CROSS RIVER RAIL FLOOD BARRIER SEAL TESTING
WHAT IS THE CROSS RIVER RAIL?
The Cross River Rail is a significant infrastructure project for Queensland involving 10.2 km of new rail line and 5.9 km of twin tunnels under Brisbane City and River. Brisbane is known as a city built on a floodplain, and so ensuring the new tunnels are protected from flooding is a priority.
FLOOD BARRIERS
Flood Barriers are a proven method to minimise the amount of water entering an area, and many property scale systems are implemented globally, in emergency situations. Large Pedestrian accesses to the Cross River Rail tunnels and stations required similar protection.
SEAL TESTING
In collaboration with Projex Partners and QUT, Waterlabs Australia designed a test rig to undertake a variety of tests to identify appropriate seal plasticity, durability and waterholding properties.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
Seals were proven to successfully minimise water ingress to an acceptable level. Optimal seal plasticity and durability were identified.
STORMWATER TREATMENT DEVICE TESTING TO NJDEP FILTER PROTOCOL
WHAT IS THE NJDEP FILTER PROTOCOL?
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) published a Laboratory protocol to assess the Total Suspended Solids Removal by Filtration Devices, with the latest update released on April 25, 2023. Manufacturers of new stormwater treatment technologies wishing to be implemented in New Jersey must be tested and verified against the Protocol. A link can be found here (https://dep.nj.gov/wp-content/uploads/stormwater/filter-protocol-04252023-final.pdf)
SEDIMENT FORMULATION
The NJDEP Filter Protocol has a very specific particle size distribution (PSD) and requires that the media consist of silica sand. Waterlabs has perfected the required blend to produce the PSD with available silica in the Australian market.
REMOVAL EFFICIENCY TESTING
The Filter Protocol requires a minimum of 10 test runs at the design treatable flow rate (MTFR) to demonstrate suspended solids reduction of >80%.
MASS LOADING CAPACITY
Once the minimum of 10 test runs are performed, the technology is then tested to identify the maximum capacity of sediment it can retain prior to failure. This can be a handful of test replicates, or many multiples, depending on the technology.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
The tested technology was successfully proven to remove >90% suspended solids at its MTFR, and was submitted for Verification in November 2024.
PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
We aim to help clients bring their ideas to life. Our team of designers and engineers has experience in various industries and can provide effective solutions that meet your requirements. It is our desire to help clients get the best outcome possible from their prototypes, and we provide feedback from our decades of experience designing, testing and delivering treatment technologies. Product development is an iterative process, so our goal is to assist in reducing those iterations and costs for our clients.
PROTOTYPE TESTING FOR PFAS REDUCTION
WHAT IS PFAS?
PFAS is a family of very stable, long-lived chemicals (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). They were traditionally used in Aircraft Fire Fighting Foams (AFFF) because they very effectively extinguished fires where liquid fuels were involved. But they also occurred in many everyday items that used Scotchgard, water-proofing sprays, Teflon (non-stick) cooking utensils and many others.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
Multiple health effects have been linked to PFAS exposure (Lewis RC, Johns LE, Meeker JD. 2015. Serum Biomarkers of Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances in Relation to Serum Testosterone and Measures of Thyroid Function among Adults and Adolescents from NHANES 2011-2012. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 12(6): 6098-6114.), and their longevity means that they can accumulate over time.
TREATMENT OPTIONS
Our client has developed a treatment technology aimed at reducing PFAS significantly below initial dosed concentrations. They engaged us to develop a test rig, and determine the reduction capabilities of the technology.
TESTING PROTOCOL
Waterlabs constructed a test rig, prepared PFAS doses for introduction into various flowrates and collected samples at the inlet and outlet, for laboratory analyses. All treated effluent was responsibly collected and disposed of by a licensed liquid waste contractor.
OUTCOMES
Testing proved conclusively that the technology reduces PFAS concentrations at reasonable flowrates.
WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY
Given the risks associated with PFAS and testing with large volumes of water, we implemented multiple risk management measures for our team.