Based in Wellington, Ben is a strategic planner for urban water networks. There, he develops plans for operation or upgrade of water networks (like reservoirs, pump stations, and watermains) in towns and cities across New Zealand.
If you ask him what he likes best about his work, Ben will tell you that it’s being able to see and play a part in how future cities will look. He loves getting to play detective when the pipes people can’t see are doing things they shouldn’t. This passion was made evident with Ben’s work for a district council to redesign their water network when one of their key sources was found to be responsible for a major campylobacter event and decommissioned. Rather than building new disruptive and expensive pipelines through the city from the new source, his team devised a way to make use of the existing network at off-peak times for water transfer to the affected area.
Outside of work you’ll find Ben snowboarding, mountain biking, and bringing new friends into the pub he partly owns. He’s also a self-described “total nerd” for Dungeons and Dragons and can be found playing that in his spare time.