Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment [Mackay] have delivered a Height Adjustable Hard Hose Boom Irrigator to a local Victoria Plains, QLD Sugarcane Farm. Farmer Ian Stevenson operates a number of sugarcane farms in and around Victoria Plains, QLD. Due to lack of rainfall during the 2015/16 growing season, and a desire to lower his overall irrigation costs Ian decided to purchase a MONSOON 125mm x 540m Hard Hose Irrigator, combined with a RAPTOR 47/55 Folding Boom to better facilitate irrigation of his cane.

Wanting to purchase his new irrigator from a dependable Australian business Ian contacted Monsoon Irrigators, who in turn engaged the Dowdens Mackay Agricultural Sales Team - one of the most experienced Ag sales teams in Australia, with over 125 years of combined irrigation system design and operational experience between them. As a company that has built its foundation on the servicing and development of agricultural pumping systems, Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment have the experience to engineer a solution to suit any agricultural application.

Brett Hayes from the Dowdens Mackay Agricultural Sales Team had several phone conversations with Ian to begin the investigation and design process for the most appropriate system. Brett then met with Ian in the Dowdens Mackay branch to present the irrigator and irrigation plan that was best suited to Ian's 800 acre property parcel under cane. Ian's experience over many years of irrigation on his property helped both parties recognise the MONSOON Irrigator Dowdens proposed was a perfect match.

Taking into consideration the terrain, the farms location (near the coastline - a high wind region), existing pump capabilities and source water availability (30psi gravity fed via the Eton Water Supply Scheme) and with Dowdens being Authorised Monsoon Irrigator Distributors Brett suggested the MONSOON 125mm x 540m Hard Hose Irrigator & RAPTOR 47/55 Folding Boom.

The Stevenson's farm is located in Victoria Plains near Kinchant Dam, meaning their mains water comes via the Eton Water Supply Scheme. Kinchant Dam, situated near Mt Kinchant, 6kms southeast of Mirani, is the only major storage in the Eton Water Supply Scheme. It was constructed to capture runoff water from the small portion of the catchment of Sandy Creek and water pumped from the Pioneer River. Three water harvesting pump stations are located at Mirani Weir below the confluence of Cattle Creek and the Pioneer River, and divert water into an 8km diversion channel into Kinchant Dam.

As this storage dam is predominately used for the irrigation of sugar cane, water from Kinchant Dam is reticulated through open channels and pipelines to the customers by gravity and relift pumping systems. The channel supply system distributes water from Kinchant Dam through 35kms of open earth channels to the various sections of the scheme including gravity fed channels supplying water to Victoria Plains farmers to the east.

30psi inlet pressure and 20psi pressure at the boom (with an average flow of 12L/sec), meant that when Dowdens Mackay Agricultural Sales Team were designing Stevenson Farming's new low pressure irrigation system they did not need to include an electric or diesel booster pump set. This resulted in drastically reduced operating costs for Stevenson Farming as the irrigator can be operated by one man, 24/7 without the need to supply power or fuel to any booster pumps.

The MONSOON Hard Hose Irrigator & RAPTOR Folding Boom is an extremely efficient and reliable low pressure irrigation system that when installed and operated correctly saves farmers water, energy, time and money - whilst increasing overall farm crop yields. Operating off a low pressure gravity fed line of 20psi (at the boom) meant the MONSOON 125mm x 540m Hard Hose Irrigator combined with a RAPTOR 47/55 Folding Boom was perfectly suited for this Victoria Plains farm.

Key MONSOON Hard Hose Irrigator & RAPTOR Folding Boom features listed below:

• Monsoon Hard Hose Irrigators are constructed from High grade Aluminium and Galvanised steel which resists corrosion in the harsh Australian climate, with a unique steering system allows boom tracking to lay of P.E Hose
• Monsoon irrigators low operating costs can be up to 50% more cost efficient than conventional traveling gun irrigators
• Designed to give uniform precipitation at low pressure - making them ideal for use in & around the Victoria Plains region (being a part of the Eton Water Supply Scheme)
• Irrigators are a one person operation and are fully transportable within minutes

• RAPTOR 'open-close' operation is facilitated by the particular foldable structure made of by galvanized steel. Very little time is required & installation is carried out by just one person
• OPEN the RAPTOR boom can be loaded onto irrigator for small movements & CLOSED the boom can be loaded onto irrigator for transportation (pictured below)
• Hydraulic version has the ability to vary the working height from 1 to 3m above the ground
• Each nozzle is mounted on a ball valve for closing as required

For well over 40 years Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment have been selling & servicing irrigation products throughout Central & Northern Queensland - designing each and every system to improve farming efficiencies, reduce downtime and increase the longevity of pumps / irrigators. CONTACT US today and let us help improve your farms productivity while lowering your overall irrigation operating costs!

