Water lines at the mine rely on filters to keep dirt and debris out of the system. Until now, those filters had to be changed by hand on a regular basis. That meant shutting off the pressure, opening the housing, and physically pulling out and replacing the old filter each time, requiring our people to frequently work on pressurised equipment.
The Autofit RF3 removes most of that need. As dirt builds up inside the filter, pressure across it slowly rises. Once it hits a set limit, the unit automatically reverses the water flow for a moment, flushing the trapped debris out through a separate outlet – without shutting anything down or needing a person to open it up. This kind of back-flushing design is a well-established approach to industrial water filtration, built for continuous, low-maintenance operation on water and similar fluids.
The safety benefit comes from how much less manual work this leaves for our people. Because the filter clears itself, workers no longer need to depressurise and open the housing nearly as often, which cuts their exposure to high-pressure water systems, one of the more hazardous routine maintenance tasks on site. It also means less lifting, carrying, and disposing of used filter elements over time. An additional benefit is that a cleaner and more consistent water supply helps keep the dust-suppression sprays on the shearer working properly, supporting better dust control for everyone working nearby.
