On paper, the process may appear simple: the water is pumped to different location. In practice the distance between these two points can be affected by changing flows, elevation changes, solids, pressure requirements storage capacity, controls electrical equipment, access to maintenance and restrictions on the site.
For Romtec Utilities, designing a pump station begins by specifying the operational conditions rather than selecting equipment from a catalog. Design concepts and budgetary information will be developed in accordance with what the project actually requires.
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You should ask yourself: Where is our next destination?
The answer immediately changes the technology.
Domestic sewage could contain solids and experience significant variations in flow. A wastewater lift station needs to move that wastewater reliably when gravity conveyance is unavailable or is insufficient. Engineers therefore need to consider expected inflow, peak conditions the capacity of pumping, wet-well behavior, discharge requirements, and how the equipment will be used and maintained.
Industrial water has its own challenges. Fluids which are caustic, oily or have high temperatures or pressures could be needed by a manufacturing or processing facility. Romtec Utilities creates industrial systems that are used in applications ranging from data centers to installations for oil and gas and food processing facilities power generation, pharmaceutical waste.
Rainfall can create a totally different operating system
Stormwater systems tend to be unoccupied for long stretches of time and then suddenly face a large volume during an event.
A stormwater liftstation connected to a detention basin has to, for instance, work in conjunction with the larger drainage plan of the area. Runoff enters the basin, temporary storage controls the immediate volume, and the pumping system then moves the water that is collected to an approved discharge point.
Romtec Utilities offered this type of solution to a Norco, California business park. A pumping system was required to empty the detention basin and discharge it into the stormwater system. The station needed be constructed as a part of the development’s drainage infrastructure, rather than being treated as isolated equipment.
The term “package” does not have to mean off-the-shelf
A common misconception is that a package pumping system is simply a predetermined collection of components.
Packaging is a method to coordinate the major components of a particular project. Valve and pump components can be selected based on their job specifications.
This method is particularly useful when the system is required to be connected to an existing infrastructure. In the case of industrial facilities and municipal structures, there’s not an infinite amount of space or complete clean environment for the installation. There may be a need to alter equipment to accommodate existing structures, pipes as well as electrical systems and schedules.
Capacity Planning Can Have Real Consequences
Undersizing becomes particularly costly when facilities expand.
In Portland International Airport, Romtec Utilities provided the sewer interceptor station to support the PDX Next expansion. The new station had been designed to have twice the capacity for peak flow as the airport expanded.
It illustrates an important engineering principle: design conditions shouldn’t just be what a building handles on an ordinary afternoon. Engineers must be aware of what happens at peak demand.
The work isn’t done until the equipment is delivered.
At time, drawings and calculations must become an operational system. Documentation and coordination of installation are essential to the success of the long term.
What happens after the construction of a pumping unit determines its quality. The decisions taken during the initial design are obvious when flows rise or major storms are triggered or maintenance is required.
For Romtec Utilities, integrating these decisions into a complete project-specific pumping system helps transform individual pieces of equipment into infrastructure designed for the conditions it’s likely to encounter.