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

Dowdens Pumping and Water Treatment have successfully designed, manufactured and commissioned a self-contained Solar Emergency Eye Wash and Safety Shower. The safety station incorporates both safety shower and eye wash facilities, which are supplied from a water tank via a solar powered Grundfos pump.

This unit was designed and manufactured to comply with Australian Standards AS4775-2007.

Dowdens supplied the portable Solar Eye Wash and Safety Shower station to Downer EDI Mining Blasting Services for use at the Rio Tinto Coal Mount Thorley open cut coal mines (located 15km South West of Singleton in the Hunter Valley region of NSW).

Project's Supply Scope:

• Water Tank is insulated with drain valves and fill points
• 1x 190W Solar Panel
• Heavy duty battery pack
• Voltage regulator and power inverter control panel
• Grundfos pressure water pump
• Stainless steel base frame with 'grab rails'
• Eye wash basin and foot-lever action shower head
• Green LED safety light (viewable from 360)

• The station uses the suns energy to charge 6V batteries via 1x 190W solar panel
• This energy is then stored and converted to 240V power which in-turn drives the electric Grundfos pump
• The Power Inverter Control Panel contains the solar charger module and the power inverter module
• The self-contained Solar Eye Wash and Safety Shower station was designed and manufactured to comply with Australian Standards AS4775-2007

Aurizon Holdings Limited have engaged Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment [Mackay & Brisbane Branches] to deliver a Water Treatment Plant (WTP) 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 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 was established in three stages, with the first being completed in 1971, the second in 1977 and the third and final stage in 1984. 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 and of course the new Dowdens Water Treatment Plant which is capable of producing of up to 900kL of potable water per day.

Dowdens engineers and service crews designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned the Coppabella WTP to treat raw water to Australian Drinking Water Standards. As the Principal Contractor Dowdens were provided a set of feed supply water parameters coming into the WTP, and water quality requirements for the delivery of the town's drinking water. From these basics the $2.5 million project came to fruition. The Dowdens WTP replaced the existing water softening plant (located adjacent to the new WTP), whilst future-proofing the growth of the Coppabella township by increasing the WTP's maximum daily drinking water production capacity up to 900 kL/day.

The new WTP is completely automated and user adjustable via the GE Human Machine Interface (HMI) situated in the purpose built site Control Room / Office, minimising the need for direct operator interaction / intervention on-site. A dedicated remote monitoring / alert messaging system was also provided so that in the event of a critical alarm the EDAC 700 RTU will call the WTP Operators advising them of system alarm status via pre-recorded spoken messages.

Security of the WTP site was significantly improved with the establishment of a controlled compound restricting access to authorised personnel only (pictured below). Dowdens also eliminated the need for repetitive manual handling of typical WTP chemical consumables on-site (Salt, Liquid Chlorine and Soda Ash) via the integration of various bulk storage systems.

Dowdens were successful in the tendering process due to:

• The proximity of Dowdens head office [Mackay] and ongoing presence in the region
• Dowdens vast in-house engineering capabilities and proven competencies
• High level of detail provided in the preliminary engineering proposal
• Proposed Water Treatment Plants cost effectiveness

Dowdens coordinated the design, build and commissioning of the WTP from project inception through to final handover. This included, but was not limited to: preliminary design - detailed design - risk assessments (with client and consulting engineers) - preliminary civil works establishing the site (levelling site) - under boring Peak Downs Hwy for installation of raw water pipeline - installation of all underground services - pouring of slabs - construction of the Ion Exchange (IX) building - installation of process equipment - installation of all interconnecting pipework - electrical installation of control panel and field instrumentation / equipment - commissioning of instruments / equipment - commissioning of PLC program and HMI - successful completion of 'Proof of Performance' testing and all necessary operator training.

The inclusion of a unique Brine generation system was a novel approach that incorporated a salt bulk bag unloader (capable of lifting 1200kg bags - pictured below) and a proprietary piece of equipment from the USA [BRINE ExtremePro]. The IX system is flexible in its design and is capable of producing between 150 - 900 kL/day of potable water with the IX system constantly analysing and compensating for variations of incoming bore water hardness levels.

