WATER NEW ZEALAND PROFILE
Going down the drain Mike Hannah says the plastic in our waterways is a stormwater problem, and he’s doing his bit to resolve this one drain at a time. His dedication to the industry over the past 25 years saw him named as the Stormwater Professional of the Year at this year’s conference. By Mary Searle Bell.
Mike began his career with a civil engineering degree but says he didn’t really want to build bridges or buildings. “As an 18-year-old I was passionate about the environment, so I got into water.” What that entailed was a job in the drainage department of the Auckland City Council. “It was 1991 and stormwater was a new thing to be managed. They’d only just started regulating it in Auckland. “In my job I was asked to design stormwater treatment devices – things like sandfilters and swales and so on. “These were all very good for new developments, but I wanted to know what we should be doing for existing stormwater systems? They were a source of a lot of pollution. “I saw an opportunity in the catchpit and an idea was hatched. I was actually at the beach one day with a couple of friends – including Greg Yeoman, an architect– and we were throwing ideas around, and from there Enviropod was born.” The company’s original product was a stormwater drain inlet filter which fits inside the catchpit with mesh screens to filter rubbish, sediment and pollutants entering the storm-drain system. “We built prototypes and splashed a lot of water around. We stealthy installed them in various drains when no one was watching (when you’re a student you don’t ask permission), and we were amazed at what we pulled out of the stormwater. “We were blown away by the results and excited by the potential, so decided to get a patent for the Enviropod. “I left my job and we set up in business. I was 22. “After demonstrating the product, we got acceptance for the Enviropod from some councils and went to conferences to promote it – in fact I went to the very first Water New Zealand Stormwater Conference. “While at a conference I met some people from Australia who gave me a heads-up about a tender opportunity in Brisbane which was looking for exactly what we had. We put forward the Enviropod and won, and then had to somehow supply 150 units! “The Brisbane City Council later went on to order a further 600 units, and that was enough to prompt us to set up a company in Australia.”
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While Mike and his partners were excited about the success of their catchpit filter, they knew they needed to improve it and catch more pollutants. “We found that while councils liked to retrofit our units to existing drains, they weren’t so keen on installing them in new developments. There were also a lot of pollutants to catch that simply couldn’t be seen. “We met a US company that made an excellent filter that goes with our pod, and this will catch fine particles.” Mike says working in the field means he knew what pollutants were present in stormwater. “I knew what the industry wanted and where it was going.” These days, the Enviropod company nestles Mike Hannah under the parent company Stormwater360 as a separate business for new technologies the firm has invented. Stormwater360 was established in 1996 by Mike and Greg and offers 15 different stormwater management products. “We started as me and Greg and a guy cutting up pipe; we now have a highly-skilled team of 30. Our driver is to use technology to get better stormwater outcomes. “There are a lot of regulations around stormwater management, some of which are hard to implement. We are here to make it easy for operators such as councils and property owners to meet the rules. “Our success comes from a deep knowledge of stormwater – we understand what the regulations are trying to achieve and, with that in mind, look at various technologies around the world, then work with them to achieve what is needed here in New Zealand. “I’m really proud of our team and the people we’ve had come through. They can see the vision and are trying to find and develop new technologies to achieve it.” Enviropod’s signature product, the LittaTrap, released five years ago, was developed in response to the global issue of plastic pollution in the ocean. Its designed to prevent plastics and rubbish from entering the drains and contaminating connected streams and oceans and will capture and retain all plastics and gross pollutants over 5mm. The company was doing well, with most councils around New Zealand embracing their stormwater management solutions. However, things were tougher in Australia, so when the global financial crisis hit in 2007, they sold their Australian operation to
