58 | MacEwans Pumping Systems T T Virginia Wright Looking forward to new premises Tom started in technical sales 19 years ago, putting his trade background as a mechanical fitter to good use. “The pumps are all through the Hauraki Plains, Hastings, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, and through the South Island, especially on reclaimed land. Our goal was to create a safe passageway for the eels.” T T to page 60 CONTRACTING MacEwans Pumping System Ltd is a fully New Zealand owned and operated company and has been since it was founded by the Canadian brothers James Ballantyne MacEwan and George Harrington MacEwan in 1896. Currently it’s co-owned by Managing Director Alan Gilmour and General Manager Tom Bailey, both of whom have worked with the company for many years. Tom started in technical sales 19 years ago, putting his trade background as a mechanical fitter to good use and rising up the ranks to become GM in 2017. The company continues to evolve as it always has. Originally commissioned by the government to contribute to the development of the dairy industry, the company diversified into agricultural pumps and machinery, then expanded to develop their own land drainage pumps. Its pioneering SPP flood pump of the early 1900’s was designed to reclaim flood-prone lands for farming, some of them are still operating over 80 years later. A later development, the PPF range of axial flow propeller pumps, was designed to improve energy efficiency and achieved efficiencies over 80% which remains the industry standard. Over 1000 of these pumps were installed from the 1960’s to the early 80’s, with many still operational, and the original 1960’s patterns are still used to manufacture MacEwans’ pumps and parts in New Zealand today. A more recent innovation came about after an approach from the Waikato Regional Council in 2019 who were looking for an industry partner to collaborate with Callaghan Innovation in the development of an eel-friendly impeller which could be retrofitted to existing PPF flood pumps. Designed to pump water away from, in this case, farmland, back into rivers thus preventing them from flooding, these pumps are lethal to the short and long-fin eel as they start their migration back to the sea and on to Tonga to breed. “The pumps are all through the Hauraki Plains, Hastings, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, and through the South Island, especially on reclaimed land. Our goal was to create a safe passageway for the eels.” says Tom. A goal they’ve achieved according to data from recent trials. “The pump we co-designed, built and tested was installed before Christmas at Huntly Golf Course Pump Station and during the migration season, which is from about January to May, over 100 eels passed through it and none of them were killed.” Like many other industries theirs was adversely affected by the global pandemic causing severe delays in the pump’s development and manufactur. Labour shortages meant the local foundry and machine shop struggled to deliver the large castings needed for its completion, and the cost of raw materials sky-rocketed, but MacEwans remained firm in their commitment to support local businesses and New Zealand owned companies that cannot be replaced. Companies with an important part to play in the retrofitting of the Waikato Regional Council pumps in the first instance, potentially followed by 100’s of pumps all over the country, in this successful collaboration to preserve what is a traditional Maori taonga, and valued food source, by allowing the New Zealand native eels to safely migrate. 09 828 9668 027 310 9913 info@skellerns.co.nz www.skellerns.co.nz Foundry Castings | Artwork & Sculptures | Plaques Marine Castings | Streetware & Drainage | Concretework Metal Casting Products & Services Proud to support MacEwans Pumping Systems Ltd
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