The existing water softening plant (located adjacent to the new WTP) and raw water supply needed to be retained during the new WTP construction. The old plant was decommissioned over a period of 3 months. Nearing project completion a wet weather event (February 2016) resulted in additional water flows through the WTP site causing some minor displacement / erosion of soil and stone that required a brief plant shutdown to rectify the damage. Dowdens performed this work efficiently and effectively eliminating any risk to the township's drinking water supply.

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

Water Treatment Plants Key Components are listed below:

• Control Panel c/w HMI and Remote Monitoring / Automated Alert Messaging System
• Ion Exchange Process used for Bore Water Softening
• Raw and Treated Water Analyser Sampling Systems
• 2 Off Panel Storage Tanks (250kL & 500kL)
• Raw Water Pump Skid

• Brine Generation / Storage System c/w Overhead Bulk Bag Unloader
• Waste Water Distribution System c/w Tank & Pump Set
• Chlorine Dosing Pump / Storage System
• Soda Ash Pump / Storage System

Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment [Mackay] have delivered yet another High Profile Soft Hose Boom Irrigator to a local Ilbilbie Sugarcane Farmer. Longtime Dowdens customer Brian Stevens operates a number of sugarcane farms in and around Ilbilbie, QLD. Due to lack of rainfall during the 2014/15 growing season, and a desire to lower his overall irrigation costs Brian decided to purchase a RAINSPAN SB2000 High Profile Soft Hose Boom Irrigator to better facilitate the irrigation of his cane.

Wanting to purchase his new irrigator from a dependable Queensland business Brian contacted 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.

Jeff Roberts from the Dowdens Mackay Agricultural Sales Team visited Brian's farm on a number of occasions to investigate, design and then match an irrigator and irrigation plan to best suit the 121ha property. Taking into consideration the terrain, the farms location (near the coastline - a high wind region), existing pump capabilities and source water availability shortages Jeff suggested Brian purchase a RAINSPAN SB2000 93m High Profile Soft Hose Boom Irrigator.

Sugarcane farmer Brian Stevens had for some time wanted to shift away from high pressure irrigation at his Ilbilbie farm, this was due in part to the high coastal winds the property endures year round playing havoc with his irrigation sprinklers. High pressure irrigation was no longer viable for this particular farm as it equated to water was being blown off crop, Brian's associated pumps working hard to deliver high pressure source water to existing soft hose irrigators and excessive mains power being consumed to run said pumps.

Moving from high pressure sprinklers to a low pressure RAINSPAN SB 2000 Dowdens has been able to deliver Brian considerable savings with his overall irrigation costs. The RAINSPAN SB2000 only requires approximately half the pressure to run compared to the previous high pressure irrigators. This has seen between a 30% - 40% decrease in farm irrigation electricity costs.

The low pressure RAINSPAN SB2000 Boom is far less susceptible to high winds, meaning Brian now has the potential to irrigate day or night, regardless of wind conditions. Essentially doubling his irrigation potential each day (the previous high-pressure system needed to be shut down during high winds experienced each night).

The RAINSPAN SB2000 Boom was found to be between 15% - 25% more efficient with its water application uniformity and distribution compared to the previous high pressure sprinkler irrigators. Simply put, Brian can now irrigate his sugarcane in a more cost-effective manner, utilising the limited water available to him more efficiently.

The RAINSPAN SB2000 is an extremely efficient and reliable low pressure irrigator that when installed and operated correctly saves farmers water, energy, time and money whilst increasing overall farm yields.

