MD trainee Jordan Hazlett was fertilising his grass at home when he had his ‘Eureka moment’.

He had been thinking about how heavy rain had recently complicated efforts to flock out a water basin on a jobsite. (Flocking = cleaning muddy water for reuse elsewhere or returning to the environment.)

Soft rain-sodden soil had meant the water basin was not accessible with the 1,000 litre mixing drums and heavy machinery required to do the job.

Jordan’s hose-mix fertiliser got him thinking about using a similar technique for flocking, using a basic venturi tube to mix and introduce the flocculent product while circulating it into the water body at the same time, removing the need for additional steps and the heavy equipment.

“With the use of a small pump and a few bits of aluminium tube, I thought ‘I could make this happen’,” Jordan said.

He developed a prototype including a 2” lay flat hose run off a flex drive pump to introduce the flocculent product and began testing it for the job.

The resulting flocking solution proved highly successful, creating a completely automated flocking process and delivering cost savings, increased productivity on site and safer work practices for BMD.

Jordan is now working on a second prototype including a stainless-steel version of his equipment that will offer improved control of flocking product discharge – a key factor in costs.

The outstanding trainee recently won an Environmental Initiative award from BMD for his innovative solution.

The competition rewards BMD workers for finding better ways of doing things that save time and money and provide improved environmental outcomes on projects and for communities.

Jordan is studying his Certificate III (Civil Construction) while at BMD – his first role in civil construction after crossing over from high-rise residential work.

Certificate III (Civil Construction) is one of dozens of training options funded by CSQ.

To find out about CSQ-funded course options to advance your career in construction, or boost training and skilling in your workforce, visit the CSQ course selector.