Rohan Bhatia’s career embodies the “sky to sea” nature of Watercare’s operations.

He started out in air quality, moved into water production and has completed the cycle by becoming the southern wastewater production manager earlier this year.

Switching from water to wastewater is an uncommon move, but one he thinks more people should explore.

“With 14 years in water behind me, I’ve found wastewater to be a different challenge – less reliant on chemicals, more focused on biological processes. It’s been a rewarding shift.

“The Māngere Wastewater Treatment Plant, one of the largest in Australasia, is massive, complex, and full of challenges – and I love every minute of it. On top of managing Māngere, I also oversee the southern regional plants, each with their own unique challenges. Every day is rewarding, and moving into wastewater was definitely the right choice!”

An engineer by training, Rohan joined Watercare in 2006 as an instrumentation technician in the air quality department at the lab.

“I worked there for almost five years and learned so much. I went back to university to do some more papers, and one was about water and wastewater. It was so interesting that I decided to make a change.”

Rohan got a job as a process technician at the Ardmore and Waikato water treatment plants, a role he held for three years.

He then progressed to process and operations engineer with the southern water team before moving to northern networks as an operations controller, shifting from treatment processes to overseeing the water network while collaborating closely with contractors and customers.

In October 2021, Rohan became production manager for northern water treatment at the Huia Water Treatment Plant, overseeing nine water treatment plants.

“Managing Huia came with its own challenges because it’s such an iconic water treatment facility, and it was a real privilege.”

When the wastewater role came up, Rohan decided to make the switch.

“I’d never worked in wastewater before, so this is an opportunity to discover the wastewater side of things.”

His role also covers Te Motu a Hiaroa (Puketutu Island) and our project to rehabilitate the former quarry site with biosolids.

Rohan is still learning the technical side of things and appreciates having his predecessor Jon Piggot, now head of wastewater, available for the handover and support.

“He’s been incredibly generous with his technical knowledge, taking the time on multiple occasions to tour the plant with me. I really appreciate his guidance – having Jon’s support has made things much easier.”

Jon is more than happy to share his expertise and backs Rohan’s role change.

“Handing over the reins of southern wastewater and the intricacies of treatment and plant operations to someone new is no small thing. But Rohan has stepped into the role with strong operational management skills, a genuine curiosity for wastewater engineering, and a great attitude toward learning. With the support of the southern wastewater team, he’s already making a real impact.”

Rohan has experience in operating and managing complex processes and plants and Māngere provides those challenges on a bigger scale.

“For me, it’s all about the people. I want to get to know the whole team. I’ve gone from managing 26 team members to over 50, which is a big challenge, but my focus remains the same – building relationships with each individual and understanding what makes them tick.”

He’s been learning the plant processes in his own time and says the plant team has been sharing knowledge.

“Watercare is multi-disciplinary. It’s not just a company of engineers – there’s so much variety. Having the opportunity to do different roles within Watercare has been a driving force in keeping me motivated. Even if I was working for a consultancy, I don’t think I’d get this many opportunities.”

Rohan has joined the wastewater team at a busy time – in addition to the plant handling greater flows once the Central Interceptor has been made fully live, there are more than 50 projects planned in the next three years for Māngere.

The projects include digester refurbishments, an inlet works upgrade, sludge volume index improvement works, UV channel replacement, engine replacements, a biogas emergency shutdown and site-wide asset renewals.

Rohan will need to assign members of his team to work with the infrastructure team on each of them.

Whenever possible, Rohan joins early morning toolbox meetings at Te Motu a Hiaroa and Māngere to hear directly from team members and build trust.

“It’s important to make sure that people are engaged.”

His goal is to change mindsets around working in the wastewater side of the business and encourage more people to explore it as an option.

Outside of work, Rohan loves spending time with his family and staying active.

“I’m trying to give up cricket and switch to badminton and tennis – hopefully with fewer injuries along the way!”