Upgrade for water supply pipelines
For the past three months, Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) partnered with Sydney Water and completed major works on the large pipelines and valves that distribute water from Warragamba Dam to Prospect Water Filtration Plant.
Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson said the maintenance work involved a series of large scale projects which was coordinated and delivered together to reduce the duration of work and costs to customers.
“The pipelines between Warragamba Dam and Prospect Reservoir form an essential part of the water supply network that provides over 80% of Sydney’s water to more than 3.3 million people,” she said.
“Over the past two months, pipes received an overhaul with valves being replaced, repairs to the internal lining and other upgrade work.”
Ms Hodgkinson said the works were completed in conjunction with the SCA’s annual pipeline maintenance program and involved shutting down both pipelines concurrently for the first time in over 20 years.
“By shutting down and dewatering both pipelines supplying Prospect at the same time, SCA staff were able to inspect and refurbish parts of the pipeline that aren’t normally accessible,” she said.
“This was made possible by the SCA’s investment in recent years in the construction of a $56 million raw water pumping station at Prospect.
“The raw water pumping station gives the existing water supply system additional flexibility by providing a backup water supply source should supply from the other dams be interrupted, and allows the Warragamba pipelines to be taken out of service for maintenance.”
The Minister for Finance and Services Greg Pearce said five critical valves downstream of the Warragamba pipelines were replaced and refurbished as part of the project
”A $10 million program of works was completed for Sydney Water at Prospect Water Filtration Plant before the shutdown period to ensure the plant would be able to maintain Sydney’s supply without drawing on water from Warragamba,” he said.
“These works were successfully completed in partnership with Degrémont, the plant’s owner-operator and helped ensure the reliability and performance of such a crucial part of our water supply system.”
Category: Featured, Managing Leaks News, News
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