Water Transfer
There is a very large network of water infrastructure that delivers drinking water from sources and treatment plants to the customers’ door. The network consists of pipes, pump stations, valves, storage tanks and reservoirs designed to deliver the required level of service.
Water is transferred from water sources and water treatment plants to storage reservoirs and tanks located near customers. Often the sources are located far away from the demand areas, so transfer systems can be large. Water is usually transferred through large pipelines or trunk mains, through pumping or gravity systems.
Treated water is transferred from the various groundwater treatment plants and dams to service reservoirs and tanks in large trunk mains. Examples of these trunk mains are the Stirling, South Dandalup, Serpentine and Canning trunk mains, which transfer water from these Southern most sources to Perth.
The service reservoirs and tanks are located in strategic locations around Perth on hills to allow gravity to supply water to customers. Examples of these are the Yokine, Tamworth and Wanneroo reservoirs and the Bold Park and Yokine high-level tanks.
In some of the Southern suburbs, distribution mains are directly connected to trunk (major) mains without using a reservoir or tank. Pressure reducing valves are used to reduce high pressure in the trunk mains.
The long-term aim is to have all customers served directly off reservoirs and tanks, as this improves the level of service. This supply philosophy has been adopted in the future planning for the IWSS water grid.
After water transfer, water is delivered through smaller reticulation mains directly to customers.