Integrated plumbing, drain laying and gas fitting: design, installation and maintenance.
Our consultation and planning services maximise the design and operating efficiency of your plumbing.
We take the time to understand how each building should support its inhabitants. Then we provide the right advice, design and installation for elegant plumbing solutions.
Note, each stage of plumbing and gas fitting requires a council inspection, which we will organise on your behalf.
Services
Plumbing
We specialise in plumbing, drain laying and gas fitting for new builds or renovations. We offer advice, design and installation for systems connected to town supplies or off the mains systems.
Heating
Staying warm and dry is the secret to a happy, healthy home. With smart design and appropriate products for your home you can be sure you will have comfort and warmth throughout the home and not just one room.
Solar
Central Otago is blessed with some of the best sunlight hours in New Zealand, this allows us to provide solar energy systems to match energy requirements, supply rapid return on investment and lower carbon footprints.
Residential Builds
Building and Renovating
Building your dream home can be both exciting and daunting. We can help, we listen to understand your vision, then supply and implement solutions, working with you from consultancy to handover.
Optum’s unique consultation and planning services can help you maximise the design and operating efficiency of your home.
Our team takes great pride in delivering quality client experiences in creating healthy, comfortable homes for families to enjoy.
- Plumbing
- Gas Fitting
- Drain Laying & Mains Water
- Off-Mains Solutions
Plumbing
Your new home or renovation will require water and waste pipework for bathroom, kitchen and laundry. Plumbing is installed in three main stages; pre-slab, pre-line and fit off. Pre-slab refers to the pipework laid beneath the slab. Pre-line is the pipework brought up through the walls. Fit off is the installation of your front of wall fixtures and fittings.
Stage 1 – Pre-slab: after foundations, prior to slab being poured
Stage 2 – Pre-line: after roof is installed, prior to insulation installation
Stage 3 – Fit off: after painting and flooring is finished
Each stage of your plumbing will require a council inspection, which we will organise on your behalf. Central heating pipework and fittings are installed at the same time as the plumbing stages.
Gas Fitting
Gas fitting in your new home requires installation of pipework, and appliance installations for water heating, room heating and cooking, gas fire and gas hobs.
Stage 2 – Pre-line: after roof is installed, prior to insulation installation
Stage 3 – Fit off: after painting and flooring is finished
Council requires a gas certificate to be submitted with your code of compliance, which we supply as part of your final documentation.
Most properties in Wanaka and Queenstown have LPG bottles rather than natural reticulated mains gas. We install an external gas bottle station with 2 x 45kg bottles.
The gas bottle station must be installed on a concrete pad on flat ground, away from windows and any sources of ignition such as external water heaters.
Reticulated mains gas is only available in newer subdivisions. The homeowner liaises directly with the mains gas provider to get a meter installed by an appointed third party.
Drain Laying & Mains Water
Drain laying refers to underground external wastewater pipework, water mains, stormwater pipework, soak pits, sumps, downpipes and channel drains.
Stage 1 or 3: Drainage is preferably done after the slab is poured and prior to scaffolding going up. If this isn’t possible, the drainage will be done at the end of the project, before landscaping starts.
External drainage requires a council inspection, which we organise on your behalf. Council requires a drainage plan to be submitted with your code of compliance, which we supply as part of your final documentation.
Off Mains Solutions
We assist with off-mains solutions for semi-rural or rural properties, including water pumps, water tanks for rainwater or fire fighting, onsite wastewater treatment and disposal, and irrigation dripper fields.
Stage 1 or 3: Usually coordinated with other digger work, as excavation is required.
An electrician must be engaged for pump installations.
A wastewater engineer must be engaged for onsite wastewater dispersal. We then install the system according to their specifications. Most water tanks in rural residential areas require a fire-fighting connection.
Plumbing Maintenance
Protect your investment
Your home is one of your biggest assets, it makes great sense to maintain it not only for the value of your property but also for your health and comfort.
Optum’s team of technicians have a diverse range of skills in assisting with general plumbing requirements and diagnostics. There are so many smart systems and products in the market that require to be looked after and serviced to maintain the longevity and efficiency. It is great to have the smart technology installed, but if your investment is not looked after it can turn into an expensive headache.
Water Quality
A happy and healthy lifestyle
Water quality is fundamental to a happy, healthy lifestyle.
Not all water is the same, there can be taste issues, hardness, chlorine, soil contamination and other metals from the ground. Organising a simple water test to check the quality of your water will find the best solution for an appropriate water treatment plan, including water softeners or UV filtration systems to look after your health at the source.
