Scottsdale Irrigation Scheme

The main pump station at St Patrick’s River on the Scottsdale Irrigation Scheme is one of the larger infrastructure projects that Netco has been involved with during 2020. Whilst still not quite fully operational as a scheme, the main pump station has been commissioned and is up and running.

This project involved a complex arrangement of pumps that needed to meet a wide range of duties so that the station could run in different modes, from 834 L/s @ 65 metres to 1042 L/s 34 metres. The pump station is able to pump from the river to the Camden Dam, to boost from the Camden Dam to the break tank high point and also directly from the river to the break tank high point. This is achieved through an arrangement of valves and manifolds in DN800 galvanised steel.

For this application, we selected 4 x Sulzer Ahlstar heavy duty ISO 5199 end-suction style pumps long coupled to 250kW electric motors. These pumps achieved the best efficiency across the wide range of flows and pressures that the scheme demanded.

One striking feature of these pumps is that they have a unique, externally adjustable, patented side-plate that allows for external adjustment of the impeller clearance setting. This allows the pump efficiency to be maintained very easily without removing pipework.