Federation Council has built a unique new floating pump station in Corowa to replace the old town water supply pump station which had progressively become unserviceable.
The new pump station has pumps located over a pontoon and it is connected to the riverbank with a long walkway which supports the pipework and power cables and anchors the pontoon to the river bank.
It is articulated so that it can pump water at any river level, either in drought conditions or in flood.
It is fully braced and cable stayed to the bank to protect against flood debris and is constructed of structural marine grade aluminium, stainless steel pipework and HDPE flotation to ensure long life.
Federation Council General Manager Adrian Butler said design of the pump station provided many challenges, but the final result was a credit to the staff involved that worked diligently on this project.
“To reach deep water for the pump suction intakes meant extending the pipework well out into the river but this would conflict with navigation on the river and interfere with speed boating,” Mr Butler said.
“Traditional pump station designs were not going to overcome this problem and therefore Council staff had to come up with a concept that had to be easy to operate and maintain, be cost effective to build, and not adversely impact on the environment. The design allowed all of the fabrication work to be done off site in controlled conditions with installation taking place quickly with least risk. The only site work comprised demolition of the old pump station, placing rock for erosion protection of the river bank, and constructing the concrete anchorage.”
The design and construct contract was undertaken by Total Eden Pty Ltd from Shepparton from a concept design established by Federation Council. Hunter H2O Pty Ltd from Newcastle provided engineering support through the tender, design evaluation and construction supervision phases of the project. The $600,000 contract completion provides a unique solution to a long standing problem and brings to an end a six year campaign of study and reports to determine the best replacement option that met all of the design criteria and the needs of Federation Council.