Blantyre Water Board (BWB) in Malawi is an example of how it executes turnkey projects. Divided into two contracts, the scope entailed the design, supply and installation of a range of solutions led by APE’s projects division. The first project entailed rehabilitation and renewal works at BWB’s Walker’s Ferry raw water intake and high lift pumping station, while the second involved the upgrading of the downstream Chileka pump station. At Walker’s Ferry, situated alongside the Shire River some 40km from Blantyre, water is pumped through a water treatment plant via two pipelines to a high lift pump station. After transferring to the purification plant, two further pump stations, each housing three pumps in parallel and one on standby, transfer the water at up to 750m3/h and 550m head to Chileka over a distance of around 26km. From there pipelines carry the water a further 13km to feed reservoirs in the city of Blantyre. The scope of works at Walker’s Ferry was extensive. Critical infrastructure works included the supply and installation of 16m long common header delivery pipes (800NB) and the installation and commissioning of six new raw water pump sets, each with a capacity of 750m3/hr and a head of 350m. At Chileka, the scope included the installation of eight new 750m3/hr pump sets, including con-
nection pipework to existing common suction and delivery headers.
Integrated solutions
Whatever the age or date of installation, APE has the ability to design, fabricate and retrofit. Not an easy task, but one it can successfully deliver thanks to its wooden pattern maker expertise. In fact, APE is one of the few companies in South Africa that provides apprenticeship training in this field and it’s an essential one, especially when tackling retrofits on pumps that no longer have available design drawings to work from.
Our products are designed, cast and assembled in South Africa and we are 100% compliant Standard, customised or retrofitted, the group has a solution for every fluid transfer application, with future performance backed by OEM parts and comprehensive after-sales and warranty programmes. Since inception in 1952, APE has never discontinued a product, so spares are always available. “By supporting our OEM parts and services, clients are also buying local, and that’s Proudly South African,” John concludes. APE Pumps/Mather and Platt Tel: (011) 824-4810 Email: info@matherandplatt.com
THE SOUTH AFRICAN MECHANICAL ENGINEER
VOL 69 August 2019
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