Following a two-year twinning period, Hunter H2O and Water PNG entered into a partnering agreement to provide ongoing consulting expertise and operations support. The partnering agreement involved capacity building initiatives, including Water PNG staff spending time in Australia working out of Hunter H2O’s offices in Newcastle, NSW.

A significant number of projects were completed for Water PNG under the partnering agreement between mid-2013 and mid-2015, including water and wastewater planning and feasibility studies, SCADA and telemetry upgrades, water treatment plant upgrades, design reviews, operations support and staff training.

Several planning and feasibility study projects were completed under the contract, including:

· Portion 647 Water Supply Feasibility Study: The feasibility study assessed future loadings for a development area located just outside of Port Moresby and then identified the most feasibility raw water extraction, treatment and distribution systems for a range of potential scheme sizes from 25 ML/d to 200 ML/d.

· Pacific Marine Industrial Zone Water & Wastewater Feasibility Study: The feasibility study assessed the future demands and loadings for a proposed 215 Ha marine industrial zone (and surrounding villages) and identified the most feasible water and wastewater schemes, including water source and treatment facilities.

· Lae Water and Wastewater Masterplan: A comprehensive 30-year water and wastewater master plan was prepared for Lae, PNG’s second largest city.

Operations support was also provided by Hunter H2O under the contract. A Principal Engineer/Operations Specialist travelled to PNG over ten times, visiting multiple provincial and district towns across PNG. During each of these visits, operations reviews of existing infrastructure were undertaken and expert advice on operational improvements was also provided. Capacity building support was also provided to Water PNG, including field staff, supervisors, regional managers and divisional managers.

In addition to the capacity building activities provided in association with operations support (including NRW management, continuity of supply and planned maintenance), Hunter H2O has also provided capacity building support in the areas of strategic planning, SCADA and telemetry systems, GIS systems, capital works planning and procurement, and modern water/wastewater operations and maintenance techniques.