A New Acquisition for Sustainable Development Consultancy

Mott MacDonald (UK), a global management, engineering and sustainable development consultancy, has acquired AWT, a specialist water technology and consulting company based in New Zealand and Australia. The acquisition is part of Mott MacDonald’s business strategy to broaden the services the company offers in the Australasia region.
 
AWT has provided science and engineering based services across the water sector for over 20 years. Employing around 50 engineers and scientists in its offices in Auckland and Melbourne, the company provides technical solutions spanning the entire project cycle. These include collection, conveyance, treatment, reuse and residuals incorporating water, wastewater (industrial and municipal) and storm water. Core services include network monitoring, project planning and management, modelling, design, commissioning and optimisation.
 
The company recently supported the expansion of the Rotorua treatment plant and applied membrane bioreactor technology to meet New Zealand’s tightest nutrient limits from a wastewater discharge. The company has also implemented a new NZ$20 million membrane water treatment plant for Taupo to remove arsenic from the source water. In addition, AWT has developed the H2Knowhow middleware data management platform which is now being used by several water utilities across the region. In Christchurch City it has been adopted to provide network monitoring data and analysis to assist with the rebuild of underground water assets.
 
Mott MacDonald has worked in New Zealand and Australia for over 40 years, providing leading edge services in areas as diverse as buildings, transport, water and public private partnerships. The consultancy is currently providing station design, fire and life safety, operations, rail systems and pedestrian modelling for the Auckland City Rail Link. It is also building engineering for the Carlaw Park redevelopment and University of Auckland School of Science building, and was technical advisor for the NZ$4-5 billion additional Waitemata Harbour Crossing combined tunnel feasibility study.
 
In Australia, Mott MacDonald’s early portfolio includes involvement in strategic infrastructure such as Melbourne underground rail loop, Sydney Harbour tunnel, Pyrmont power station and Sydney Water's MacArthur water filtration plant. The consultancy provided project and design management for the AUS$535 million redevelopment of Adelaide Oval. The consultancy is currently working on North West Rail in Sydney, Melbourne Metro and Brisbane international container terminal ports in Queensland. In the water sector the company has provided concept design, specifications and contract management of the Adelaide desalination project for SA Water. This includes a 300ML/d sea-water reverse osmosis plant and 14km transmission pipeline.
 
Mott MacDonald’s chairman Keith Howells commented: “AWT adds a strong water capability to our existing New Zealand business in buildings and transport as part of our strategy to build a multi-sector business. It strengthens our water expertise in Australia and throughout the region. AWT’s specialist focus on the science and technology of water also enhances Mott MacDonald’s technical edge for the benefit of projects worldwide.”
 
Steve Couper, executive director at AWT, said: “Becoming part of a global company is great news for our staff and our clients. There will be opportunities for our team to work on challenging agenda setting projects and our clients will benefit from the international knowledge, experience and expertise the Group possesses. It provides us with a fantastic platform to expand our services and the business in the region.”