Pressure

Peppermint Grove, Mosman Park, and sections of Cottesloe and North Fremantle have weak water pressure. This problem is compounded because homes in these suburbs are generally larger with more showers, bathrooms and basins compared to the average Perth household. Larger lawns and garden beds externeally add to this issue.

This home on Saunders Street will never have a water pressure issue because it has dual Grundfos variable speed pressure pumps that deliver 4,500 litres per hour at 450 kpa.

One pump is assigned to the irrigation and external use while the other pump supports internal consumption within the home.

The result is strong, consistent pressure across the multi-levelled home and the owners can shower at the same time and irrigate simultaneously.

Quality

Mains water provided by Water Corporation varies in quality across Perth. It is treated with ultra-violet light, chlorine and fluoride to bring it to potable levels. But producing consistent water quality over an area as large as Perth Metro is challenging.

Cartidge Filters
Earth & Water integrated a single Jumbo 25mm Carbon Cartridge Filter after the water softeners and before the internal house pump.

The carbon filter is inspected quarterly and replaced once a year. The filter on the right is after 3 months of normal household consumption. The carbon cartridge collects minerals that would otherwise be distributed within the home through taps, laundry and bathrooms.

Water Softener

The dual water softeners remove calcium and manganese – the minerals that cause visible damage to shower glasses and wash basins.

Hard water supplied by Water Corp enters in one side with positively charged calcium and manganese cations and runs over a negatively charged resin bed where the calcium and manganese stick and the water leaves in a soft state.

Watch a detailed explanation on Youtube via the video below.

Irrigation Upgrade

Earth & Water installed the water treatment and pressure boosting system in 2017 and the irrigation system was installed by another supplier.

Since then we have taken over management of the irrigation system and upgraded it to match the standard of the rest of the home. This arose because there were consistent zoning issues that effected the variable speed pumps’ performance and water pressure.

The irrigation upgrade has included:

• Cable & solenoid locating
• Replacement and mounting of solenoids to above ground manifolds that are away from roots and out of sight
• Redirection of mains water to a wall mounted master solenoid
• CAD irrigation plans for future reference

As specialist irrigation and water treatment company we prefer to be involved in the installation from the beginning to end. Because this means we can ensure the work is up to our standard the whole way through – rather than coming in half way or after the installation.

Smart Water Systems

All our major irrigation installations are smart water systems. This means they stream live data and reports from wifi controllers with multiple sensors  throughout the system.

Unfortunately this home did not have a smart irrigation controller which made it very challenging to test the system. We found it was best to use walkie-talkies for easy communication when testing different zones and solenoid location. For high end homes such as this, the irrigation system should be mapped out and easily accessible for the owners and us to manage remotely. 

Project Partners