Dorothea McKellar wrote in the second stanza of her well known Australian poem, “My Country”:
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
Australia is known as the “Sunburnt Country” for a reason. It experiences one of the highest levels of UV radiation in the world, over 200 kilolangleys of UV radiation annually compared to 80 – 100 kilolangleys for SE Asia, Europe and most of North America.
It is obviously important that any product that will be outside under the Australian Sun be able to endure such high UV levels, rainwater tanks included. This article looks at leading SUPA UV technology, and its superiority even to specified Australian standards.
What is Rotathene® SUPA UV?
The biggest supplier of coloured powder to the rotomoulding industry in Australia and New Zealand, Matrix Polymers, is at the forefront of developments in UV stabilisation of polyethylene for use in rotomoulding.
Australia’s extreme levels of UV radiation means polyethylene needs to be specially developed with leading technology that will ensure a poly water tank can withstand the Sun and remain reliable for the duration of their long lives.
Rotathene® SUPA UV was created to meet the exacting needs of the Australian water tank industry. It incorporates advanced additive technology to provide superior protection for rotomoulded products. Rotathene® provides a much higher level of protection than the industry standard and it is referred to as “SUPA UV” for this reason.
Rotathene® SUPA UV – Exceeding Australian Standards
The Australian standard for polyethylene tanks, AS/NZS 4766:2006, specifies a UV8 level of stabilisation as the minimum required for good long term protection in Australia. Rotathene® SUPA UV incorporates advanced additive technology to provide UV protection well in excess of a UV8 level.
UV8 protection means the polyethylene can withstand 8,000 hours of accelerated UV radiation. Whether or not failure occurs is based upon how well the polyethylene samples stretch after being placed in a weatherometer test chamber. Polyethylene is deemed to have failed when the elasticity, drops to 50% of its original value (this is called 50% Elongation).
Accelerated intense UV weathering applied to SUPA UV polyethylene samples show that even after 36,000 hours, some pigmented samples retain over 80% Elongation. Understand that different pigments can affect the polyethylene mix and as such the UV protection a tank has.
For many years a UV stabilisation level of UV8 has performed well in the Australian environment, so the Rotathene® SUPA UV provided by Matrix Polymers and found in Team Poly’s tanks gives Australian tank owners the highest levels of UV protection and far exceeds the Australian standards.
Receive Maximum Protection from the Sun with Team Poly
All Team Poly tanks are made from leading Rotathene® SUPA UV technology to provide maximum protection against Australia’s harmful Sun. Through careful selection of a high quality polyethylene base with advanced UV stabilisers and antioxidants, Team Poly through their supplier Matrix Polymers ensure the best materials for manufacturing Australian water tanks, troughs and other products.