Following on from the successful construction and commissioning of the Coppabella Water Treatment Plant Aurizon Holdings Limited engaged Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment [Mackay & Brisbane Branches] to deliver a much needed Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) Upgrade at their Coppabella Township, located on the Goonyella Rail Corridor (the world's largest metallurgical coal rail system) - 159 kilometres South West of Mackay, QLD. The Coppabella STP Upgrade project entailed the addition of an Ultra-Filtration (UF) 'Polishing' Plant onto the existing STP. Dowdens new UF 'Polishing' Plant can produce up to 180 kL/day of treated Class A effluent.

The township of Coppabella was primarily designed and built to service the junction of two railway lines (one from Goonyella Coal Mine and one from Saraji Coal Mine) and to provide accommodation to the regions coal mine workers in work depots. The town is wholly owned and operated by Aurizon Holdings Limited and contains: stations, residences, single-quarters, work depots, hotel, a shop, swimming pool, football oval, caravan park, school, ambulance, fire brigade, the recently completed Dowdens whole-of-town Water Treatment Plant and of course the upgraded Sewage Treatment Plant which is now capable of producing 180kL of treated Class A effluent per day for above ground irrigation applications. The local Coppabella Golf Course is one area where this treated effluent is used for irrigation.

After successfully completing various projects for Aurizon Holdings Limited, Dowdens won the tender to provide the process design together with equipment supply, civil construction, installation, commissioning and training for the STP plant operators. The construction phase of the project began with extensive civil works being undertaken to raise the ground level for the new STP components. The pre-existing STP has historically been subject to flooding during heavy rainfall events due to the sites proximity to the local creek. Upon surveying the sites substrate a water table was discovered 1m below ground level.

Working with local Civil Engineers Cardno a substantial foundation was designed / laid to ensure the new buildings, plant components and 4,000 tonne water tank would be stable and remain above the flood plain even during heavy rainfall. Once foundations were laid Dowdens began construction of the 400,000L lined stainless steel water tank, new building to properly house the STP process equipment, an operators office, laboratory facilities and a back-up generator used to power the entire STP in the event of power loss.

After extensive effluent testing and thorough examination of the existing STP process a UF 'Polishing' Plant was designed by Dowdens inhouse Water Treatment Engineering Dept. capable of processing up to 180kL of partially treated sewage effluent per day. The partially treated sewage effluent was rated as Class C and needed to be treated to an acceptable level (Class A) to then be used for above ground irrigation. This treatment process consists of three stages of filtration and sterilisation, including UF. This three-stage process runs as follows:

• Primary treated effluent from the existing STP (Class C quality) is transferred to a 45,000L Glass Media Filtration (GMF) feed tank via duty / stand-by submersible pumps on demand.
• In Stage 1 the clarified effluent from the existing STP process is first dosed with sodium hypochlorite as primary disinfection, to reduce biofouling of the Glass Media. It is then passed through the duty/stand-by Glass Media Filters which reduce particulates, suspended solids and turbidity from the GMF filtrate stream. This ensures no large particles damage the UF membranes in Stage 2.
• In Stage 2 the GMF filtrate is then passed through UF treatment process which incorporates 5% 'cross-flow' to maximise the filtration run-time between back flushes (triggered by high trans-membrane pressure). The systems consists of 8 individual outside-in PVDF membranes which reduce turbidity to less than 1 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) whilst removing any particles greater than 0.0002mm from the permeate stream. The UF feed is again dosed with sodium hypochlorite to assist with cleaning the UF membranes from biological and organic fouling between the backwash and Chemical Enhanced Back Flush (CEBF) cycles.
• In Stage 3 the UF filtrate is passed through duty/stand-by Activated Carbon Filters (ACF) on demand to reduce colour and odour (by removing aromatic compounds) as a final 'polish' before being fed to the treated effluent tank. The ACF filtrate is then dosed with sodium hypochlorite as a final disinfection of the treated effluent prior to it entering the treated effluent storage tank for dispersal via above ground irrigation systems. Dowdens provided a centralised, custom designed / fabricated, packaged chemical dosing system for this UF 'Polishing' Plant which included a 1000L Chemical Storage tank, a splash-proof racking area housing 5 individual Chemical Dosing pumps - complete with an internal bund and double containment dosing line connections.

