One company who is really conscience of the upcoming fire season is Australian Pump Industries. Known as Aussie Pumps, their engineering team has been working on the development of new high pressure fire pumps that make the old Davey and Onga pumps look antiquated.
“We’ve got a brand new single impeller pump that does the job of a twin impeller model!” said Aussie’s Chief Engineer, John Hales.
“Working with cooperation of the mighty Honda organization, we’ve been able to develop a single impeller pump with a Honda GX160 5.5 horsepower engine that does the work of a twin impeller unit”, he said.
The new pump, nicknamed ‘The Imposter’, is a major effort of the company and is being launched on the market this month. The machine delivers a maximum flow of 350 litres a minute but, has a massive high-pressure rating of up to 90 meters head. That 90 meters head, equivalent to 120 PSI.
“It’s a breakthrough product and the beauty of it is, it’s priced right for people who want something with a lot of capability to protect their property”, said Hales.
DROUGHT SOLUTIONS … HIGH HEAD … HIGH FLOW
Knowing that farmers are having a horrible time with the drought and the capability to move water from where it is to where you want it, being paramount, the company has developed a high flow, high pressure pump as well.
The unit delivers almost 480 lpm of flow and is able to deliver it at a total maximum head of 67 meters. They can push water up a vertical lift of 67 meters. That 67 meters of vertical lift can translate into hundreds of meters of horizontal or semi horizontal piping to take water from where you want it.
The pump has a closed impeller but with wider veins than normal firefighting pumps. That’s how it handles high flows at high pressure. Hales calls it the ‘Fire pump that turned into a high flow special!’
The company has been working overtime during the past 12 months to bring these new products to the market.
“The high flow special, which we nicknamed ‘the farmers friend’, has a 2” suction inlet and a 2” elbow rather than a firefighting 3 way outlet. The machine is designed in such a way that if the owner wants to get high flow, you use the 2” in, 2” out to make sure you minimize friction loss. Apart from that, you also need to use good quality poly pipe or hose, minimum of 2”, said Hales.
Hales warns that dropping to a cheaper, smaller diameter hose or pipe only reduces performance and of course means high fuel consumption for less water at the other end of the pipe.
AUSSIES PUMPOLOGY TRAINING COURSE
The company is working on their Pumpology Course.
“When we first launched Australian Pump 30 years ago, we thought farmers all knew everything there was to know about pumps, hydrology and all that”, said Hales. It’s sometimes quite a shock to find a farmer buying a 4” pump to get more water and connecting it to a 2” poly pipe. That’s asking for trouble. You can’t get 4” out of a 2” hose”, Hales said.
GET READY FOR FIRES
The new Aussie fire pumps are ready to roll. They are fitted with 2” inlet and three way outlet. ‘The Imposter’ can deliver lots of water fast to the fire.
“We are always surprised to see the basic rules of reality flouted by companies who put a 1 ½” inlet cast into the body of their pump, like the little Davey single impeller pump, and then put two 1 ½” outlets and two 1” outlets on the delivery side.
You don’t need to be a genius to work out that limiting the water flow into the pump to 1 ½” can never produce 5” of high pressure water out the other end,” said Hales.
Hales commented, “We think that 4-way outlet with 5” of delivery capability, is nothing but a gimmick. How else could you explain it?” He said.
Aussie Bushfire Survival Guides are available from Aussie Pump distributors. The company is also a leader in fertilizer pumps as well as also playing a major role with earth moving contractors, farmers and local government with their great range of high pressure drain cleaning Jetters.
For further information on Aussie’s great product range, designed for Australians, visit aussiepumps.com.au In areas where there is no authorized dealer, please call on 02 8865 3500.
Aussie Pumps is looking for dealer candidates and want to make sure their coverage is improved to get quality products out there against the cheap Chinese knock-offs!
For comprehensive information on Aussie Pumps look out for their Spring Catalogue. It’s a beauty!
