Happy New Year. We’re going to start the year with a brief look at some of the top stories of the past few months. Just click the headings to read more.
Funding announced for Murray-Darling Basin
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has pledged $1.77 billion over ten years from 2014, aimed at adding an additional 450GL of environmental water to the Murray Darling Basin.
Modelling released by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority showed that through a combination of relaxing capacity constraints and providing an additional 450GL of water above the 2750GL described in the plan, environmental outcomes for the basin can be improved.
Water efficiency is the answer
The Australian Water Association has released a new position paper on water efficiency to coincide with National Water Week.
AWA CEO, Mr Tom Mollenkopf, said that it is important to remember that although we have had a recent abundance of rain on the east coast, our climate is variable and volatile.
“The Water Efficiency Position Paper highlights how paramount water efficiency is in how we use our most valuable resource. This is particularly so as climate change and population growth will mean that in future more will need to be done with less”, Mr Mollenkopf said.
The report considers the energy efficiency gains to be made through greater water efficiency, including efficient pumping, stating; ‘there is a direct link between water consumption and energy consumption. Energy consumption will likely rise as the population increases and as water sources that are more energy intensive are utilised (e.g. water sourced from remote locations requiring pumping and the use of lower quality water that requires energy intensive treatment including wastewater, stormwater and ocean water).
“On a network distribution scale, less energy is required to treat and pump water from the supply dam, groundwater source or recycling facility and on-site. Water distribution pump sizes can also be optimised to match demand levels better”
The paper makes that through saving water there is less need to pump as much water, heat as much water, as well as using energy to build new, and maintain existing, infrastructure.
Pentair & Tyco Flow Control merge
Pentair has completed its merger with the Flow Control business of Tyco International Ltd. Pentair, Inc. and Flow Control have combined to create Pentair Ltd., an industrial growth company that is a global leader in water and fluid solutions, valves and controls, equipment protection and thermal management products.
The company now has 30,000 employees located in more than 30 countries, operates more than 100 manufacturing facilities and markets its products and services around the globe and the merger will impact all global operations including Australia.
A recent survey of pump design engineers at consulting and original equipment manufacturing companies by UK-based ADT has found that improving impeller designs for better efficiency was very important for the majority of the respondents. The ADT 2012 Pump Design Survey found:
- 84 of 90 respondents stated that improving impeller design for better efficiency is very important.
- 79 of 90 respondents stated that improvement to pump stage efficiency is very important.
- 65 of 90 respondents stated that improvement to pump stage cavitation performance is very important.
- Just 50 of 90 respondents stated that reduction in manufacturing costs was very important.
Dr Charles Warman inventor of the Warman Slurry Pump has been recognised for his contribution to the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder with a plaque on the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Walk of Fame.
Dr Warman’s invention, The Warman Slurry pump, improved the efficiency of slurry pumps worldwide and have continued to be used in the mining industry for over 50 years.
Santos announces Australia’s first commercial shale gas
Santos recently marked a historic milestone for the Australian resources industry, announcing it has commenced commercial natural gas production from its Moomba-191 shale well in the Cooper Basin.
