SCUBA divers descend on Beswick

27 Jun 2011

In a first for the Power and Water Corporation, the SCUBA divers had been hired to find hard to identify areas in need of repair inside the Community’s water storage tank, and also to undertake general cleaning.

Water storage tanks on remote communities are drained and cleaned regularly in order to ensure a high quality of water for residents.  During these times, water is supplied direct from the bore fields, through a disinfection system, to homes and businesses. 

However, Power and Water’s General Manager Remote Operations Darryl Day said that the advantage of using SCUBA divers is that less obvious leaks can be detected and repaired while the water storage tanks remain in operation, as well as minimizing water wasted when the tanks are emptied.

The diving operators, who are from the Fremantle Dive Centre, used a large vacuum to clean the tank, and then, using potable water dyes were able to identify leaks which were then repaired.

Beswick has a population of around 465, and is located about 130 km south-east of Katherine.

“As the trial use of SCUBA divers at Beswick was a great success, Power and Water will now use this method to clean and repair drinking water storage tanks more widely in remote communities throughout the Northern Territory,” said Mr Day. 

“Following the tank cleaning at Beswick, the divers have since also cleaned and repaired tanks in the remote communities of Minyeri, Ngukurr and Yarralin.”

A diver inspecting the tank at Beswick