Key RAINSPAN SB2000 Boom Irrigator features listed below:

• Nelson R3000 Rotator Sprinklers were fitted specially to suit the windy conditions, giving a large wetted footprint & better instantaneous application rate
• Pulls 300m x 4" Snap-Tite Irrigator Hose (Dowdens are the sole authorised Snap-Tite hose dealer in Mackay, Whitsundays & Rockhampton)
• Gearbox for smooth safe operation specifically designed for the Irrigator - the most efficient in the industry
• A 93m boom was fitted to the RAINSPAN SB2000 - to seamlessly fit with farms existing lane spacings
• New Generation Turbines that are the best in the industry
• Hydraulic Boom Slew & Speed Compensator
• Made in Australia

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!

Anglo American have engaged Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment's [Mackay] Engineering Department & Fabrication Workshop to rectify an issue with a new valve station installation that was experiencing water hammer, resulting in the longwall mining operation being suspended at their Grasstree Coal Mine, located at Middlemount in the centre of the Bowen Basin, QLD.

Underground mines require water management systems in place to manage working water that is utilised for production, dust suppression, hydraulic jacks etc. Mines employ various methods of underground water transportation systems including Longwall Boost Pump Stations & filtered water from the mine surface networks. The filtered water system is an important piece of infrastructure for underground coal mine providing clean water for dust suppression & feeding the powerful hydraulic piston pumps that are used to jack up the roof in the longwall mining process.

When water is fed into an underground mine it is received at a very high pressures due to the vertical drop to the mine workings. This pressure needs to be reduced & controlled to levels that can be safely managed in the underground operations. Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment has provided Grasstree Coal Mine with several Pressure Reducing Valve Stations over the life of the mine, enabling reliable & trouble free operation.

Responding to the urgent help request from Grasstree Mine, Dowdens immediately travelled to site to undertake system 'fault finding' & begin planning the delivery of a timely & cost effective solution to the problem.

As a direct result of Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment's long standing & responsive working relationship with Anglo American's Grasstree underground coal mine, the Dowdens Engineering Department was called on to assist with a new valve station installation that was experiencing water hammer resulting in the longwall mining operation being suspended. Dowdens Engineers attended the mine site & listened/observed the problems that were being experienced such as pressure surges & water hammer in the feed pipes leading to the longwall operation.

Dowdens Engineering Dept. designed & developed a Pressure Setting Spool sized specifically to meet the specific duty required. The spool was custom designed using engineered fluid mechanics to reduce the pressure before it entered the valve station, taking part of the load off the station. Pipe supports were also engineered to provide a secure installation of the station.

The timeline to find the solution & manufacture the components was very tight. Engineering - Concept Design - Drawings & In-House Fabrication of the unique Pressure Setting Spool Piece [with roof bolt anchoring points] were completed & delivered to Grasstree Mine within 5 days from the first site meeting! No other pumping / manufacturing / engineering firm in Queensland was able to deliver such an all-encompassing product solution in 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.

The unique system required at Grasstree Coal Mine needed to address the following issues:

• Reduction of water pressure 'spikes'
• Surge control of high pressure water
• Provide system roof bolting anchoring points
• Secure range piping & bore column

Key Project Features:

• As filtered water flows vertically from the surface the pressure at the mine level can be several thousand kPa. Normal orifice or flow restrictors induce high velocities in a very short space with resulting cavitation & sonic sound which can erode the components & reduce their effect. Dowdens customised Pressure Setting Spool Piece dissipates the energies over a larger area resulting in lower component wear & longevity of the systems performance
• Water hammer was reduced & pressure fluctuations were controlled, allowing the valve station to operate at the flows & pressures for the specific location & duty
• Dowdens Pressure Setting Spool Piece has resulted in no more loss of coal production

Long-term customers Michelmore Grazing Company have recently purchased seven solar powered pumping systems from the Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment Mackay branch. All the solar systems supplied are used to pump water from onsite bores to poly water storage tanks, to then feed the properties multiple cattle water troughs. Some existing bores were used to replace dated diesel setups / windmills, along with some new bores being added to increase the total number of watering points for the cattle. Michelmore Grazing Co. purchased three Solar Pumping Systems for Fort Cooper Station and another four systems installed at Kainga Station.

