The mining industry is one of the most efficient and productive water users in Australia. The contribution of the mining industry to the Australian economy, per gigalitre of water consumed, is around fifty times that of agriculture. This is largely due to the high-water efficiency of Australian mines, which in total consume approximately 760 gigalitres of water per year, only 4.4 per cent of Australia’s total.
While the mining industry has become extremely efficient at managing its water needs, the capital expenditure required to setup systems for drinking water systems at the growing number of new mining operations is staggering.
In collaboration with, Aquapax – Australia’s leading bulk water supplier for the WA mining industry, remote worksites and regional communities – Tradesales has developed a solution bulk water solution, that keeps setup costs low and leaves much lower environmental footprint when compared to drilling and processing underground water.
“The idea come from a client that was using our 1,000 litre water pods, but wanted to scale it up,” said Aquapax managing director Alex Carnasciali.
“We suggested putting a series of our pods into relocatable site solution. As the pods are the size of a standard pallet, we knew we could fit side by side in a shipping container.”
The Bulk Water Hydration Station is housed in a high cube container with an engineer-certified racking system, which enables the efficient storage and distribution of the Aquapax pods. The 20-foot model can accommodate eight pods, providing a total of 8,000 litres of fresh drinking water, while the 40-foot model can store up to 18 pods, supplying 18,000 litres of water at any given time.
“While the Bulk Water Hydration Station is manufactured with the best food grade piping and pumps, it’s a simple setup, which doesn’t require specialised operation and maintenance,” said Tradesales national sales manager, Jay McEwen.
“All the pods are plumbed into a manifold at the top and bottom. This means you use the top row while changing out the bottom row or vice versa, ensuring consistent supply of fresh drinking water.”
If a site requires greater volumes of drinking water, even for short periods like during construction or shutdowns, the Bulk Water Hydration Station is scalable and can be linked together with other sister units.
Purely from an economic standpoint, the Bulk Water Hydration Station makes sense, coming in around 80 percent lower in cost than a reverse osmosis unit. However, that’s really just the start of the benefits according to Alex.
“Our mine site drinking water is sourced from pristine, natural springs in the Darling Scarp and is treated to ensure it meets the highest standards of purity and safety,” said the Aquapax managing director.
“On top of this, this solution has smaller environmental footprint when compared to reverse osmosis setup.”
The Bulk Water Hydration Station requires a fraction of the energy of a reverse osmosis system and when it comes time to pack up, the unit can be relocated to another location. Plus, the quality of ground water in remote locations where mining takes place is unstable.
“In short, the Bulk Water Hydration Station is scalable is balance sheet friendly, simple to maintain and better for your health,” summarised Jay.
Our technical sales consultants are happy to help if you have any questions about our range of Hydration Stations and can be reached at 1800 999 521 or sales@tradesales.com.au. Join our mailing list for regular updates on our products and capabilities.