When the treated effluent arrives in the 400kL stainless steel tank a recirculation system pumps it through a chlorine analyser and back to the treated effluent tank. The chlorine analyser then controls the residual free chlorine level in the treated water and will start / stop a chemical dosing pump as required to maintain the pre-set residual free chlorine level.

Each of the GMF, UF and ACF processes are periodically backwashed and cleaned, with residual waste being fed to a nearby buffer dam where chlorine is allowed to dissipate. Based on the level in the buffer dam and the level in the treated effluent tank, the water may then be returned to the pump station at the front of the STP for reprocessing.

With a history of successful installations over the past 20 years throughout the Queensland Mining Sector Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment have the ability to expertly design / manufacture / install and commission specialised pumping and water treatment solutions that are built primarily in-house & onsite to client's specific unique requirements. The Coppabella STP Upgrade project is yet another example of Dowdens unparallelled capability to deliver specialised long-term engineered fluid handling solutions from project inception through to final commissioning / handover.

Peabody Energy Australia have engaged Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment's [Mackay] Engineering Department & Fabrication Workshop to deliver a Specialised Pontoon Pumping System for use at their Moorvale Coal Mine, located 156 kilometres South West of Mackay, QLD. This project presented a number of challenges for the Dowdens Mackay engineering and fabrication staff, including but not limited to an extremely tight delivery timeline of only 8 weeks!

Peabody Energy's Moorvale Mine is an open-cut coal mine that produces low-volatile pulverized coal injection (PCI) coal, coking coal and thermal coal for export markets. The Moorvale Coal Mine is particularly challenging for its operators due to the coal seam being quite narrow with a number of fault lines. This requires excavators often having to work in confined areas. The three piles that make up the Moorvale coal seams are mined independently of each other.

Dowdens Specialised Pontoon Pumping System was needed to provide Peabody Energy more reliable access to good quality Raw Water from an on-site dam. This raw dam water was then to be pumped directly to the onsite Coal Handling & Preparation Plant (CHPP). The existing supply water was limited and of poor quality. Dowdens new pontoon pumping system allowed for an increased volume of water to be pumped from a dam containing higher quality raw water. Subsequently the Specialised Pontoon Pumping System that Dowdens supplied has helped facilitate an improvement in the CHPP's daily operations.

This project required both Dowdens Engineering Dept. & Fabrication Teams to deliver an innovative solution not previously attempted in-house. It was the first time Dowdens had manufactured 12m length gangways or a pontoon with a total weight of over 6 tonne. The total pontoon weight includes all steel work, flooring, pumps, piping etc. and is displaced using HDPE (high density polyethylene) Floats. The longest gangway Dowdens had supplied previously measured 8m in length, with the largest pontoon previously fabricated weighing in at 4.5 tonnes.

The new system meant Dowdens existing in-house designs had to be modified / improved with new floats being selected in order to safely carry the increased platform weight. Additional weight saving measures were implemented by Dowdens Engineers such as the use of light weight / high strength aluminium mesh flooring.

The timeline to design this pontoon pumping solution, manufacture the components and have them delivered to site was extremely tight. Engineering - Concept Design - Drawings & In-House Fabrication of the unique Pontoon Pumping System was completed & delivered to Moorvale Mine within their specified 8 week time frame!

No other pumping / manufacturing / engineering firm in Queensland are able to deliver such an all-encompassing product solution within the above mentioned time-frame.

Dowdens design philosophy for this project was: Fast Turnaround - Cost Effectiveness - Ease of Installation - Simple Plant Operation - Plant Reliability & Reduced Maintenance.

Key Project Features:

• 2 x 12m long gangways - with one being suspended and one floating on the dams surface
• Gangways Design, Fabrication, Fitout & Supply included all necessary concrete mooring blocks, lights, cables & trays
• 6m x 3.3m floating pontoon - weighing over 6 tonnes
• Pontoons Design, Fabrication, Fitout & Supply included lights, suction and discharge pipework, priming system, cables & trays

Downer EDI Mining [a division of Downer EDI Limited] has engaged Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment [Brisbane] to design, manufacture, install and commission a Heavy Vehicle Wash Bay and associated plant treatment equipment at the Meandu Coal Mine located in Tarong, South East Queensland.

