Five 18m Torishima Intake Pumps Head to Alkimos Plant

Pump installation has become the visible milestone at Australia's largest water infrastructure project. Five Torishima seawater intake pumps, each measuring 18 metres in length, are being supplied to the $2.8 billion Alkimos Seawater Desalination Plant north of Perth, Western Australia, as the facility moves into its fit-out phase ahead of a targeted start-up in 2028.

The five SPV800 intake pumps are designed to deliver 4,811 cubic metres of seawater per hour each, with an input power rating of 2,200 kW and a radially split casing design. They form part of a broader order for 36 Torishima pumps placed for the project, which also includes six high-pressure MHH pumps for the reverse osmosis train — volute-type units each rated at 2,200 kW with capacities above 1,000 cubic metres per hour. Torishima received the order in 2025. The alliance delivering the project pairs utility Water Corporation with ACCIONA Agua Australia, ACCIONA Construction and Jacobs Group Australia. Stage 1 of the plant will produce 150,000 cubic metres of drinking water per day, about 50 billion litres a year, with Stage 2 designed to add a further 150,000 cubic metres per day. Construction has passed more than six kilometres of undersea tunnelling after 15 months of excavation, and the completed plant will feed Perth's Integrated Water Supply Scheme, easing pressure on groundwater sources affected by declining rainfall.

For pump buyers on large water and desalination projects, the Alkimos package offers several useful reference points. First, casing architecture: radially split designs remain the default for high-pressure seawater duties because they allow internal access and seal maintenance without disturbing pipework — a decisive advantage across a 25-year asset life, even when the upfront cost is higher than simpler alternatives. Second, order structure: consolidating 36 pumps — intake, high-pressure RO and auxiliary units — with a single manufacturer simplifies interface management, spares commonality and warranty accountability, though buyers should weigh that against the scheduling risk of depending on one factory. Third, verification: at these power ratings, factory acceptance testing of hydraulic performance and vibration should be witnessed, with suction behaviour verified at site conditions rather than test-rig temperatures. Lead time is the other defining variable. Large desalination and intake pumps routinely sit on 12-to-18-month delivery schedules, so pump orders generally need to be placed well before civil works complete — the 2025 order date for a 2028 start-up makes that gap plain. Buyers planning similar projects should lock pump specifications and long-lead commitments into the earliest procurement packages, and negotiate performance guarantees covering efficiency and intervals between overhauls, since energy consumption dominates lifetime cost on continuous-duty seawater service.