Pumping projects can seem simple on paper: water flows into one place and needs to reach another. In practice the distance between these two points can involve shifting flow rates, elevation differences and solids, pressure requirements, storage capacity, control and electrical equipment, maintenance access, and site restrictions.
Romtec Utilities’ method of designing a pump station is to first define the operational requirements. This is done before selecting equipment. The requirements for the project are used to design sketches and budgetary details.
Image credit: romtecutilities.com
Let’s start with one question What are we doing?
The answer changes immediately the engineering.
Domestic sewage could contain solids and experience significant variations in the daily flow. A wastewater lift facility must be able to move the wastewater safely when gravity conveyance is inaccessible or insufficient. Engineers should therefore take into consideration the expected inflow and maximum conditions, pumping capacities as well as wet-well behaviour and discharge specifications, and how equipment will be maintained and operated.
Industrial water presents different challenges. The fluids used in a manufacturing or processing facility could need to be caustic, oily, or heated to high pressure or temperature. Romtec Utilities designs industrial systems for applications ranging from food processing and power generation to data centers pharmaceutical waste, oil and gas plants.
Rainfall is a completely different operating cycle
Stormwater systems might have long periods of time absorbing little activity and then face substantial volume during a storm.
A stormwater lift station associated with a detention basin, for example, must work alongside the drainage strategy. The water that flows into the basin. Temporary storage regulates the volume immediately. Pumping systems transports the water that is collected to an approved outlet.
Romtec Utilities provided this solution for the development of an Norco business park in California. The plan called for a pumping station for emptying an existing detention system into the stormwater drainage system of the public. The station was designed to be part of the drainage system for a particular development rather than an individual piece of equipment.
“Package Doesn’t Mean “Off the shelf”
A common misconception is that a package pumping system is simply a predetermined collection of components.
Packaging can be used to integrate the main components of a particular project. Pumps, meters and controls as well as structural elements and other equipment, can be chosen depending on the needs of the.
It is especially useful to connect a new system to the existing infrastructure. Industrial facilities and municipal facilities might not provide a lot of area for installation or well-maintained conditions. Equipment might need to be positioned around existing piping, structures, electrical systems, and operational schedules.
The Real Consequences of Capacity Planning
The cost of undersizing is particularly high when facilities expand.
In Portland International Airport, Romtec Utilities provided the sewer interceptor lift station for the PDX Next expansion. The new station was constructed to provide twice the peak-flow capacity of the prior system as the airport’s facilities grew.
This demonstrates a crucial principle of engineering: the design conditions should not only represent what an installation does in an average afternoon. Engineers must also understand what happens when demand is at its highest.
The work isn’t over until the equipment arrives.
Calculations and drawings will eventually turn into an operating system. Installation coordination, startup and testing, documentation and understanding are all important to ensure long-term success.
In the years following construction, the performance of engineered pumping system is measured. The decisions made during the initial design are clearly visible when the equipment requires maintenance, flows increase or a storm hits.
Romtec Utilities blends these choices to provide a complete pumping solution for a particular project. It helps turn equipment into infrastructure that is designed specifically for the conditions in which it will be used.