Iredell Humane

Designing for the Worst Hour, Not the Average Day: Pump Station Capacity Planning

Pumping projects can seem straightforward on paper: water is introduced at one point and has to travel to another. However there are a variety of variables that affect the distance between two locations, which include elevation, flow rate solids, pressure storage capacity, and access for maintenance.

Image credit: romtecutilities.com

For Romtec Utilities, designing a pump station begins by defining those operating conditions rather than selecting equipment from a standard catalog. The project specifications can be used to create sketches and budgetary details.

Ask yourself: Where are we going?

The result immediately alters the design.

There can be significant fluctuations in the flow rate of domestic sewage. A wastewater lift station has to transport the wastewater in a reliable manner in the event that gravity conveyance is not available or not sufficient. Engineers therefore need to consider the expected inflow, peak conditions as well as pumping capacity, wet-well behavior, discharge requirements, and how the equipment is operated and maintained.

The issues of industrial water differ. Processing or manufacturing facilities may require the movement of high-temperature, caustic and oily or high-pressure fluids. Romtec Utilities designs systems for industrial applications, ranging from food processing to power generation to data centers, pharmaceutical waste and oil and gasoline facilities.

Rainfall creates a completely different operating system

Stormwater systems might be able to endure long periods of a lack of activity, but then they can face massive volume during a storm.

A stormwater lift station that is connected with a detention reservoir, for example, must be in sync alongside the drainage plan. When the basin fills up temporary storage is responsible for the volume immediately, and the pumping system moves collected water toward an approved discharge point.

Romtec Utilities supplied this type of service for a commercial park in Norco, California. The project required a pumping system to drain a detention basin into the stormwater network of the public. The station was designed to work as a component of a development’s drainage system and not as a separate part of the equipment.

The word “package” doesn’t necessarily mean off-the-shelf

There is a common misconception that a package pumping device is merely a predetermined set of parts.

Packaging can be used to coordinate the major components into a project-specific system. Pumps, valves and meters as well as controls, communications structural components, and other equipment can be selected around the required duty conditions.

It is particularly useful in connecting a brand new system to existing infrastructure. The industrial plants and the existing municipal facilities might not provide a lot of space for installation or clean conditions. The equipment may have to be built around the existing pipe systems, structures electric system, as well as operating schedules.

The Real Consequences of Capacity Planning

It is especially costly when facilities expand.

Romtec Utilities supplied a sewer lift station in Portland International Airport for the PDX Next extension. The station was designed to provide twice the peak-flow capacity of the existing system, as the airport facilities expanded.

This demonstrates a crucial principle of engineering: the designs should not simply be a reflection of what the installation can handle in a typical afternoon. Engineers must also understand what happens when demand is at its highest.

The job is not finished until the equipment is delivered.

Calculations and drawings will eventually be an operating system. Installation coordination and documentation are vital to long-term success.

The outcome after the creation of a pumping system defines the quality of the system. The decisions made during the beginning of the design are obvious when the pump needs to be maintained, flows increase or an event occurs.

Romtec Utilities integrates these options in order to develop a complete pumps solution for a specific project. It helps turn equipment into infrastructure designed specifically for the conditions in which it will be utilized.