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The first pump station is located adjacent to the desalination plant on the coast 3 km from Wlotzkasbaken. This drives water to a booster pump station 18 km inland along the route the pipeline traverses across the desert. A second booster station is located about another 15 km further on, pushing water along the final leg of the journey to the Trekkopje mine’s storage reservoir. Each pump station in the US$270-plus million pipeline houses a set of four of the axially split-case pumps which weigh over 2 600 kg and are driven by 800 kW motors. “It’s a mine with a very big thirst,” says MD. “We’re informed that its annual peak water requirement is expected to be of the order of 20 million cubic metres a year.” The volume of water flowing to the mine site along the ductile cast iron surface pipeline is based on the flow from the desalination plant, while additional control depends upon the water level in the base storage reservoir supplying the pump stations and mine terminal reservoir.

The pumps are driven by variable speed drives and their speed can be controlled to ensure that the flow will match the output of the desalination plant. The system controlling the pumping can be programmed to select automatically the number of pumps running at any given time. “This means that should any pump set be out of service or not available, the control system will continue to operate satisfactorily, utilizing whatever pumps sets are available.” Engineers have factored into their water delivery calculations the likelihood of occasional electric power outages, but despite this the system design assumes that overall pumping utilization will not fall below 80%. The pipeline, pump stations and service road along the desert route were built by Cycad Construction. Lead engineers for the project are Turgis Consulting, acting for the main client, Aerva Resources Namibia. Construction of the pipeline ranks as a massive engineering project. A total of 7 900 ductile cast iron pipes were shipped from China to Walvis Bay and then, one by one, progressively strung out alongside the undulating, carefully mapped route the pipeline will take in readiness for the installation.

The pipes, each 6m long and 800mm in diameter, have an internal cement mortar lining and an outer coating of zinc and bitumen paint to protect them from corrosion in the extreme conditions of the desert. They are being laid about 400mm above the surface of the desert, supported on reinforced concrete pedestals placed 6m apart. A special pipe-laying machine was designed to lay about 40 pipes a day. As each pipe is placed on a pedestal, it is protected by a rubber insertion placed between the pedestal and pipe as well as between the pipe and the pipe strap. This allows the pipe to expand and contract slightly due to temperature changes in the pipe. Protea OR TamboThe three-pump booster assemblies at the Protea Fire & Ice Hotel in Melrose Arch and the Protea Oliver Tambo at OR Tambo International Airport - have additional built-in environment features to increase efficiency and critical operational safety levels. Wilo SA says "The pump systems in both hotels adapt automatically to required water demand at any given time and since not all the pumps are operating constantly, huge savings in electric power are possible."

Each set consists of three Salmson N-Alti-VE pumps  the Protea Fire & Ice Multi-v 1607 pumps driven by 7.5 kW motors, and the Protea Oliver Tambo's Multi-v 1605 pumps driven b 5.5 kW motors. Each has its own variable-speed drive. Each system is programmed so that when demand increases, one motor speeds up to a preset pressure until the demand is met. When demand falls away, the motor slows to the point where it can maintain the preset pressure. If there's no demand, the system automatically stops all pumping until there is a loss of pressure in the pipeline when it starts up again. At the other end of the demand scale, if demand becomes too heavy for one pump to handle, a second pump automatically kicks in until the predetermined pressure is reached. At that stage one of the two pumps operating switches off and returns to standby mode. When demand falls and one pump is enough to maintain duty and preset pressure, th system slows down and the second pump switches off. Workload is spread evenly among the pumps, each being programmed to work for no more than six hours at a time, significantly extending the life of a pump.

Other key features of the systems include automatic fail-safe protection against over-prressurising and the consequent risk of structural damage to the building and water-level sensing, which prevents pumps from running dry. Nelson Mandela Bay StadiumPort Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Stadium and Green Point Stadium in Cape Town are the latest to be equipped with Salmson booster-pump sets. To meet the water demand by the 50 000 competitors, spectators and FIFA officials at the R1,7-billion Port Elizabeth Mandela sports “palace”, engineers specified high-performance pumps which could deliver at least 32 500 litres of water an hour at a maximum demand pressure of 65 metres. Three Salmson Multi-V 1607 vertical multistage pumps driven by 5,5kW electric motors are doing this job. Water for ground-floor accommodation at the stadium – including player change rooms, medical quarters and VIP suites - is supplied directly from a 48 000-litre tank. “The rest of the stadium is fed from the PE mains supply, but should this fail for any reason, the stadium won’t go dry -  the Salmson pumps can be switched in to provide water for the entire stadium,” says Dave Aitchison, site agent for Paolo Plumbing, the main plumbing contractor.

“The plumbing system was fully tested to the stadium’s full 50 000 capacity during the British and Irish Lions match and will certainly cope with a jam-packed 2010 World Cup crowd.” Opened earlier this year – well before the 2010 World Cup deadline - the stadium has already hosted a number of football games as well as the Lions Rugby Test. In addition to water-delivery, Wilo South Africa's Port Elizabeth branch supplied three separate Aqualine 100-26 centrifugal pump sets to feed water for the stadium’s air-conditioning cooling towers. Financial Director, Mark Francis says the pumps, equipped with stainless steel shafts and bronze impellers, are designed to deliver 250 000 litres per hour at a pressure of 60 metres. “Engineers specified pumps of proven quality, build and performance,” says Francis. “The decision to use Salmson equipment was also supported by the fact that Wilo South Africa were able to supply on-demand precisely the specification of pumps needed - and by the knowledge that we could guarantee good back-up and spares availability.”