Case Studies

Orana Scheme – irrigation pipelines, water tanks and water troughs

Completed in July, 2008 the Orana Scheme involved 80km of irrigation pipeline, 45 water tanks and 65 water troughs. Two teams of three men worked independently to complete the scheme in 4 ½ months. The scheme deliverers artesian water to 6 properties. All work was carried out using chain diggers and bob cats to install trough lines. A new method utilising on-site batching saved time on the concreting for the troughs and solved all logistics problems associated with distance. Pump stations were not required for delivery of water to the properties.

Boomi Scheme – irrigation pipelines, water tanks and water troughs

The Boomi Scheme was completed in May, 2008 and took 10 months from start to finish. It involved 225km of irrigation pipeline, 125 water tanks and 135 water troughs. The wheel trencher was used for all work including the trough lines. This method is fast and up to 10km/day of trenching can be achieved in the right conditions. Most of the work was carried out with a foreman and four labourers. The whole system works from Bore pressure alone, eliminating large pump installations and infrastructure. This scheme is being used for a test of dual sacrificial pipelines to deal with high temperatures. There were a total of 20 clients in the scheme over an area of 30,000 Ha.

Tulloona Scheme – irrigation pipelines, water tanks, water troughs, cooling grid and water pump station

Completed in April, 2007, two teams of four men completed the pipe laying and plumbing for approximately sixteen properties that were involved. The project included 212km water pipeline, approximately 300 water tanks and water troughs, with cooling grid and water pump station. We used a wheel trencher and chain digger on this project, as well as a fabricating crew of three men for the extensive stainless steel fabrication work. There was almost 1000km of stainless welding on this project.

Drildool Scheme – irrigation pipeline, water tanks, water troughs and water pump station

The Drildool Scheme was completed in December, 2006. It involved 230km of water pipeline, approximately 400 water tanks and water troughs, with pump station. A team of five men completed the job with 2 x 110 HP chain diggers

Bugilbone Scheme – irrigation pipleline, water tanks, water troughs and water pump station

Completed June 06, this is one of the larger artesian schemes to be undertaken, consisting of 340km water pipeline, over 600 water tanks and water troughs, as well as a water pump station. Over the course of the project, the average men on site was approximately ten. There were eleven landholders involved, although a single landholder had over 150km pipe and 150 tanks installed! This scheme enabled eight bores to be shut down.

'Wilganea' Bourke Scheme – irrigation pipeline and irrigation system powered by natural bore pressure

Consisting of 35km water pipeline and associated irrigation works, the 'Wilganea' Bourke Scheme was completed in 2005 for a single private grower. The system is powered by natural bore pressure and was completed in three weeks with three men and a single chain digger. After three years the client reports that the natural bore pressure has increased dramatically.

AFM Developments - pump station, filtration, hydraulic field valves, field filters and drip irrigation for Citrus and Cotton Irrigation

Stage 1 completed in November 2008 - the project involved the installation of a Grundfos pump station and controller and Netafim automatic back flush filteration system. The manifolds in the field consist of hydraulically controlled pressure reducing valves and back up field filters mounted on stainless steel manifolds. The PVC mainlines and sub mains consisted of 200mm, 150mm and 50mm with 50mm PVC flush lines. The system is operated via a Netafim NMC64 controller which has been scheduled to run the irrigation of the cotton and citrus system as required. The Citrus block consists of Netafim Dripnet PC23350 at 1.0lph and 0.5m spacing resulting in a 6.0mm per day application rate (irrigating during daylight hours only) while the cotton uses Netafim Ozline 25150 tape and provides 12.0mm per day. The Stage 1 development consisted of 20ha Citrus and 20ha Cotton. The Stage 2 future development will consist of another 20ha block of Citrus. This will require a 2nd Grundfos pump to provide the extra flow required. Stage 2 of the project will also consist of an advanced fertigation system capable of running multiple channels with no cross-contamination of fertiliser.

Coonabarabran Bowling Club - stormwater harvesting and irrigation system

With the assistance of a federal government grant, in June 2008 we installed a fully automatic irrigation system for 3 bowling greens and all surrounding areas. The system is driven by a Grundfos multistage pump and uses Toro sprinklers for the irrigation. Stormwater is collected in a large underground pit and pumped into 2 x 10000gallon tanks. Whenever rainwater isn't available, a submersible bore pump re-fills the tanks. Hence, the main objective is to utilise rainwater whenever possible, resulting in water and labour savings. Read full story in News & Events

Broken Hill City Council - stormwater capture and reuse

Broken Hill City Council commissioned Darling Irrigation via a tender process to construct a stormwater capture and reuse project at O'Neill playing fields and AJ Keast Park. Both areas were traditionally irrigated with manually changed impact sprays, this being an inefficient use of water and very time consuming. It took about 10 hours per week voluntary labour to irrigate the fields. AJ Keast Park was a difficult and tight worksite area with high pedestrian flow, therefore the stormwater captured is stored in an underground concrete load bearing tank, and lawn reinstated on top. Water is captured from a large hill behind the park, stored and then pumped through a KISSS irrigation system. O'Neill playing fields are a series of two full sized soccer ovals and a small warm up area. In this location, stormwater is captured from drains and passed through a wetland, then it is collected and pumped to above ground concrete storage tanks and via a KISSS irrigation system irrigates the playing fields, warm up area and spectator hill. Darling Irrigation had 7 staff on site, over a period of two months working 12 days on and 4 days off due to the long distances involved. Read full story in News & Events

Wellington Race Club - recycled water main

The Wellington Race Club engagd Darling Irrigation to supply and install a pump station and water main utilising the recycled water output from Wellington's WTP. The system was designed to suit the existing irrigation system at the Race Track. This system also saves town water supply, the current source of water for the race track. The system draws water from the treated effluent outflow, and is estimated to save 28Ml/year. This project is a great example of a water reuse system benefiting the community of Wellington.

Linear Move Irrigators

Darling Irrigation were commissioned to undertake the design, supply and installation of supply channels and Linear Move irrigators converting flood irrigation to overhead sprays over 750 acres of summer crop area. The overall plan consisted of three Valley Linear Move irrigators. The system can apply 15mm/day to the 750 acres of summer crop, or after field extensions are completed, this can be expanded to almost 1500 acres of irrigated winter crop area. Two machines, 589m in length with 12 spans and a third of 636m long with 13 spans were installed. John Deere motors power the system which combined has a delivery capacity of 520l/s. See story in News & Events