On paper, a pumping plan may seem simple: water has to be moved from one location to another. In actuality the distance between these two points can involve changing flow rates, elevation differences and solids, pressure requirements, storage capacity, control electrical equipment, access to maintenance and restrictions at the site.
For Romtec Utilities, the design of an infrastructure for pumping begins with delineating the operational conditions instead of selecting the equipment from a catalog. Design concepts and budgetary information can then be developed around the requirements of the project.
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Start by asking a simple question: How are we moving?
The answer immediately changes the engineering.
There are significant variations in the rate of flow of household sewage. The wastewater lift station is necessary when gravity conveyance cannot or does not work. Engineers need to consider the anticipated inflow and high-pressure conditions, pumping capacities and wet-well behavior, discharge requirements, as well as how equipment will be maintained and operated.
Different challenges are presented by industrial water. The fluids used in a manufacturing or processing plant may need to be caustic, oily or heated at high pressure or temperature. Romtec Utilities creates industrial systems that are utilized in applications from data centers to oil and gas facilities and food processing facilities power generation, as well as pharmaceutical waste.
Rainfall can trigger a totally different operating pattern
Stormwater systems could spend long periods handling little activity only to be faced with massive volumes during a storm.
A stormwater lift station that is connected with a basin for detention, for example, must work alongside the drainage plan. The runoff is absorbed by the detention basin. The temporary storage manages the immediate volume and the pumping system transports the collected water to an authorized discharge point.
Romtec Utilities supplied this type of solution for a company park in Norco, California. The pumping system was needed to empty the detention basin and then discharge it into the stormwater system. The station had been designed to function as component of the drainage infrastructure for the development, not as a separate piece equipment.
“Package” Doesn’t Need to be Off-the-Shelf
A common misconception is that a package pumping system is simply a predetermined collection of components.
Packaging can be used to organize the primary components into a project-specific system. Controls, pumps and meters, as well as structures and other equipment, are able to be picked according to the duty conditions.
This approach is especially helpful when the system is required to be connected to an existing infrastructure. Municipal and industrial plants facilities typically do not have unlimited space or clean installation conditions. The equipment may have to be built around the existing pipe systems, structures or electrical systems as well as operating schedules.
The Real Consequences of Capacity Planning
The cost of undersizing rises as the facility expands.
Romtec Utilities, a Portland International Airport utility company, created and supplied a sewer interceptor lifting station to the PDX Next project. The new station is planned to increase the capacity of peak flow of the current system as airport facilities grow.
It illustrates an important engineering principle: design conditions shouldn’t represent only what a facility handles on an ordinary afternoon. Engineers should be aware of what happens when demand is high.
The job is not finished until the equipment is delivered.
Eventually, drawings and calculations need to be transformed into an operating system. The coordination of installations and the documentation are vital to long-term success.
What happens after the building of a pumping system defines its quality. The choices made in the initial design are evident whenever equipment needs maintenance, flows increase or storms strike.
Romtec Utilities integrates these decisions into a solution for pumping which is unique to a project. This can help transform individual equipment into an infrastructure designed to handle the environment they encounter.