Life as a plumber at Davis
After 8 years of plumbing in Australia I was looking for my next challenge – plumbing in one of the worlds most remote locations… Antarctica.
Plumbing down south can be quite challenging, with limited materials and the cold climate, but it is always rewarding when you tick off another job.
At Davis, we have a limited water supply. During the summer months of January to March, we run a reverse-osmosis system, filtering saline sea water and storing it in 3 x 600,000 litre tanks. This season we produced just over 1.25 million litres, supplying 26 wintering expeditioners until the following summer.
In winter, plumbers are responsible for ensuring pipework doesn’t freeze, buildings are adequately heated (17°C) and maintaining gas appliances in field research huts.
The on call plumber does daily checks of each building, ensuring no equipment breakdowns or water leaks. Weekly duties include incinerating non-recyclable rubbish, macerating spoilt food and decanting sludge from the wastewater treatment plant into drums.
Anyways, that’s enough about plumbing.
Dan Jensen – 79th ANARE Davis plumber