This 6 month project saw Dowdens Mackay source, supply, install and commission a number of GRUNDFOS & MONO solar pumps, a MONO 2400 WATT Solar System (all used in conjunction with solar panels / frames) and undertake repairs on an existing Mono Diesel Pump system at Michelmore Grazing Co.'s Fort Cooper and neighbouring Kainga Stations (Nebo, QLD). The repairs carried out on the existing Diesel Driven Mono Helical Rotor Bore Pump involved replacing the rusted head housing with this pump now being used as a back-up for one of the new Solar Pumping Systems.

The high-quality GRUNDFOS & MONO Solar Pumping Systems have already delivered Michelmore Grazing Co. notable cost savings via a reduction in diesel fuel usage and a significant decrease in the need for ongoing diesel motor maintenance. Michelmore Grazing Co. now saves both time and money by not having to undertake laborious daily checks on the diesel pump sets fuel levels.

As a company that has built its foundation from the servicing and development of agricultural pumps and water treatment technology / applications, Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment have the experience to engineer a solution to suit any agricultural application. For over 40 years Dowdens have been providing customers with solutions-based technology - designed to improve efficiency, reduce downtime and increase longevity of products and systems. Dowdens provide affordable and efficient solar pumping solutions to help combat ever increasing electricity prices. From stock watering systems through to large scale broad acre irrigation our dedicated sales, installation and service crews have you covered. All systems are expertly designed to suit any site specifications, utilising a variety of efficient engine and electric pump units.

Key Project System Features:

• 4x GRUNDFOS SQF2.5-2 SOLAR PUMPS (these pumps can be run by a generator if needed)
• 1x GRUNDFOS SQF3A-10N SOLAR PUMP (this pump can be run by a generator if needed)
• 1x GRUNDFOS SQF5A-7N SOLAR PUMP (this pump can be run by a generator if needed)
• 1x MONO 2400 WATT SOLAR SYSTEM running 1x MONO SS062 PUMP
• Multiple 250 WATT SOLAR PANELS

FORT COOPER SOLAR SYSTEMS

Comet Bore:

• The largest of the systems is a MONO 2400 Watt Tracking Solar System, which delivers up to 40m³ per day from a bore feeding four tanks up to 8kms away. This system consists of three tracking arrays and a MONO SS062 Pump.
• Repairs were also carried out on the existing Diesel driven MONO Helical Rotor Bore Pump by replacing the rusted head housing. The pump is now used as a back-up for the new solar pumping system.

Yards Bore:

• This six panel GRUNDFOS Solar System was installed at Fort Cooper's main yards to transfer water from a bore to a high level tank which in-turn feeds the main homestead area and cattle yards. The system uses a GRUNDFOS SQF5A-7N Solar Pump and 6x 250 watt panels on a post mount delivering up to 30m³ per day.

One Mile Bore:

• A three panel GRUNDFOS Solar System was installed at the One Mile Bore supplying water 600m from the bore to a storage tank. The pump used was a GRUNDFOS SQF2.5-2 Solar Pump that delivers up to 17m³ per day.

KAINGA SOLAR SYSTEMS

Bruce's Bore:

• This is a six panel GRUNDFOS Solar System installed on Bruce's Bore delivering water to 3 poly tanks up to 2km away. The GRUNDFOS SQF2.5-2 Solar Pump can deliver up to 25m³ per day.

Donaldson's Bore:

• This is a four panel GRUNDFOS Solar System installed on Donaldson's Bore delivers water to a poly tank situated 300m away. The GRUNDFOS SQF2.5-2 Solar Pump can deliver up to 25m³ per day.

Cattle Creek Bore:

• This is a three panel GRUNDFOS Solar System installed on the Cattle Creek Bore delivers water poly tanks situated 500m away. The GRUNDFOS SQF3A-10 Solar Pump can deliver up to 25m³ per day.

Walter's Bore:

• This is a four panel GRUNDFOS Solar System installed on Walter's bore delivering water from the bore to a poly tank 500m away. The GRUNDFOS SQF2.5-2 Solar Pump can deliver up to 25m³ per day.