Packaged Pumping Stations

A Pumping Station is a mechanical device installed in a sewer or water system or other liquid-carrying pipeline to move a liquid to a higher level. Sewer pipes are generally gravity driven. Wastewater flows slowly downhill until it reaches a certain low point. Then pumping, or "lift," stations are sited at this low point and push the wastewater back uphill to a high point where gravity can once again take over the process.

The pump station discharge pipe is a continuous main through which sewage or effluent is pumped and running full and at a pressure greater than atmospheric, to a final destination.

The pumping station itself is usually an underground structure that the foul (or surface water) sewage is discharged into. The types vary but in smaller systems these comprise of a wet well, into which the sewage is discharged, and the wet well also houses submersible pumps which pump the sewage to its destination. In a larger station there may be a separate dry well, adjacent to the wet well, which houses the pumps. On some pumping stations the pumps may be housed above ground near the wet well.

In more recent times, a packaged pumping station provides an efficient and economical way of installing a drainage system. They are suitable for mechanical building services collection and pumping of liquids like surface water, wastewater or sewage from areas where drainage by gravity is not possible. A package pumping station is an integrated system, built in a housing manufactured from strong, impact-resistant polyethylene or GRP (glass-reinforced plastic). The unit is supplied with internal pipework fitted, pre-assembled ready for installation into the ground, after which the submersible pumps and control equipment are fitted. Features may include controls for fully automatic operation; a high-level alarm indication, in the event of pump failure; and possibly a guide-rail/auto-coupling/pedestal system, to permit easy removal of pumps for maintenance/repair.

Compared to the conventional alternative of a concrete well and separate pump system, a packaged system offers the potential for reducing the cost and time involved with civil work and site labour.

Submersible pumps became popular in the early 1960s, when a guide-rail system was developed to lift the submersible pump out of the pump station for repair, and ended the dirty and sometimes dangerous task of sending people into the sewage or wet pit. Growth of the submersible pump for sewage pumping since has been dramatic, as an increasing number of specifiers and developers learned of their advantages.

Applications for Packaged Pumping Stations

Submersible pumps are found in many applications, single stage pumps are used for drainage, sewage pumping, general industrial pumping and slurry pumping. They are also popular with aquarium filters. Multiple stage submersible pumps are typically lowered down a borehole and used for water abstraction or in water wells.

A submersible pump is a pump which has a hermetically sealed motor close-coupled to the pump body. The whole assembly is submerged in the fluid to be pumped. The advantage of this type of pump is that it can provide a significant lifting force as it does not rely on external air pressure to lift the fluid.