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Glenmaggie Dam needle valve 1 shutdown planned 18 March for expert refurbishment, ensuring reliable irrigation and environmental water supplyGlenmaggie Dam will shut down the Main Southern Channel on 18 March to remove and refurbish Needle Valve 1, ensuring reliable irrigation and environmental water flows for farms and the Macalister River. By news@gippsland - 4th March 2026 - Back to News Glenmaggie Dam is a major storage facility that supplies hundreds of farms in the Macalister Irrigation District with the water they need to grow food and fibre. We need to refurbish one of two needle valves in the valve house of the dam. These critical pieces of infrastructure are essential for regulating water flows from the lake to the Main Southern Channel for irrigation and the Macalister River for environmental flow purposes. 
Glenmaggie Dam will shut down the Main Southern Channel 18 March to remove and refurbish Needle Valve 1, ensuring reliable irrigation and environmental water flows Important customer informationThe valves are large, and the refurbishment needs to be completed by experts in a controlled workshop environment. We will remove Needle Valve 1 and transport it offsite to be refurbished ahead of the 2026-27 irrigation season. These works are planned to take place on Wednesday 18 March and will require us to shut down the Main Southern Channel for 24-hours. Why the Main Southern Channel needs to shut down- To enable the safe removal of Needle Valve 1, we need to isolate and dewater the dissipater – meaning we need to shut down the Main Southern Channel on Wednesday, 18 March.
Who will be affected- The shut down will temporarily suspend water supply only to customers supplied from the Main Southern Channel in Tinamba, Riverslea, Nambrok and Heyfield areas. Customers in Nambrok/Denison will experience reduced capacity. All other channels will operate as normal.
When supply will return- Supply to the Main Southern Channel will be reinstated on Thursday, 19 March. If any unforeseen circumstances arise that affect this timing we will notify you immediately.
How to prepare- No orders will be delivered during this period so please plan your water use and place orders around these dates. We encourage you to work with our water planners if you have any concerns during this time.
Who we’re working with- We are partnering with specialist maintenance contractors, Uptime Services Management, to complete the refurbishment works
Thank you for your patience. We acknowledge that interruptions to water supply, even planned ones, can be challenging and we appreciate your patience during our critical dam infrastructure works. We’re here to help. If you wish to lodge a complaint, Southern Rural Water is committed to responding or passing on complaints or feedback as appropriate. Please call 1300 139 510 or email Southern Rural Water for more information about our service standards and obligations to our customers, please read our Customer Charter. More about needle valvesNeedle valves, sometimes referred to as plunger valves, are regulating valves that enable engineers to finely control and regulate water flow and pressure. The precision is achieved through the fine movement of the shaft, which enables the gearbox to move the piston tube in a sliding motion towards opening or closing position, depending on the requirements of the control system. Our needle valves were made in the 1950s in Germany by renowned engineering and manufacturer Bopp and Reuther. Each one weighs 18 tonnes and was installed at Glenmaggie dam in 1956. They were in continuous service until 1988-89 when both valves were removed for major refurbishment works. Needle Valve 1 was refurbished again in 2000, followed by Needle Valve 2 in 2001. The latest refurbishment works will ensure Needle Valve 1 remains in good working order into the future. Pictures from Southern Rural Water website.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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