Amajor upgrade of SA Water’s Tailem Bend to Keith pipeline is under way this month as part of the utility’s $5.8m investment securing reliable water services for customers across the Murray Mallee and Upper South East.
Celebrating its 50th birthday this year, the pipeline is 138km long and transfers large volumes of safe, clean drinking water – produced at the Tailem Bend Water Treatment Plant located on the banks of the River Murray – to supply around 3000 homes and businesses.
Four of the pipeline’s original 3.5-tonne valves will be replaced as part of the project, and a further three new valves and bypass pipework are also planned for installation in Coonalpyn, Culburra and Tintinara to improve water supply management to the towns.
SA Water’s Senior Manager of Capital Delivery Peter Seltsikas said installing the new valves and pipework along these sections of the pipeline will enable water to keep flowing in the event of planned maintenance shutdowns.
“Residents and businesses across regional South Australia depend on our Tailem Bend to Keith Pipeline for their drinking water, and this project ensures it can continue supplying them for generations to come,” he said.
“The pipeline’s valves are critical to its operation, as they enable sections to be temporarily isolated if we need to perform maintenance or replace a piece of pipe.
“We’re prioritising four of the original steel gate valves – which are up to 750mm in diameter, and stand taller than the average person – for replacement based on recent condition assessments, with this work taking place in Cooke Plains, Culburra and Tintinara.
“We’ll also be constructing three new valves and bypass systems to allow an uninterrupted supply of water to the three towns of Coonalpyn, Culburra and Tintinara during any maintenance on the pipeline.
“These valves will enable us to divert water away from the impacted section of pipe using backflows from a water storage tank in Sugar Loaf Hill, helping keep the water flowing to the towns.
“Given the pipeline is celebrating its half-century milestone this year, it’s quite fitting that we’re breathing a bit of new life into such an important water supply asset for our regional communities.”
At full capacity, the Tailem Bend to Keith pipeline can move 44 million litres of drinking water each day.
Mr Seltsikas said temporary water supply interruptions or a reduction in pressure will be required to enable the new valves to be installed and brought online.
“We’ll need to temporarily switch off supply to each town as we changeover the valves and install our new ones, working to limit any interruption to less than 24 hours,” he said.
“This is necessary to reduce water loss and maintain a safe working environment for our crews.
“At this stage, our first supply interruption will only impact a small number of properties outside of Tintinara, with residents in the township to experience reduced pressure while we replace a 12-metre section of pipe around late September in preparation for installing the new valve next year.
“We’ll be laying a temporary connection to maintain some level of water supply for drinking and flushing toilets to help minimise any inconvenience on locals during this work.
“Importantly, we’ll provide advance notice to all of our impacted customers prior to any work commencing, to ensure they have ample opportunity to prepare.”
The project is expected to be completed by mid-2024, with the majority of valve installations taking place during the cooler months next year when water demand is lower, to minimise the impact of any supply interruptions.
