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 design, 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 & Water Treatment [Mackay] have delivered yet another Soft Hose Travelling Irrigator to a local Sarina Sugarcane Farmer.

Harvey Matsen [pictured below] operates a 100ha sugarcane farm in Sarina. Due to the lack of rainfall during the 2014/15 growing season he decided to purchase a TRAILCO T-450-2 Soft Hose Travelling Irrigator to better manage the irrigation of his cane.

Wanting to purchase his new irrigator from a local business Harvey sought the services of 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. For 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.

Jeff Roberts from the Dowdens Mackay Agricultural Sales Team visited Harvey's farm on a number of occasions to investigate, design and then match an irrigator and irrigation plan to best suit the property. Taking into consideration the terrain, existing pump capabilities and source water availability Jeff suggested Harvey purchase a TRAILCO T-450-2 Soft Hose Travelling Irrigator with irrigation gun.

Harvey has access to pressurised irrigation water from the nearby Kinchant Dam. Located in Sarina near Kinchant Dam, meaning this farm has access to irrigation water coming 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. At farm door the dam feed water arrives at between 20 - 30psi. With the TRAILCO T-450-2 Soft Hose Travelling Irrigator needing a higher pressure to operate efficiently Dowdens utilised the farm's existing Power-Take-Off (PTO) Tractor driven booster pump, raising the feed water to over 70psi.

The T-450-2 is able to apply 50mm of water onto a 2ha area of cane whilst travelling along 300m of 4" soft hose - delivering 22.5L/sec @ 70psi. Together with flood irrigation (using the gravity fed Kinchant Dam feed water), an existing travelling irrigator and the new T-450-2 Harvey can now irrigate his property in half the time. In times of low rainfall when young cane is most vulnerable to dry soil conditions, Harvey can now irrigate his young cane faster ensuring they take root quicker and go on to deliver a better overall yield. The T-450-2 is an extremely efficient and reliable soft hose travelling irrigator - so much so it can easily pull Harvey's tractor towards it as it travels down the feed hose on an irrigating run [pictured below].

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

Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment's Mackay Branch has completed commissioning of the Moranbah 'whole-of-town' Automated Irrigation System. This Dowdens designed irrigation system was delivered to improve the control and ongoing maintenance of township irrigation within Moranbah, QLD.

Isaac Regional Council (IRC) specified a number of key criteria during the tendering process that the system was to deliver. These system criteria included, but were not limited to: provide the ability for night time automatic irrigation to numerous local Athletics Fields that have previously been irrigated manually (using static sprinklers and travelling irrigators) during the day; to replace an aging irrigation system located on Mills Ave. and achieve an overall reduction in labour relating to ongoing maintenance.

Dowdens Mackay successful tender was centred on an innovative Central Control System that enabled remote monitoring and maintenance of the 52 irrigation sites throughout Moranbah. The Dowdens designed controller is based in the Goonyella Road Council Depot. Dowdens Central Control System comprises of a desktop computer, irrigation software, an online weather station and localised communication/data collection infrastructure (routers, modem and radio transmitters/receivers).

This irrigation system is the first time Central Control System architecture has been utilised anywhere in the Isaac Regional Council shire. The system transmits all data collected / collated via several forms of communication i.e. radio frequencies, internet connection (Wi-Fi / 3G) and direct wired connections.

The Dowdens designed Central Control System has the ability to communicate to all Toro Sentinel Controllers via either radio frequency or internet connection. The operator has the ability to program and monitor all controllers via the Central Controller. The operator can set independent watering days, start times and run times for each and every station (valve) connected to Sentinel Controllers. Each day a detailed activity report is sent to all operators notifying them of all system activities, such as no. of actual stations operated, how long for, if any stations recorded abnormal flow (high or low), system communication success or failures, abnormal solenoid coil current (high or low) and the status of all soil moisture sensors. Reports can easily be generated to show the history of all/specific system activities such as those listed above.

A wireless Weather Station and remote Soil Moisture Sensors were installed and connected to the Central Controller to efficiently monitor the regions weather conditions in real-time, and then adjust the systems parameters accordingly. The Weather Station and remote Soil Moisture Sensors are used primarily to prevent irrigation occurring during and after localised rain events and to calculate Evapotranspiration (ET) based irrigation running times. For example the Central Control System is programmed to turn all irrigation off for 3 days (adjustable timeframe) when more than 10mm of rain is received on any 1 day (adjustable timeframe). Weather Station calculates the daily ET and automatically adjusts irrigation duration accordingly (lower ET = lower run time).

