On paper, it might appear simple: the water is pumped into a different location. In reality, the distance between these two points could be affected by elevation differences as well as pressure requirements, solids, and other factors in addition to storage capacity, electrical equipment, site restrictions as well as changes in flows.
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For Romtec Utilities, designing a pump station begins by defining those operating conditions rather than selecting equipment from a standard catalog. Design concepts and budgetary information can then be developed around what the project will actually require.
Start by asking a simple question: What are we doing?
The answer immediately changes the design.
There can be significant fluctuations in the flow rate of domestic sewage. The wastewater lift station is required in the event that gravity conveyance fails or will not function. Engineers need to consider the expected inflow and high-pressure conditions, pumping capacities, wet-well behaviour, discharge specifications, and how the equipment will be maintained and operated.
Industrial water poses a variety of challenges. Fluids that are caustic, oily or have high temperatures and pressures may be required by a processing or manufacturing facility. Romtec Utilities designs industrial systems for applications that range from food processing and power generation to data centers as well as pharmaceutical waste and oil and gas plants.
Rainfall has a totally different operating cycle
Stormwater systems are usually inactive for long periods of time but then suddenly they face massive volumes during an event.
For instance, a stormwater lift station with a detention basin is required to be in line with the overall drainage plan of the site. The water that flows into the basin. Temporary storage is used to regulate the amount immediately. Pumping systems takes the water it collects to a designated outlet.
Romtec Utilities offered this type of solution to an Norco, California business park. The development needed a pumping station to empty the detention system of the stormwater drainage system of the public. The station was intended to work as a component of a development’s drainage system and not as a separate part of the equipment.
“Package” Doesn’t need to mean Off-the-Shelf
A common misconception is that a pumping system for package pumps is simply a predetermined collection of parts.
In the case of engineered infrastructure, packaging could also mean coordinating the main components into a specific system for the project. Valves and pumps are selected according to their duty needs.
It is particularly useful to connect a new system to existing infrastructure. In the case of industrial facilities and municipal buildings, there is rarely any space at all or a totally clean space for installation. The equipment could need to be built around existing piping systems, structures as well as electrical systems, and operating schedules.
Capacity planning has real implications
If facilities are growing over the years, undersizing can be very costly.
In Portland International Airport, Romtec Utilities designed and supplied the sewer interceptor station to support the PDX Next expansion. The new station was required be constructed to provide twice the capacity at peak flow because the airport has grown.
This is a key aspect of engineering: designs should not simply reflect the way an installation operates in an average afternoon. Engineers must know what happens when demand is high.
The work isn’t over when the equipment arrives
Then, drawings and calculations will eventually become a functioning system. Documentation and coordination of installation are important to long-term success.
A well-engineered pumping system is ultimately determined by what happens years after construction. The choices made during initial design are apparent when flows rise as major storms hit, or maintenance is required.
Romtec Utilities combines these decisions into a pumping solution that is tailored to a project. This can help transform individual equipment into an infrastructure built to handle the environment they encounter.