It was commissioned on Friday and production team leader Jason Manga said the facility was an upgrade from the old system which was operated manually. “The facility monitors the water, balances the pH (potential of hydrogen) of the water and complies with World Health Organization (WHO) standards,” he said. “With human operations, we have human error factor, where there can be more chlorine or less chlorine in the water.

“We need to make sure that quality water is being pumped out to customers, and the upgrade to automatic will make that happen.”

Manga said in the old system, there were operators on four shifts, who checked chlorine at sentry points to make sure chlorine levels met standards.

“Now with the automated system, we have an actuator installed on the 1000kg chlorine cylinders. If there is any leak, the actuator will shut down the chlorine cylinders,” he said.

“Previously, we uses a spanner to open the valve, to add chlorine to the water supply.

“The facility was commissioned by Australian based water treatment systems company Hydramet.”

Electrical engineer Noah Redin said the facility would last a long time because the equipment installed was mostly plastic piping and stainless-steel metal.

“We don’t have to face maintenance issues for the next five to six years because there is a lot of PBC piping and hose, and stainless steel used,” he said.

Redin said the automated dosing system tested water as it went through the line, “if the water needed more chlorine, or if there’s too much alkaline or acid, we have an automated system to test the water and pump chlorine.”

“These are some of the upgrades to the facility in Lae to cater for the demand.”

Redin said a new switchboard was being installed to control water pressure and to cater for efficient water supply to customers in Lae city in order to meet the growing demand.