Lower Murray Water will be undertaking a major capital works upgrade of its rural pump stations in Victoria’s North West this winter.
According to Managing Director, Ron Leamon; “the Board has recently approved the expenditure of $13 million on new capital works for the irrigation district pump stations in Merbein, Red Cliffs and Mildura to provide better surety and efficiency in irrigation supply” said Mr Leamon.
“The work involves upgrades to the electrical and pumping systems in the pump stations to change them from high voltage to low voltage and to provide variable speed drives for the pumps.”
“This will provide a more efficient supply of water and will eliminate the risk of a major failure from the very old electrical control equipment. This equipment has served the districts very well over many years but is well beyond its use by date and poses unacceptable risks to both irrigation supply and employee safety”.
“A good example is the replacement of the high voltage pump sets at the Central Pump Station in Mildura. We are replacing the current high voltage electrical supply with a more efficient low voltage supply and are replacing the low volume pumps with variable speed drive units so that we can deliver levels of service that match irrigation demand.”
LMW’s area of operation extends from Kerang to the South Australian border taking in the municipalities of Mildura, Swan Hill and Gannawarra.