Boosting Dalwallinu’s water supply

An $8.1 million project to upgrade the water infrastructure in Dalwallinu in Western Australia has been completed, providing security of supply and catering for future growth and development in the town, along with delivering a more consistent water pressure for the 350 residents and businesses.

Water Corporation undertook the works which included the construction of a new, larger capacity concrete water storage tank, two new booster pump stations and 2.2km of underground water main connecting the new tank to the existing scheme.

The new tank can hold up to two million litres of drinking water for the town and was constructed on Water Corporation land in Dalwallinu, opposite Strickland Drive.

The new underground pipeline was installed along Leahy Street, Strickland Drive, Great Northern Highway and Watheroo Road.

The second booster pump station was built at the Water Corporation’s existing Pithara site, about 20km from Dalwallinu.

Western Australian Minister for Water, Dave Kelly, said, “The new water tank, two pump stations and pipeline will provide the Dalwallinu community with greater security of supply for generations to come.”

Selecting the pumps
A spokesperson for Water Corporation said the pumps installed at the tank site were principal supplied and several factors were taken into consideration during the procurement process.

“The vendor provided the selected pumps on a metal skid in accordance with the design requirements. The pumps for the Pithara Pump Station were supplied and installed by the construction contractor DM Civil in accordance with the specification,” the spokesperson said.

“Several factors are important in pump selection. Most important is the hydraulic suitability as indicated by the pump performance curve and efficiency at the duty point/s. For this project there were several different duty points to consider, according to differing upstream and downstream conditions.

“Energy efficiency is an important aspect of pump selection. The whole-of-life cost is calculated taking into account pump
efficiency at the planned duty point.

“Pump reliability, the reputation of the pump manufacturer and ongoing maintenance requirements are also considered.”

Water Corporation undertook testing on the pumps, including Factory Acceptance Tests and Site Acceptance Tests, as well as inspection at the point of delivery. In situ pump testing includes measuring the output of the pump against the actual energy consumption at the intended duty point/s.

Maintaining the pumping systems
The spokesperson said that maintenance and repair schedule and costs were an important consideration and formed part of the whole-of-life cost calculation.

“All of Water Corporation’s infrastructure projects have regular maintenance plans. Our operators carry out on-site servicing and routine maintenance of Water Corporation infrastructure.

“Maintenance includes a regular efficiency check and replacing pumps every three to six years depending on pump criticality and efficiency testing.”

Supporting the local community
Construction on the project started in February 2018 and was completed in January 2019.

About 25 Western Australian workers were involved in the project, with Water Corporation supporting local businesses and workers throughout the project, including locals employed by three Dalwallinu businesses that were awarded contracts.

“It was fantastic to support local businesses and WA workers through this project, with three Dalwallinu companies carrying out these infrastructure upgrades,” Mr Kelly said.

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