Water Infrastructure Project

Water Infrastructure Project 13/14 September 2025

Objective: Replacement of strategic water valves which will enable the future isolation of individual buildings.

Scope: Required a water shutdown to a conglomerate of 26 buildings, an operation that had not been performed in the Engineering and Maintenance team's recorded history.

Planning: The operation involved extensive multi-departmental planning, including:

Numerous departments within the Faculties of Science and Health
Many Engineering and Maintenance teams - Water, Landscape, Asbestos, West team,
Campus Services - Facilities, Campus Safety and Security
Space team, Customer Service and Relationship Management
Health & Safety - Fire
City, Cultural and Public Engagement (successfully navigating public tours to take place at the same time as the works)

This was a great example of working collaboratively as One University

Saturday

The main system was shut down and completely drained (thousands of litres of water)
Specialist contractors replaced four strategic valves and associated pipework, some of which was nearly 80 years old.
Once the vales were installed the refilling operation was successful and all air bled out of the system.
Work in the Alfred Denny building involved connecting to recently installed pipework and valves to serve it and the adjacent buildings of Central Block, Arts Tower, Central Annexe and Chemistry North Wing.

In Firth Court, old tangles and some defunct pipework was replaced with a new manifold. This work presented several challenges including non-standard pipe size, very tight location and zero visibility. This work took longer than expected on the day due to its complexity but the job was completed successfully.

Sunday

The focus was on the Chemistry complex, where old cast iron pipework was replaced with new copper manifolds, water meters, and backflow protection.
Large amounts of redundant pipework was removed.
When the water supply was reinstated, significant debris and discolouration occurred, which required extensive flushing of the system.
Rooftop water tanks in the Chemistry building had to be drained, cleaned, and refilled on multiple occasions to ensure water quality.

Outcome

Checks on Monday morning revealed no major overnight issues.
Tiny amounts of water discolouration were noted to soon run clear when turning on taps
Improved water flow was experienced in several location.

The project was considered a great success and we thank everyone for their time and collaboration.

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