Since January 2013 Downer EDI Mining has been providing mining services at Meandu Mine as part of their long-term rolling contract with TEC Coal Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stanwell Corporation Limited. Downer provides a total mine service to TEC Coal, including mine management, planning, drilling, overburden removal (including dragline and truck-and-shovel operations), coal mining, coal processing, rehabilitation, and maintenance of mobile and fixed plant.

Downer EDI's Heavy Vehicle Wash Bay project tender was won primarily due to Dowdens ability to expertly design / manufacture / install and commission specialised equipment, built in-house & onsite to meet our specific client's unique requirements. With a history of successful installations over the past 15 years within the Queensland Mining Sector, Dowdens is Queensland's premier pumping & water treatment organisation.

Downer's project brief to Dowdens Brisbane was for the design / manufacture / installation and commissioning of a Heavy Vehicle Wash Bay capable of processing a minimum of 5 vehicles per day, with each vehicle taking approximately 1 hour to wash. Meandu Mine required this new Heavy Vehicle Wash Bay to be constructed after the mine had recently purchased a fleet of new generation trucks (KOMATSU 830E Trucks) which are considerably larger in size compared to their existing fleet.

To ensure Meandu Mine continued to meet their Environmental Discharge requirements Dowdens designed and incorporated 4x Settling Pits & 3x Oily Water Separators into the construction of the Heavy Vehicle Wash Bay. In Queensland it is a legal requirement for mine sites to treat (separate) any sludge or oil from any waste water coming from a Heavy Vehicle Wash Bay.

Pictured below you can see the 4x large Settling Pits (empty) that are used to catch / store (via gravity feed) waste water from the Wash Pad area. The waste water generally contains some grease, oil, coal fine and soil (mud). The coal fine, mud and other solid particles washed off the trucks is allowed to settle to the bottom of the Settling Pits - the pits are then intermittently emptied by a Bobcat excavator.

The waste water (still containing grease and oil) is pumped from the Settling Pits via progressive cavity pumps into 3 individual 'Oily Water Separators' to remove the remaining contaminants. Once the waste water has been through this treatment stage it is pumped back into Meandu Mine's network of onsite holding dams to be used in other site extraction and processing applications.

Dowdens design philosophy for this project was: Cost Effectiveness - Current Best Practice - Ease of Installation - Simple Plant Operation - Plant Reliability & Reduced Maintenance.

Key Project System Components are listed below (click for component specs):

• 3x 47kL Poly Tanks for onsite Raw Water storage
• 1x Southern Cross 100x65-250 Cannon Pump
• 1x Grundfos 3kW Hose Reel Pump
• 8x 65mm Orion Sentinel Water Cannons
• 6x Heavy Duty Hose Reels
• 2x Foaming Units
• 1x 13.5kL Detergent Storage Poly Tank
• 1x 1kL Dilution Poly Tank

• 1x Grundfos 0.55kW Detergent Transfer Pump
• 4x Grundfos 7.5kW & Tsurumi 3kW Submersible Sump Pumps
• 2x Oily Water Seperators, Associated Pumps, Instrumentation & Control Board
• 1x Oily Water Hydrocyclone Seperator with Netzsch iFD-Stator® 2.0 Pump, Instrumentation & Control Board
• 1x Skimmer Pump
• 2x Control Panels
• Custom Built Associated Galvanised Pipework

Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment's Mackay branch were engaged by longstanding customer Anglo American (Moranbah North Coal Mine Site) to deliver an innovative valve system that could help maintain the safe and reliable delivery of general purpose & fire water services to their ever-expanding underground mining operations. With growing demand for reliable water flow & pressures at ever-increasing operating depths, Dowdens decided it was time to design & produce a new generation 35 bar Dual Pressure Control Station, expanding our range of standardised pressure reducing valve stations.

Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment fabricate and fit out a range of standardised pressure reducing valve stations, but this station required a higher pressure rating not available with our standard 'off the shelf' systems that are available in 16 / 25 bar (35 / 40 bar rated systems are built to order). Dowdens have manufactured these products for many years to help our resource industry customers arrest any water pressure spikes and/or surges in pipe systems and to aid these mines operating within and remaining fully complaint with Queensland Government Mine Site Compliance legislation, standards & guidelines.

This new Dual Pressure Control Station has been built to optimise plant reaction speeds, allow for greater operating ranges from between 2 - 35 bar and is manufactured with high-quality, reliable and readily available components. The design needs for the new Dual Pressure Control Station were borne primarily from Dowdens detailed underground observations of hydraulic occurrences within the mines existing water network. Working closely with the mines water infrastructure operators Dowdens were able to engineer, manufacture and deliver a product that increased the reliability of their mine water supply systems and assist with premeditated preventative maintenance routines.

