Two self propelled shot blasters, hired from Kennards Concrete Care , recently helped with the refurbishment of Canberra’s main drinking water reservoir.

The 415v, 10in and 12in self propelled shot blasters were used to remove original coatings on the steel base of the 33 million litre capacity tank before the 4400sqm area was recoated.

ACG Industries was contracted to undertake the work at Mt Stromlo Reservoir for ActewAGL, the multi-utility which provides electricity, natural gas, water and wastewater services to the capital.

Kerry Woodbridge, ACT projects manager for AGC Industries, explained that this was the first refurbishment of the reservoir in approximately 20 years.

“Pot blasters are very efficient, but they create so much dust you can’t do anything else, such as priming, at the same time,” he said.

“The shot blasters produce minimal dust, which allows a full team to work alongside.

“We needed to achieve a surface profile of between 40-70 microns. The rounded steel shot did the heavy stuff, and removed the bulk of the coatings, and we then went over it with a pot blaster.”

Kerry also said that shot blasters can help to reduced operator fatigue, “Operating a 600lb blast pot at 110lb all the time is exhausting work whereas, if anything, shot blasters get a bit boring.

“The recyclable nature of the shot is a bonus”.

Kennards Concrete Care has hire centres in Sydney, Brisbane Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.