch City Council
Resilience and Innovation of Christchurch Horizontal Infrastructure
11:00 Brett Robinson Lincoln University
The land treatment of municipal effluent using NZ native vegetation
11:30 Andrew Dakers EcoEng
Sustainable and effective on-site wastewater management services: A call for change from the septic tank culture
12:00 LUNCH
Session 2: Regulation Chair: Terry Long
13:00 Jack Feltham PDP
Land Treatment – operating in an era of tightening regulations
13:20 Nick Walmsley Water NZ
Updating the New Zealand Biosolids Guidelines
13:40 Sue Bennett MWH
Consenting wastewater discharges in limit setting environment
14:00 Jamie Ataria Cawthron Institute
Working on biowaste strategies for a sustainable learning village: understanding uptake of kaitiakitanga
14:20 AFTERNOON TEA
Session 3: Environmental Impacts Chair: Gerty Gielen
14:50 Megan Devane ESR
Shifts in the bacterial community of decomposing cowpats and their impacts on water quality monitoring
15:10 Malcolm McLeod Landcare Research
Impact of dung beetle activity on soil water quality
15:30 Cameron McIntyre Lincoln University
Irrigating with treated municipal effluent
15:50 Sue Walsh Fonterra
Human waste to land – a dairy industry perspective
16:10 Housekeeping and Closing Comments
16:30 Annual General Meeting 19:00 Social Evening: Hagley Golf Club
Thursday 30th March 2017
08:45 Alma Siggins NZLTC Technical Manager
Welcome and Housekeeping
Session 4: Emerging contaminants Chair: Rebecca Stott 08:50 Virginia Baker
ESR Challenges in managing emerging contaminants
09:10 Lisa Langer/Alan Leckie Scion
The choice of pump soaps for handwashing: Analysing New Zealand household preferences
09:30 Gerty Gielen Scion
Emerging contaminant leaching at catchment scale
09:50 Grant Northcott Northcott Research Consultants
Identification of priority emerging organic contaminants in treated wastewater
10:10 MORNING TEA Session 5: On-site Wastewater Treatment Chair: Sue Bennett 10:40 Noel Roberts
Water NZ Keeping up with new on-site wastewater technology
11:00 Bronwyn Humphries ESR
Optimising the use of coral beach sands for the treatment of on-site wastewater
11:20
Salma Rayan Innoflow
In the Matter of the Environment vs Septic Tank – the point of structural integrity and process proving
11:40 Poster Session 12:10 LUNCH Session 6: Plants and Land Treatment Chair: Grant Northcott 13:10 Jeff Brown
Fonterra Miscanthus (elephant grass) – Potential biofuel crop for land treatment systems that exhibits very low nitrogen leaching
13:30 Jianming Xue Scion
Sustainability of forestland application of biosolids – Rabbit Island case study
13:50 Maria Jesus Gutierrez Gines ESR
Mānuka dominated ecosystems to improve water quality
14:10 Jason Park NIWA
Treatment of biological trickling filter effluent using an enhanced wetland and pond system
14:30 Minakshi Mishra Lincoln University
Mānuka and kānuka to enhance pathogen die-off in biowastes amended soils
14:50 AFTERNOON TEA Session 7: Infrastructure & Strategy Chair: Brent Hawthorn 15:20 Lee Liaw
Christchurch City Council Biosolids Reuse past and present: A treatment plants perspective
15:40 Ian Ho Harrison Grierson
Every last drop counts
16:00 Leif Pigott Tasman District Council
Upgrade of Motueka Wastewater Treatment Plant
16:20 Rob Potts LEI
Kaikoura emergency response and recovery – how resilient is your wastewater system?
16:40 Jacqui Horswell ESR
Small community collective biosolids strategy – lower North Island
17:00 Housekeeping and Closing Comments 19:00 Conference Dinner: Rydges Latimer
Friday 31st March 2017
08:00 Buses depart Christchurch City Council 08:30 Pines Wastewater Treatment Plant
10:15 Aranui vacuum plant 11:10 Bromley Thermal Dryer
12:00 Lunch at ESR
13:30 Kaiapoi research field site 15:30 Airport or return to Christchurch City Council
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