All design, fabrication, installation & commissioning of the 35 bar Pressure Reducing Valve Station was undertaken by Dowdens Mackay's in-house Engineering, Fabrication & Workshop Departments. With a history of successful installations over the past 20 years throughout the Queensland Mining Sector Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment have the ability to expertly design / manufacture / install and commission specialised pumping and water treatment solutions that are built primarily in-house & onsite to our client's specific unique requirements. Dowdens dedicated departments of industry trained engineers, draftsmen, project managers, sales staff and tradespeople including fitters, mechanics, polywelders, machinists, plumbers, electricians and boiler makers enable us to offer an unmatched range of world-class engineering solutions for any type of fluid handling project. We truly are Queensland's premier 'one-stop-shop' for pumping and water treatment systems!

At this projects inception Dowdens visited site to examine and document the specific operating requirements. After initial observations it was concluded that a wider operating range would be required for effective control of both the High and Low Flow demands and a higher adjustment range - meaning the standard Dowdens 25 bar Pressure Reducing Valve Station needed to be modified to suit this application. This higher pressure is not normally encountered with Queensland underground mine water supply systems so unique and customised hydraulic control layouts, pilots & hardware were seamlessly incorporated into the build by the Dowdens Mackay Workshop and Project Engineers.

This projects entire design, manufacture, installation & commissioning process was completed on budget and within a tight timeline of 4 weeks set by the customer.

Anglo American (Moranbah North Coal Mine) 35 bar Pressure Reducing Valve Station - Key Components:

• BERMAD WW720 PN35 Heavy Body Control & Relief Valves
• Hardy Spicer Hydraulic Hoses & Fittings

• Custom in-house design & drafting by Dowdens Mackay Projects Engineering team
• Custom in-house fabrication of all steel pipework

Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment's Rockhampton branch were engaged by local beef cattle graziers Lance and Colleen Sypher (located in Alpha, QLD) to deliver a unique surface mounted Solar Array and Pump Float to supply onsite dam water to both their residence and the property's many cattle watering troughs.

Lance and Colleen Sypher approached Dowdens Rockhampton seeking a design for a solar pumping system with the ability to float on their dam, eliminating the need for any power cables or pump modules to be placed on the bank as is the case with traditional dam solar pumping systems. Having the unit completely isolated (floating) on the surface of the dam would remove the potential for the pumping unit sustaining damage from cattle walking along the edge of the dam. Cattle are known to cause damage to solar pump modules (in particular the associated power cables) that are situated on the edge of dams.

The innovative solar pumping unit design that Dowdens developed needed to meet a required flow rate (during the summer months on average the pumps required duty is 25,000 L/day @ 10m total head). Part of this new design incorporated the solar arrays being installed level with the dams surface, the main advantage of this design feature means the pumps power supply is not affected if the floating pontoon swings or floats across the dam. Having the solar arrays set at an angle, as is found on most traditional solar pumping units, would mean the pontoon would need be to be anchored to the floor of the dam (to avoid any rotation away from direct sun), thereby substantially increasing the overall cost of this project. Angled arrays would have also increased the potential for the arrays to catch any high winds, potentially flipping the unit over into the dam.

Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment's Rockhampton branch specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of innovative customised Solar Pumping systems for the commercial, agriculture and mining sectors of Central Queensland and the greater Capricorn Coast regions.

The final design incorporated a Mono Pumps 600 Watt SUN-RAY SRX Solar Pump due to it's highly efficient, self-priming helical rotor pump. The pontoon has been designed in a way that it can accommodate a wide range of solar pumping units, making it customisable for whatever site requirements are presented. Dowdens believe this is the first time any pump shop has mounted both the solar arrays and pump unit on a float for this application. Having the solar pump operating independently saves the customer spending time and money travelling to and from the dam each day to switch on the pump.

The entire solar pump float system was designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned on time and within budget. Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment's Rockhampton branches design philosophy for this project was: Cost Effectiveness - Innovation - Ease of Installation - Simple & Effective Pump Operation - System Reliability & Reduced Ongoing Maintenance.

Dowdens Pumping Rockhampton's Unique Solar Pump Float - Key Components:

• Mono Pumps 600 Watt SUN-RAY SRX Solar Pump
• 2x solar arrays horizontally mounted to customised pump float

• Custom in-house design undertaken by Dowdens Project Engineering Department
• Custom in-house fabrication undertaken by Dowdens Pumping Industrial Workshops