Cleaning the Pipes

TODAY the Upper Hunter Shire Council will begin cleaning the water main pipes in Murrurundi, before moving onto Merriwa and Cassilis.

There will not be any disconnection of water for residents during the cleaning, but there may be some noise from pumping, using a new ‘zero water loss’ method with a NO-DES machine being operated by Detection Services.

The NO-DES machine is housed on the back of a truck, which has pumps, filter and monitoring equipment and creates a temporary loop in the reticulation system by connect to fire hydrants.

The water is pumped through the loop while at the same time filtering and monitoring the water quality.

Some parts of the network, such as dead-ends, may still require traditional flushing.

Murrurundi was prioritised since it has been on the highest water restrictions for nine months and mains flushing has been kept to a minimum.

Once the cleaning process in Murrurundi has finished, leak detection works will begin.

The program will help remove calcium build-up caused by hard water and is scheduled to finish on May 6.