Australia’s ‘Droughtbuster’ scheme chooses Rotork

Published: 25th September 2009 | Issue 6

Water is front page news in Australia as it has become obvious that drought, climate change, population and consumption growth have combined to make the country’s future water security a major social, environmental and political issue.

The Northern Pipeline Interconnector is a key part of the Queensland state government’s emergency drought strategy and will play an important role in the area’s water distribution grid to connect dams, weirs and other water storage sites.

Australian valvemaker John Valves has been awarded one of the largest contracts on the project including the supply of fourteen 1000mm high pressure mainline gate valves. Manufactured at Ballarat, all are either motorised with Rotork IQ70/IB12 actuator and gearbox combinations or fitted with Rotork Gears IS11 / AS5 ‘dual input’ manual gearboxes.

Jeff Quarrell, National Sales and Operations Manager for the valve division, describes the mainline valves as: "arguably the most important in the pipeline structure. Rotork actuators have a long and successful track record for reliable, low maintenance service in the harsh extremes of the Australian climate. We especially like the speed and efficiency of ‘non-intrusive’ commissioning provided by the Rotork IQ, together with the ability to download and analyse valve operating data to minimise routine maintenance. These were all important considerations for us and the customer when we put together our total valve package for this project, which was won against stiff competition from other Australian and international companies."

The Northern Pipeline Interconnector is being constructed by the Southern Regional Water Pipeline Alliance, a joint venture between Abigroup, KBR and McConnell Dowell Constructions. With the potential capacity to transport 65 million litres of potable water a day, the pipeline will link existing and potential future water sources throughout Australia’s Sunshine Coast.

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