Armidale’s steel water reservoirs have undergone extensive refurbishment to preserve the 60-year design life of the structures.
Armidale Dumaresq Council (ADC) engaged specialist-painting contractor MAC Coatings from Victoria to undertake the work at a cost of $457,000 on steel water reservoirs in the council area.
Works carried out included the removal of the existing internal coating and the application of a new coating, as well as high pressure washing of the external surfaces and application of a new colour and anti-graffiti coats.
According to Andrew Boeren, Project Engineer in charge of the refurbishment, the reservoirs play an important role in Armidale’s water infrastructure, providing a balance between the output of the water treatment plant and the demand in the reticulation network.
“What we do is use the storage in the reservoirs as a buffer so that in times of high demand when the water treatment plant can’t meet demand we draw down on the supply in the reservoir.”
The steel water reservoirs were built in the 1980s with the original paint systems expected to last 10 years at the time.
This is the first paint recoating of the reservoirs since they were built.
“The original paint system applied when the reservoirs were built has shown exceptional longevity lasting about 25 years.”
”This has allowed the Council to save at least the cost of one recoating in that time.
“The paint system used now is specially designed for potable water applications and has a life expectancy of at least another 25 years.”
In addition to the recoating work, Council is using the opportunity while the reservoirs are empty to undertake other work, which will result in significant savings on the loss of water during future routine cleaning and on-going maintenance.
Water quality has also been a high priority and Council will be installing mixing equipment to enhance water circulation, improve existing insect proofing of the roof, and the installation of new ventilation equipment.
When completed, it is hoped that the reservoirs will not be taken out of service again for another 25 years.
