Visitors enjoying the thrill of body surfing or simply splashing in the waves at Sun City’s iconic Roaring Lagoon, in South Africa, may not realise the precision engineering working beneath the surface to create the perfect wave. At the heart of this hydraulic spectacle are axial flow pumps, three of which are fitted with Vesconite Hilube line shaft bushings, driving the lagoon’s signature waves with reliability and efficiency.
The pumps underwent a major overhaul in 2024 by an OEM pump company’s service partner, and the Vesconite Hilube bushings fitted during this service continue to perform well. Selected for their low friction, long wear life, and zero swell characteristics, these bushings play a critical role in ensuring the pumps can handle continuous operation while maintaining precise running clearances, reducing shaft deflection and vibration, and keeping the resort’s expensive pumps within their planned maintenance cycles with reduced downtime. Since the bushings used in this application are line shaft bushings, they support and stabilise the shafts of the three pumps, reducing friction and wear while keeping the shafts aligned within the pump columns.
The pumps in operation at Roaring Lagoon are large, 600 mm nominal-diameter axial-flow units. They operate by continuously circulating water in the lagoon, with new water added only once a year. The water is carefully filtered before entering the system, and axial-flow pumps move large volumes at relatively low pressure into chambers. Once these chambers are filled, the actuators release the water simultaneously, producing waves that rise to 1.8 metres. This process repeats every roughly 90 seconds, offering guests an experience similar to surfing on a real ocean beach. By combining advanced axial-flow pump technology with high-performance Vesconite Hilube bushings, Sun City ensures its pump components quietly deliver the reliability that makes the water park experience a favourite in South Africa
