From metropolitan sewer mains to remote irrigation pipelines, SA Water is responsible for maintaining over 30,000 km of pipeline assets.

SA Water utilises Trenchless Technology to inspect, repair and replace assets that are otherwise difficult to access and to minimise impact on stakeholders and the environment.

“SA Water’s asset managers, project managers and operations managers rely on the skills of contractors to provide them with the latest in Trenchless Technology,” Mr Scott said.

Working for the SA Water Department for nine years, Mr Scott said the most enjoyable aspect of his job is the variety and nature of the projects he gets to work on.

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Current works

SA Water has many asset inspection and condition assessment programs in progress continuously. Examples include CCTV programs for sewer mains, pump efficiency and vibration testing, condition assessment of large diameter cast iron water mains and leak detection.

Trenchless techniques at SA Water

The main trenchless techniques used by SA Water include, but are not limited to: CCTV, HDD, swagelining, spray lining, spiral wound lining, CIPP, pipe jacking, microtunnelling and pipe bursting.

Mr Scott said that all options are considered in the planning phase of the project and assessed by the project team regarding the specific application.

SA Water is trying to overcome the particular challenge of increasing awareness of Trenchless Technology and its capabilities in the market place. However, Mr Scott said that this challenge is improving through ASTT publications and conferences.

Important technology in a challenging environment

Faced with a widely dispersed population, in one of the driest inhabited places on earth, SA Water has had to develop significant expertise in the management and transportation of water over vast distances.

The challenges of delivering water to more than 1.5 million people in South Australia involve not just transporting, filtering and disinfecting the water from rivers, reservoirs and other supplies, but in managing these vital resources in an environmentally sustainable manner.

South Australians receive their water through a system made up of a complex network of over 25,000 km of mains and pipes. SA Water point out that if laid out in a single pipeline the mains would reach almost two-thirds of the way around the world.