Rotork provide electric actuation technology at New Zealand water treatment plants

IQ actuators installed at Morrinsville water supply site.

Published: 31st March 2021 | Issue 61

Rotork IQ and IQT actuators have been ordered to be fitted on several water treatment plants in New Zealand. The Matamata (home of Hobbiton in the Lord of the Rings movies) Piako District Council, of New Zealand’s North Island, have chosen to upgrade multiple sites from pneumatic to electric actuators.

The flow control of three large water treatment sites in Morrinsville, Matamata and Te Aroha, as well as smaller sites in Te Poi, Hinuera and Te Huna, will be upgraded when existing pneumatic actuators are replaced with actuators from Rotork’s IQ range. Rotork will supply these with stainless steel pedestals where required.

The Matamata Piako District Council wished to upgrade to the benefits of electric actuators because of concerns with the previous set-up; the old actuators had continual problems with sticking. This was caused primarily because of the damp, chlorinated atmosphere in which they were operating. This caused degradation to the aluminium actuator body. The sites are also operated remotely, so engineer safety when dealing with any breakdowns was a prime concern. The supplied IQ actuators provide control of filters, as well as the chemical dosing and storage of potable water. The use of electric actuators will reduce the Matamata Piako District Council’s energy bill, as they will no longer have to power compressors to provide an air supply to the pneumatic actuators.

Over 100 actuators across the IQ range were ordered, including IQT and IQS variants. These reliable and robust actuators provide an innovative electric flow control solution, with an intuitive user interface (HMI), absolute position sensor, water ingress protection and detailed data logging.

Since installation of the Rotork actuators, operators at the Morrinsville site have reported the actuators are simple to use, have reduced operating noise and provide additional process and valve diagnostics via the HMI.