Wanaka and Queenstown’s water supply contains high level of algae. Water filtration can be as simple as a cost-effective disc filtration system to a high-quality UV filtration unit. Water quality and filtration is not only fundamental to our health and wellbeing, but when treated correctly at source you can also save on the costly repairs for plumbing fixtures and tapware.
Download Queenstown Lakes District Council recommendations on water filtration – MANAGING ALGAE IN WATER SUPPLY (QLDC) PDF
Air Quality
For Health and Comfort
Home ventilation is essential to control condensation, purify indoor air and create a drier healthier home that’s more energy efficient to heat.
Moisture is created in a home just from everyday living. As homes become more “airtight” it increases the need for moisture within the home to be managed also, excess moisture will cause dampness to air and contents, ideal conditions for mould and mildew growth.
Systems are suitable for modern airtight homes as well as older less well insulated properties. A positive pressure system pushes the damp but heated air outside as it brings in fresh dry air.
Fresh air management
Systems are suitable for modern airtight homes as well as older less well insulated properties. A positive pressure system pushes the damp but heated air outside as it brings in fresh dry air.
Ensuring that your home is provided with fresh air is made easier than ever with an energy efficient ventilation system by STIEBEL ELTRON. These systems are incredibly healthy – not only do they provide air that is better for us to breathe, they also help to prevent fungal growth in the building itself. Our systems can provide you with significant cost savings – they can recover up to 90% of the energy that is normally lost through windows and return it back to the heating system. With STIEBEL’s ventilation systems, you literally stop throwing money out the window.
There is an ever increasing demand for energy saving technology and improved building techniques to support this. With an increase in building air tightness there is a need for effective ventilation to provide improved indoor air quality. STIEBEL ELTRON has a number of ventilation systems that can help to reduce the impact of humidity indoors. These systems effectively exchange inside air with fresh air from outside. The LWZ Plus range from Stiebel Eltron use a unique cross current heat exchange system that exchanges air from inside with fresh air from outside without the two mixing. The LWZ Plus ranges heat recovery capabilities help to save energy and in turn money on heating and cooling.
The LWZ Plus ventilation systems have up to 90% heat recovery whilst still providing optimal indoor air quality.
The LWZ 170 E Plus has also been certified by the Passive House Institute Germany as a Certified Passive House Component. https://www.stiebel-eltron.co.nz/ventilation-systems
Waste Water Treatment
The Graf
Optum recommends Graf systems for domestic on-site waste treatment. GRAF systems provide low cost, reliable and effective effluent treatment. Because of their low weight, small wastewater treatment systems made of plastic can be installed without heavy equipment. This means that they can be easily transported and installed in locations that are difficult to access.
How does SBR technology work?
GRAF systems use SBR technology, which means they are Sequential Batch Reactor systems.
- Charging
The wastewater goes first into primary treatment (1st chamber), where the solid substances are retained. From there, the wastewater is fed into the SBR tank (2nd chamber).
- Aeration
The actual biological cleaning by microorganisms now takes place in the SBR tank. Short aeration and rest phases alternate in a controlled cleaning process. The so-called activated sludge can now develop with millions of microorganisms and clean the water thoroughly.
- Rest Phase
A rest phase now follows, during which the live sludge sinks to the bottom of the system. This allows a clarified water zone to form at the top of the SBR tank.
- Clear Water Extraction
The purified wastewater is now fed into a discharge system (stream, river, sea) or into an infiltration system. Afterwards, the sludge is fed back from the SBR tank into the first.
Warranty and maintenance
As with any wastewater or septic system, a Graf system requires regular maintenance in order to function properly and maintain an optimum environment for the organisms that process the waste. A minimum of an annual service is required to make sure the system is working correctly and to uphold the product warranty.
The tank won’t process the following items, so they can’t be flushed into the tank:
- Wipes, plastics and sanitary items or anything non-biodegradable.
- Coffee grinds, onions and citrus.
- Fat (will also block your irrigation pump).
- Bleach or disinfectant – only use eco-friendly cleaning products.
Who is it best suited to?
If you can follow the above requirements, and you’re looking for an eco-friendly waste disposal system, which provides irrigation at the same time, a Graf system will work for you.
What are the steps to getting a Graf system?
- Contact Us – We’ll discuss the system and suitability for your site. Site visits can be organised if required.
- Engineers Report – You’ll need to find a Wastewater Engineer to design your dispersal field. We use that report to submit your council documentation for the Biolytix Wastewater System.
- Council Consent – Once we have the report, we can supply you with the final design of your system and a completed Onsite Wastewater Dispersal Application. You’ll be required to submit this to council for your building/resource consent.
- Supply and Installation – Once your council consent is through, we’ll coordinate the supply and installation of your system from start to finish. The installation takes 1-2 days depending on the size and location of the dispersal field.