Mt Morgan Sporting Field Irrigation System
Customer: Rockhampton Regional Council
Location: Mt. Morgan, QLD
Case Study ID: CS-33
Date: June 2017
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Overview
Rockhampton Regional Council recently engaged Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment Rockhampton branch to deliver a much-needed upgrade to an Irrigation System for one of their sporting fields, Newman Oval, located in Mount Morgan – 40 kilometres South West of Rockhampton, QLD.
The project was put out to tender with Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment’s Rockhampton branch, successfully winning the tender thanks to our price competitiveness, product suitability, delivery time and unique in-house irrigation design and fabrication capabilities.
The Problem
The project began with Rockhampton Regional Council deciding that Newman Oval – home of the Mt Morgan Lorikeets Rugby Union Club – required an automated irrigation system. The existing irrigation system for the oval was a travelling irrigator that was not effectively watering the oval – resulting in dead patches of grass on the playing surface and other areas being over-watered.
Our Solution
The automated irrigation system designed and supplied by Dowdens includes a water tank, pump, dosing pump & dosing tank for fertigation (part of the design parameters Rockhampton Regional Council stipulated included liquid fertiliser to be injected through the irrigation lines into sprinklers from time to time).
A 3x3m garden shed was constructed on a concrete slab to house the new pumping system and controls. As per the Rockhampton Regional Council’s tender specifications, the automated irrigation system was required to use treated effluent water collected from the nearby local Water Treatment Plant. Irrigating with treated effluent meant colour coded (lilac) poly piping and fixtures were needed to meet AS3500 standards.
Local contractors hired
A local Rockhampton contractor was hired to assist with the installation of the irrigation system. The installation required the spoil from the trenches being dug to be transported to a nearby marked out location with newly decomposed granite used to backfill the trenches. Each trench was then track rolled back to ground level for a smooth and safe playing surface finish. The Dowdens designed automated irrigation system provides ‘head to head’ coverage to the playing surface, 50% coverage on the outskirts of the playing surface with the whole project being installed & commissioned on time and within budget.
Key Components
- Davey Vertical Multistage Pump
- Grundfos Dosing Pump
- 58 x Toro Sprinklers with Effluent Tops [for reclaimed water use] & Stainless Steel Risers
- 45,000L Nu-Tank Water Tank
- Toro 120 MESH Automatic Screen Filter
- 8x Hunter Solenoid Valves & 1x 8-Station Hunter Controller
Project Design Philosophy
Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment design philosophy for this project was:
- Cost-Effectiveness
- Innovation and Current Best Practice
- Ease of Installation
- Simple and Effective Irrigation & Fertilising Operations
- Irrigation System Reliability & Reduced Ongoing Maintenance
Brands used in this project
