ITL has developed the ITM Liner™ in response to a lack of suitable liner technology for earthen irrigation channels.

 

ITL has a strong product acceptance with its DPL11 product for lining and sealing concrete water channels and aqueducts; Melbourne Water and Barwon Water, and was asked by irrigators how they could use this technology in lining earthen channels as part of their modernisation programs.

 

The incumbent product in earthen irrigation channel lining is HDPE. Irrigators found it difficult to work with, had limited life with little or no maintenance opportunities and offered considerable risk for livestock and fauna perishing when trapped in the channel.

 

The challenge for a liner system for irrigators was considerable. The liner had to be robust, inexpensive and easily installed. Further it had to be integrated to existing headwall structures and gates and last forever!

 

With Trangie Nevertire Irrigation Scheme and Goulburn Murray Water ITL was able to understand and develop a product and methodology to meet these requirements. The result was the ITM Liner™; a multilayered geofabric impermeable membrane, impregnated with a UV tolerant waterproof coating.

 

The ITM Liner™ is laid into the channel, integrated into channel infrastructure, membrane applied and anchored into the channel walls. The flexible nature of the ITM Liner™ allows for traffic in and our of the channel (wet or dry) and the geofabric surface allows for laying on unsympathetic terrain. The ability to clean and reapply the coating provides a maintenance program for the ITM Liner™ to last indefinitely.

 

Trials with TNIS at the Trangie Research Station has refined and shown the ITM Liner™ to provide a robust, flexible and impervious liner with a cost structure that is comparable to HDPE. The installation of the ITM Liner™ is straight forward and does not require specialist equipment, allowing irrigators to cost effectively line vast networks to meet their modernisation programs.

 

ITL is currently working irrigators and water authorities for implementation of ITM Liner™ programs.