On paper, the idea of a pumping project could appear simple enough: water must be pumped from one location to another. In reality, the distance between those two points can be affected by fluctuating flows, elevation changes, solids, pressure requirements, storage capacity, electrical equipment, access to maintenance and even site restrictions.
Romtec Utilities’ way of creating a pump station is to first define the operational conditions. This is done prior to selecting the appropriate equipment. The project requirements can be used to develop initial designs and budgetary information.
Image credit: romtecutilities.com
Let’s start with one question What are we doing?
The answer immediately changes the design.
There are significant variations in the rate of flow of household sewage. When gravity conveyance fails or is not enough or not sufficient, a wastewater lift facility is required to transport the wastewater. Engineers must consider the anticipated inflow and maximum conditions, pumping capacities, wet-well behaviour, discharge requirements, as well as the manner in which the equipment is maintained and operated.
Diverse challenges arise from industrial water. A manufacturing or processing facility might need to move high-temperature, caustic or oily or high-pressure liquids. Romtec Utilities designs industrial systems for applications ranging from power generation and food processing to data centers pharmaceutical waste, oil and gas facilities.
Rainfall creates a completely different operating process
Stormwater systems might have long periods of time absorbing little activity and then face substantial volumes during a storm.
A stormwater liftstation that is connected to an existing detention basin should, for instance, work in conjunction with the bigger drainage plan for the site. The water that flows through the detention basin, where the temporary storage is responsible for the immediate volume and the pumping system moves the collected water to an approved discharge point.
Romtec Utilities provided this solution to develop a Norco business park in California. The project called for the construction of a pumping station that would empty an existing detention system into the public stormwater drainage network. The station had been designed to function as part of the drainage infrastructure for the development, and not as a separate piece of equipment.
“Package” Doesn’t need to mean Off-the-Shelf
A common misconception is that a package pumping system is simply a predetermined collection of components.
For infrastructure that is engineered, packaging can instead mean coordinating the main components into a specific project. Meters, valves, pumps, controls, communications, structural elements, and other equipment can be arranged according to the necessary duty requirements.
It’s particularly helpful in connecting a brand new system to existing infrastructure. Industrial plants and municipal facilities don’t always have a lot of space for installation, or even clean conditions. The equipment may have to be adapted around existing structures, piping systems as well as electrical systems, and operating schedules.
The real effects of capacity Planning
The cost of undersizing rises when the facility is expanded.
Romtec Utilities, a Portland International Airport utility company, developed and built an interceptor for sewers to the PDX Next project. The new station had to be designed to have twice the capacity for peak flow as the airport expanded.
It demonstrates a key engineering concept: design conditions should not just be what a building is able to handle during a typical afternoon. Engineers must also know what happens when demand rises.
The job isn’t done until the Equipment Shows Up
At the point where drawings and calculations need to evolve into an operational system. Installation coordination starting and testing, documentation, and understanding are all crucial for long-term efficiency.
After a few years, the success of an engineered pumping system can be determined. When the flows rise when a major storm hits or equipment requires repair the decisions made in preliminary design become very visible.
For Romtec Utilities, integrating these choices into a comprehensive project-specific pumping system helps transform parts of equipment into infrastructure specifically designed for the conditions it’s likely to encounter.