Power, Water and Roads Infrastructure (Phase 2)

Power, Water and Data Communications Survey for the community space

One of the biggest responsibilities that KIRRAutility (Ku) has is providing reliable power, water and data communications to the Kirra Community citizens and homes.

Phase 2 of the project has now begun. With the basic road layout cleared and marked, the next phase is to survey for the power and water connections to each plot in the community. From there we can define the service provision to each plot, work out the cable sizing for reliable power, and prepare the pipes and conduit for cable provision. You can see the cable sizing in the plan below. 

Another significant responsibility is the control and removal of excess water during peak rain events, and roads. So, before we embark on the final road surfacing, we want to ensure that all our underground utilities are in place. The last thing we want to do, is dig up roads to put in power cables and water pipes.

Our power, water and communication plot survey was completed on the 28th of April 2024. We factored in the requirement for methane gas capture and conveyance to the central processing plant in the Kirra Civic Centre.

To ensure that the community is provided with reliable power, the following cable sizes are going to be used 120mm2, 50mm2, 16mm2, 10mm2, 6mm2, 4mm2 and 2.5mm2 depending on the length of the run, and the overall consumption for the plot. Each plot is locally earthed and the plot distribution panel in the house fitted with an RCD to ensure home owner safety. The plan has a number of distribution points that provide the power in bulk then distribute it to the homes in the community.

The following is the voltage drop and wiring requirement chart with the budget of $23,000 to complete the power, water, gas collection and gravel roads for the community space. Each plot will receive power, water and gas collection. There is a budget considered here to complete the Wi-Fi access points at 3 locations around the community space on top of the existing access points.

Community Drive North - All Weather Access

Community Drive North is a 500 metre road way that leads from the street frontage of the property at the front gate all the way to Kirra Common.

The first phase of our new roads project was to make this road all-weather and weather proof, so Community Citizens, Invited Guests and Visitors alike didn't need to worry about getting bogged, something that I struggled with on no fewer than 5 occasions.

This road was originally formed in January 2022 and represented the first development on the property.

Before the road was properly remediated, there was a string of bogging events. The road was originally only 8 feet (2.4 metres) wide, barely wide enough for a truck to get through. This phase of the project included widening the road along its whole length to 10 feet (3 metres) 

There was a particular patch of the road which caused all the bogging issues. Around about 100 m in just about the center of the driveway.

The first thing we needed to do was remediate the damage caused by the bogged vehicles. We called in the excavation experts. In this case a 12 year old called Ivy, the grand daughter of one of our members.

We then added some course gravel (White Rock) to create a foundation for the new road surface. We tracked this in and compacted it.

After having 300 tons of white rock gravel delivered and spread, levelled and compacted with our home made excavator roller and home made soil spreader, Community Drive is now all-weather and weather proof. This is Community Drive from Kirra Common heading to the top of the community property and the front gate. Image number 5 is the location of the previous photos of the bogged vehicles. In the first image, the ute is located at the start of the Kirra Common Bypass.

Acquisition of Pipes, Water Filtration Plant and Switchboard

We were fortunate enough to win some essential elements for the Kirra Community Infrastructure at a recent auction. This will help the community to build out its necessary underground utilities to its citizens homes.

We have concluded that while people in a domestic environment talk about materials in metres (m) we have resolved to talking in Kilometers (km). 

Trench Digging

As with all great projects, we had to break out the excavator. This is the cable trench from the existing Solar Shed and Power Plant to the new mudding area. From there, it continues down to the North Hamlet Garden (Shed) then on to plots #1 and #2. Stopping via Plot #6 along the way.

Water Filtration Plant

Our main source of potable water within the community is rain catchment and storage. However, things like bush and general firefighting, plants, gardens, swimming pools and ponds require water too, and potable quality filtered rainwater is not really an option. So, we have acquired a large filtration plant that will connect our lake to these other facilities. This should help to ensure that water is available where and when it's needed. As the motor is a 3-Phase, and our provision is 1-phase, we will install a 1-phase to 3-phase VFD control unit to convert the single phase to three phase power. This unit is capable of filtering 7 litres of water per second.

This self-clearing solar powered plant is capable of providing many thousands of litres per hour of pressurised water for a range of uses where potable water isn't used.

It has some amazing features such as industrial grade water level transducer and high flow filtration finishing in 3 X 50 mm pipes. It also has water meters on each outlet so we can see where the water is been used and ensure those needs are met in a timely fashion, as the community grows.

This skid mounted station and plant will eventually end up at the pump house by the lake.

To ensure that the community's potable water needs are always met, we maintain a 16,000 litre water purchase agreement with our local council.