Pumps set for irrigation system

Davey Water Products has expanded its in-house project skills for major commercial pumping installations. One of the first projects completed is a pumping system to upgrade a golf course irrigation system that will use recycled water conserved in a 10 megalitre dam constructed at the Maitland Golf Club in New South Wales.

David Storey, Davey's market manager for irrigation and commercial applications, says the key units are three Davey VM 65-3/3 pumps with one Davey VM 10-8/3 pump with suction and discharge manifolds consisting of three 100 mm branches, one 40 mm branch for the jockey line and 200 mm mainlines.

The pump controller is a Davey Monsoon 6 V with one 18.5 kW variable speed drive (VSD) in order to maintain 800 kPa to water the course and a separate 3 kW VSD to run the jockey pump for hand watering of the greens. The unit is a constant pressure control for the three main pumps using the VSD and then switching to direct on line once the pump has reached full speed. The VSD then starts the next pump as required until the duty point has been met. All the pumps are controlled via a pressure setpoint with the control system enclosed in an IP54-rated standalone enclosure.

The system is also protected by adjustable low-pressure/high-pressure settings and delay timers.

"The complete pump set is mounted on a galvanised welded channel frame rather than a traditional pressed stainless steel baseplate as this afforded greater rigidity," Chris Killian, Davey's commercial engineer, noted.

The Davey pump set has a total weight of 1200 kg, excluding the remotely mounted control system and is also complemented by an Amiad 200 mm auto back-flush water filter system.