Radio Signal Failure Causes a Overflowing Tower

12 November 2007

The Nathalia water tower was overflowing on Saturday night due a problem with a radio telemetry unit between Goulburn Valley Water’s water treatment plant and the tower.

Goulburn Valley Water’s District Manager Mr Mark Putman said that on Saturday morning a blown fuse caused a power outage at the water treatment plant.  ‘Powercor replaced the fuse on the pole and our operator reset the water treatment plant and everything was operational,’ he said. ‘In the afternoon the sensor in the water tower recorded a readout indicating that the level in the tower had dropped suddenly which activated our high lift pumps.’

“The high lift pumps continued to operate and did not switch off when the water level in the tower reached 100%,” said Mr Putman.  ‘This caused the tower to overflow resulting in water flowing along Blake Street.’

Mr Putman said that Goulburn Valley Water’s Operational staff attended the water treatment plant as soon as possible and isolated the plant. ‘The cause of the issue was investigated and it was discovered that there were faulty radio telemetry units at the plant and the tower, due to the problem earlier in the day, which cause a breakdown in communication between the two sites’

“Our operators were unable to replace the units until Sunday morning. This meant the tower had to manually filled, six times, over night,’ said Mr Putman. ‘The water treatment plant and water tower radio telemetry units were all operating correctly by lunch time on Sunday.’

Mr Putman said that he would like to thank those residents who reported the issue, allowing our operators to respond promptly.

Authorised By L.J. Gleeson 104-110 Fryers Street Shepparton