On paper, it may appear simple: the water is pumped to different location. In practice, distances between these two points could be affected by differences in elevation as well as pressure requirements, solids, and other factors as well as storage capacity, electrical equipment, restrictions on site and fluctuations in flow rates.
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Romtec Utilities’ strategy for design a pumping station is to first determine the operational conditions. This is done prior to selecting equipment. Design concepts and budgetary information will be developed in accordance with what the project will actually require.
The first step is to ask: What Are We Moving?
The engineering changes immediately.
Domestic sewage may contain solids and show significant variations in the daily flow. When gravity conveyance fails or is not enough the wastewater lift station will be required to move the wastewater. Engineers must therefore consider the anticipated inflow, peak conditions as well as pumping capacity, wet-well behaviour, discharge requirements as well as how the facility will be used and maintained.
The water challenges faced by industrial facilities are diverse. A manufacturing or processing facility may require the movement of high-temperature, caustic, oily or high-pressure fluids. Romtec Utilities creates industrial systems which are utilized in applications from data centers to oil and gas installations as well as food processing, power generation, and pharmaceutical waste.
Rainfall has a completely distinct Operating Cycle
Stormwater systems can be inactive for long periods of time and then suddenly encounter massive volumes during the course of a storm.
A stormwater lift station associated with a detention basin, for example, must work with the site’s larger drainage strategy. The runoff enters the basin for detention, and the temporary storage is responsible for the immediate volume and the pumping system transports the collected water to an authorized discharge point.
Romtec Utilities provided this solution to develop an Norco business park in California. This project needed a pumping device that would empty a reservoir into the public stormwater network. The station was intended to be part of the drainage system used by a developer, not as an isolated part of the equipment.
“Package” Doesn’t Signify “Off the Shelf”
There is a common misconception that a package pumping system is just a predetermined assortment of components.
In the instance of an engineered infrastructure packaging can be a way of ensuring that all the major components are coordinated into one system. Meters, valves, pumps as well as controls, communications structural elements, and more equipment can be selected around the requirements of the duty conditions.
This strategy is especially useful when the new system needs to be linked with an existing infrastructure. Industrial plants and existing municipal facilities may not provide a lot of space for installation, or even clear conditions. Equipment might need to be positioned around existing piping, structures or electrical systems as well as operational plans.
The real effects of capacity Planning
The cost of undersizing is particularly high when facilities grow.
In Portland International Airport, Romtec Utilities provided the sewer interceptor lift station for the PDX Next expansion. The new station is planned to double the capacity for peak-flow of the current system because airport facilities are expanding.
It illustrates an important engineering concept: design conditions should not reflect only the way a facility manages on a typical afternoon. Engineers must be aware of what happens during peak demand.
The job isn’t done until the Equipment Shows Up
Drawings and calculations may eventually become an operating system. Documentation and coordination of installation are essential to the success of the long term.
A properly designed pumping system is largely determined by what happens years after the construction. The choices made during initial design are obvious when flows rise when major storms occur or when maintenance is needed.
For Romtec Utilities, integrating those choices into a comprehensive specific pumping program helps turn individual pieces of equipment into infrastructure that is designed to meet the demands it will actually face.
