RRT’s Firefighting Pump System Comes To Rescue In Floods

A water-pumping system usually used to help fight bushfires found a novel use when it was adapted to help homeowners return to their flooded Sydney properties after rising waters forced them to use boats to gain access.

The Rapid Relief team’s (RRT) Rapid Water Systems (RWS) initiative was used to pump massive amounts of water from flooded properties into the Hawkesbury River at Sackville, northwest of Sydney.

The RWS was originally developed by the Aussie charity RRT at a cost of nearly half a million dollars to make previously inaccessible water in remote locations available for emergency services by pumping it to a central staging area for use by fire trucks and aerial bombers.

RRT specialist team send a pump by helicopter, tractor or crane to a water source not generally accessible to trucks, and pump tens of thousands of litres into a frac tank.

The RWS then pumps that water into fire trucks at the same time with the ability to fill about 19 fire trucks from a single tank.

As the flood waters cut off Sackville residents from their homes, though, the RRT decided to get creative and use the RWS to send the rising waters back to the Hawkesbury River.

Over 17 days, the RWS pumped a massive 34.7 million litres of water back into the river - roughly the equivalent of about 15 Olympic swimming pools.

RWS Western Area Manager, Nelson Clark said power couldn’t be reconnected to those people’s homes until the power poles were free of water, so the Rural Fire Service asked for RRT’s support.

“We moved the RWS pump system into place and just kept it going until we were able to clear those properties and roads so those people could go home,” Mr Clark said.

“They had to use canoes to get back into their properties and rely on generators up the hill for power until the electricity could be put back on.

“We’re really happy that the RWS is not only able to help brave volunteers fight bushfires, but now we know it can also be used successfully to help out in flood emergencies.”

The RRT delivers hope and relief to people across the globe. Whether it be fire, flood or humanitarian need, RRT expands their support services to meet the crisis at hand.

Established by The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church in 2013, RRT offers quality catering assistance and tangible support to charities, government, and emergency services confronting some of humankind’s greatest challenges.

The RRT has more than 14,500 volunteers globally and operates in 14 regions worldwide.

• Topics:

• Floods