18/19/2026
The Ministry of Education needed a solution that would support the school's expansion now, while standing up to future demand as the roll grows further.
Mangawhai Beach School has grown steadily, with its roll rising from 500 to 679 in recent years and projected to reach 1,100 over the next decade. Now serving more than 500 people, the school's existing rainwater-fed water supply needed to meet more stringent standards as a "large supplier" under the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules.
The existing treatment plant - based on single-stage cartridge filtration and UV disinfection with no solenoid shut-off valve - fell short of what was needed to guarantee compliance, a reliable day-to-day supply, and resilience if any part of the system failed. The Ministry of Education needed a solution that would bring the school's water supply up to standard now, while providing sufficient treated water storage to maintain supply through an outage or emergency, and capacity to accommodate future roll growth.
Woods was engaged to design and monitor an upgraded drinking water supply system for the school, covering rainwater catchment, treatment, disinfection and storage. Our team ensured the design met Taumata Arowai Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules for large self-supplied buildings, while providing for the school's reliability, resilience and future growth needs. During construction, Woods carried out regular site observations and coordinated with the appointed contractor, Allan Plumbing, to support delivery.
Throughout the project, the team worked through site constraints and staged the works around an operating school to keep disruption to students and staff to a minimum.
The upgraded water supply system now gives Mangawhai Beach School a compliant, reliable drinking water supply, with three days' treated water storage to maintain resilience in the event of a treatment plant outage or emergency, and headroom to accommodate the school's continued growth. Following a tender process, Allan Plumbing was appointed as the successful contractor to build and install the upgraded system, including the treatment plant and the associated pipework upgrades around the school. It's a great example of Woods' collaborative approach in action, delivering a compliant, resilient design and working alongside the appointed contractor through to practical completion for New Zealand's education sector.
