More milestones for South Australian pipeline project

SA Water’s upgrade of its Tailem Bend to Keith Pipeline has reached another milestone, with the utility recently installing new isolation valves along a section of the pipeline at Culburra.

The $5.8 million project involves replacing four of the pipeline’s original 3.5t valves and installing three new valves and bypass pipework in Coonalpyn, Culburra and Tintinara to improve water supply management to the towns.

SA Water’s Senior Manager of Capital Delivery, Peter Seltsikas, said crews needed to temporarily shut off the water supply to nine properties in Culburra and surrounding areas to safely install the new valves.

“This is necessary to drain the pipeline to create a safe working environment for our crews as they installed the new isolation valves where our bypass pipework will eventually return to the pipeline,” Mr Seltsikas said.

“Importantly, we provided advance notice to all of our impacted customers before this work commenced, to ensure they had ample opportunity to prepare.

“Given the pipeline’s size, around 12 hours of the interruption is dedicated to carefully draining and recharging this section, so our local depot team also set up a temporary water tanker nearby to help refill the network.”

The Tailem Bend to Keith Pipeline is 138km long and 51 years old. It transfers large volumes of safe, clean drinking water—produced at the Tailem Bend Water Treatment Plant on the banks of the River Murray—to supply around 3,000 homes and businesses.

Mr Seltsikas said that once an additional new valve is installed at Culburra in 2025, the bypass system will enable an uninterrupted supply of water during future pipeline maintenance.

“We’re also installing these valves in Coonalpyn and Tintinara, which will enable us to divert water away from a section of the pipe using backflows from a water storage tank in Sugar Loaf Hill, helping keep the water flowing to the towns,” Mr Seltsikas said.

“To prepare for this work, our crews are finalising the construction of the last of three large concrete chambers that will eventually house these new valves.

“The chambers have been built around the existing pipeline, and once they’re ready, the new valves and their pipework assembly will be lifted into place and welded between two sections of the pipeline.

“Pleasingly, we’ve now also finished replacing three of the pipeline’s original steel gate valves with refurbished valves meticulously fabricated by our Engineering and Water Supply Department predecessors.”

Due to manufacturer delays – each valve required more than 44 weeks to be made – the project is now expected to be completed by mid-2025.

The remaining valves will instead be installed during the cooler months next year when water demand is lower to minimise the impact of any supply interruptions.

Image: SA Water