This systems has provided IRC control and monitoring capabilities of 52 irrigation sites throughout Moranbah from one central site. Delivering vastly improved energy and water use efficiencies this Dowdens designed irrigation systems features automatic shutdown of all irrigation during rain events; automatic adjustment of irrigation run times based on ET; daily automatic reporting of all irrigation sites activity; automatic irrigation for 75% of median strips located on Mills Avenue; addition of quick coupler valves to flush lateral lines thereby minimising blockages; automatic irrigation of Little Athletics / AFL Sporting fields resulting in reduced labour required for manual setup of irrigators; reduction of effluent contact with public via system only watering at night; filters on effluent mainline have minimised blockages to irrigation valve and sprinklers, thereby reducing labour required to clear blockages.

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

Moranbah Township Irrigation ~ Key System FEATURES & Components:

CENTRAL CONTROL ROOM Components

TORO Sentinel Water Management System software - EATON Computer with Printer, Router, UPS - DAVIS Vantage Pro2Plus Weather Station Console (Inside Temperature, Humidity, Barometric Pressure Sensors) - DAVIS Vantage Pro2Plus Integrated Sensor Suite (Anemometer, Tipping Rain Collector, UV Sensor, Solar Radiation Sensor, Outside Temperature Sensor, Outside Humidity Sensor) - WEATHERLINK Software - TORO NSN Support Systems (24/7 Phone Support for IRC operators)

FIELD CONTROLLERS Overview

Field (or Satellite) Controllers were installed at 52 sites throughout Moranbah. These units control the irrigation at their respective sites by direct wire connection to solenoid valves. The field controllers act as stand alone units, operating independently from the central controller. However all of the Controller's programming information comes via the Central Controller. This allows Field Controllers to operate even if the Central Controller is not operational for any reason (loss of power, phone network outages etc.). The Central Controller and Field Controllers automatically communicate at the end of each day to tabulate current programming changes, and again each morning to receive detailed system activity reports. The Field Controllers can be powered by AC if available on site, or DC via by 12V batteries trickle charged by solar panels.

Controllers were either mounted on existing structures or on Dowdens fabricated galvanised steel posts, hinged to allow access from ground level. Each of the 4 irrigated Sports Field sites have a wireless soil moisture sensor attached. The Field Controllers can be set to prevent watering when the soil moisture is above 50% of capacity (all are adjustable). A Mobile Soil Moisture Sensor was also supplied to allow IRC operators to manually test and record soil moisture levels at any location. All Field Controllers have a built in radio for communication to a 'Base' or 'Node' Controller. Base Controllers also have a 3G modem to communicate with the Central Controller.

MILLS AVENUE - MEDIANS IRRIGATION Overview

This portion of the project involved the design, supply and installation of 17 irrigation systems for all median strips on Mills Avenue, Moranbah (running from Goonyella Road to Clements Street). The existing systems were old, had unreliable battery powered controllers and required high levels of IRC operator maintenance. Most of the medians were generally turf with established large trees, approximately 10 metres wide, ranging anywhere from 10 - 230 metres long.

Each median irrigation system that Dowdens supplied consisted of: DC Sentinel Controller with radio, battery, panel, antenna, hinged pole, connection to existing Effluent mainline, flow sensors, isolation ball valves, solenoid valves / valve boxes, Toro T5 pop-up sprinklers with flexible risers and quick coupler valves placed at the end of the lines for flushing purposes.

LITTLE ATHLETICS / AFL FIELD IRRIGATION Overview

This portion of the project involved the design, supply and installation of an irrigation system for the Moranbah Little Athletics Field. The existing system consisted of a large travelling irrigator, which involved the IRC operator setting up the machine, manually turning it on and off and moving it to each position on the field. This produces uneven watering and often resulted in irrigation needing to undertaken during the day which goes against the applicable effluent re-use guidelines.

The irrigation system that Dowdens supplied incorporated: AC Sentinel Controller with radio & antenna (also incorporating AFL coverage), connection to existing Effluent mainline, 80 mm semi-automatic filter, flow sensors, isolation ball valves, solenoid valves / valve boxes, Toro 640 pop-up sprinklers with articulated risers and a wireless soil moisture sensor was installed on the AFL field to monitor soil moisture content.

MAINLINE FILTERS Overview

This portion of the project involved the design, supply and installation of semi-automatic filters at various locations along the effluent mainline. A 200 mm filter was installed in the mainline behind Moranbah High School, a 100 mm filter at Tallon Street and an 80 mm filter at the Athletics / AFL Field. Each of these filters included galvanised steel pipework to allow filters to be mounted above ground, isolation valves, filter, concrete pad and a Dowdens fabricated lockable enclosure. The filters are easily cleaned by opening a valve / turning a handle to allow the suction scanners to clean the entire filter without needing the removal of the element - a huge time saver for the IRC operators.

Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment's Mackay branch was engaged by Anglo American - Moranbah North Coal Mine to design, engineer and build a boost pump station to supply raw water to the longwall area. Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment designed and built the longwall boost pump station utilising dual variable speed pumps to enable the station to cater for varying duties as the underground workings progress further away from the station.

Anglo American's Moranbah North coal mine began operation in 1998 as an underground longwall mine and currently supplies 4.5m tonne annually of high fluidity premium hard coking coal mainly for export to iron and steel manufacturers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

All design, fabrication, installation & commissioning of the longwall boost pump station was undertaken by Dowdens Mackay's in-house Engineering, Fabrication & Workshop Departments and all electrical componentry of the longwall boost pump station was supplied, installed and commissioned by Major Electrical. 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 water management project. We truly are Queensland's premier one-stop-shop for pumping and water treatment systems!

The pump station boosts water pressure to the longwall currently some 6,000m away. Comprehensive 'pre-challenge' testing was completed prior to the station being transported to site, with all parameters being set during this time. Dowdens internal teams of specialised engineers, CAD draftsmen and tradespeople were able to design and build the station on time and to a tight budget, with Anglo American extremely happy with the work undertaken and product supplied.

Key Pump Station Features:

• All wiring / electrical installation & commissioning on these pump stations was undertaken by Major Electrical Pty Ltd
• KROHNE flow meter
• Pump station utilises four pressure transducers to feed real time pumping data to the computer control
• Two vertical stage pumps directly coupled to two 45kW motors
• As the booster pump station was dealing with high pressures all piping and flanges have a 3,000kPa rating
• Pump station fitted with QDS (Quick Detachment System) lift points - allowing the station to be transferable via the underground Line Eimco
• Touch screen interface enables underground miners access to real time amperage, bearing temperature and flow rate data
• The unit operates via a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system meaning it can be remotely operated from the mine control room on the surface, or underground via the unit's electronic controls

Total Water Volume Transfer: 30L/sec @ 80m head (currently)

Wilmar Sugar Australia Limited employed Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment [Mackay] to deliver a broad acre irrigation system at their Gibson Creek sugarcane farm. Wilmar Sugar Australia Limited is Australia's largest raw sugar producer and one of the top 10 producers in the world.

The Gibson Creek sugarcane farm has a total area of 2,000ha, with works completed by Dowdens to date delivering irrigation to over 750ha of sugarcane - this project is still ongoing with the aim to irrigate the full 2,000ha upon completion. The broad acre irrigation system was designed, sourced, installed and commissioned by the Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment Agricultural Sales Team, which has over 125 years combined agriculture irrigation experience.

The system is required to pump water stored in Wilmar's onsite dam (which when completed will hold a total of 2,000ML) to various irrigation devices watering 2,000ha of sugarcane.

To date the project has seen the team at Dowdens construct, install and commission six Valley Center Pivot Irrigators, with spans ranging from 520m down to 410m, and three hard hose poly line traveling irrigators.

Water for the irrigation system (sourced from Wilmar's 2,000ML onsite dam) required Dowdens to lay an extensive network of poly and PVC mains pipework ranging from 500mm to 150mm in diameter. In total over 12kms of mains pipe has been laid so far.

The entire system is gravity fed from the large onsite dam with a 6-cylinder John Deere diesel engine centrifugal pump feeding the six pivots, and three IVECO-Caprari multistage diesel booster pumps [pictured below] kicking in to raise mains pressure when water is required at the three hard hose poly line travelling irrigators.

The entire project was overseen and managed by Glenn Agnew from the Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment [Mackay] Agricultural Sales Team.

Key Project Features:

• Six Valley Center Pivot Irrigators installed with spans ranging from 520m to 410m
• The Valley Center Pivots were fitted with auto-start generator sets - eliminating the need for farmers to travel to each individual Center Pivot to activate once feed pumps are on
• To date over 12kms of mains poly and PVC pipe has been trenched, welded and commissioned
• Dowdens sourced, delivered and commissioned three hard hose poly line traveling irrigators [2x Idrofoglia & 1x Trailco]
• 1x 6-cylinder John Deere diesel engine centrifugal pump feeds the six Valley Center Pivot Irrigators
• 3x IVECO-Caprari multistage diesel booster pumps transfer water to the three hard hose poly line traveling irrigators when required