It’s the end of November 2023 and we are reading reports by the Bureau of Meteorology on the changing weather patterns. September/October rainfall was the lowest on record. And yet, as I put this story together, we are flooding in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and even parts of Western Australia.
The dry has now turned wet, but we know we are heading for 30°C plus days as we come closer to Australia’s Christmas holiday break.
We’ve seen erratic rain in some areas, flash floods, and yet just a matter of days later, grass fires even after the rain. Yes, we have to agree that we believe that climate change is a reality, and we need to be prepared for it.
The Aussie response
Just as we see the changing weather patterns, we have to face the reality that the equipment that may have served us well in the past may not be up to the standards required for the future.
Our new product development programme is innovative, and we are always looking for ways of making products more suitable in fighting fire and keeping the Australian Volunteer firefighting force safe when carrying out their functions.
Although we have no statistics, we believe that the Australian Bushfire Volunteers in each state represent the biggest volunteer firefighting force in the world. The reason for this phenomenon is simple: we are a 7.6m km2 island continent with only 26 million people. Of those, 65% live in four capital cities, and 85% live within 40km of the coast.
You can see from these simple demographics that the inland is empty, and yet that is where we have settlements, hamlets and villages where the people have to depend on one another for both bushfire fighting and, for that matter, emergency services.
Our philosophy is simple. We want those people to have the very best and most effective product they can get and that’s where our R & D people come into their own.
More effective fire pumps
Even the Aussie Fire Chief, the backbone of our small lightweight, portable fire pump range is designed to be superior to any other similar product. It’s not that we set out to compete with others, but rather that we wanted to make the best possible pump and utilise the very best performance we could get out of a Honda 5.5hp and 6.5hp engine.
The requirement was simple. We needed a pump that weighs less than 30kg and offers maximum performance. It showed the ability to not only put out ‘spots’ but also play a role in crop, livestock and human life protection.
The Aussie Fire Chief delivers 25% more performance than its key competitors, Davey and Onga. It offers a 75m head and a maximum flow of 450 lpm. Apart from that, we simply make the pump with components that are thicker and more robust, resulting in us having the ability to back it up with a five-year pump end warranty.
The warranty is not such a big feature because it’s a by-product of the original concept, which is to build a product that is particularly effective for the people who are using it in the field.
Australia already on fire
In the last months we’ve seen serious fires in NSW, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria. Suburbs north of Perth suffered serious fire outbreak in mid-November with a number of houses lost. From this you can see that the volunteer network on the outskirts of major cities and regional centres is vital. That’s one of the reasons we have so much respect for the volunteers who give up their time for their fellow citizens! Without the volunteers, Australia would be in big trouble.
Crop protection
Australia is a major producer of wheat with huge export value. We grow far more wheat than we can ever consume, even with our intensive chicken and pork industries.
Aussie farmers are gamblers, just like most farmers worldwide. They literally plough huge amounts of funds into fertiliser, diesel fuel, seed stock and their own time.
To see the crop ripen just at the time that fires start is a phenomenon that Australians have to deal with. Crop protection is one of our specialities. Our engineers designed twin-impeller pumps that can operate with astonishing performance, and they can be mounted on the back of tankers to provide immediate crop protection.
We get stories about combine harvesters catching fire every year with consequent loss of machines worth well over one million Australian dollars. The loss of the crop can be worth even more. Consequently, smart farmers are encouraged to have fire-protection equipment handy when the harvest is on.
To that end, we build a twin impeller, called the QPT205SLT, with a Honda GX390 13hp electric start engine. That machine, in a heavy-duty roll frame with a battery pack, produces a mighty performance – imagine a water cannon pumping out 200 lpm at 80m head: that’s what the 3in Mr T does!
Of course, it’s obvious that the more water the tanker has, the longer that pump can operate. The most important thing is to put as much water on the fire at pressure, as quickly as possible. That’s where this big pump with its big flow and pressure comes into its own.
Flood protection
Local Government bodies in Australia are waking up to the idea that having their own mobile trailer mounted flood relief pumps is a good idea. Some councils rushed to buy Aussie’s 6in trash pumps when the flood hit western NSW early 2022. Those pumps did a mighty service, and a battery of them could have probably saved a lot of the damage done when Lismore flooded.
Imagine a battery of four of those big 6in pumps delivering over a million litres per hour. They could save homes and prevent the heartache for the people who saw their whole life washed away.
Local Governments in Australia are also realising that mobile trailer-mounted heavy-duty pumps like the big Aussie 6in trash pumps are a good investment. Being able to mobilise pumps like that fast instead of simply watching the rain pour down, makes them a vital asset.
Aussie’s success
We’re proud the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service have a fleet of hundreds of our pumps on their fast attack slip on vehicles. They have a 400-litre tank with fire-retardant capabilities that make them exceptionally capable in the event of a fire
Apart from that, Fire & Rescue are also standardising on the Aussie Fire Chief with a special configuration. The pump was selected because of its capability and reliability.
We produce a Bushfire Survival Guide to help homeowners protect their property. We ship them all over the world and even supplied thousands of them to our Canadian distributor when the fires were raging across the country.
Further information is available from Australian Pump Industries. We will continue to develop the product range for emergency services and have the capability to be able to mobilise stock for immediate shipment almost anywhere in the world.
Climate change is here to stay. We need to understand that and deal with it. For more information, go to aussiepumps.com.au or email aussieexport@aussiepumps.com.au
About the Author
Warwick Lorenz is Managing Director of Australian Pump Industries. He is a seasoned campaigner in pump manufacturing going back to the early ’70s when he was a young man. He was given the task of running Pacific Pump, a member of the old Tutt Byrant machinery conglomerate.
