August 4, 2021
Share this postAvoid Incorrect Pump Station Specification Headaches
Reliability and efficacy are the fundamental principles of sourcing, installing and utilising a pump station. When a pump station can’t fulfil its demand or fails to operate successfully, welfare, building services, the environment, and business reputation are all put at risk. As a contractor, civil engineer or site specifier, getting the right pump station for your construction project the first time round is a necessity and will prevent a huge number of headaches and issues in the future.
The importance of pump stations
Pump stations are used for sewage/foul/stormwater and transfer large volumes of liquid from the source to another liquid body e.g. a watercourse or main sewer. Without pump stations, sites where the natural layout provides insufficient gravity would not have a sufficient flow rate to transfer sewage/waste. Pump stations are used in a wide variety of applications from commercial to residential, including schools, hospitals, hotels, high-rise apartment complexes and single dwellings.
As the pump station or the pumps within them provide such a key service, any issues that develop can have serious repercussions. One of the reasons these issues develop? Incorrect specification.
How are pump stations specified?
When you are running a construction project, time and accuracy are essential. When you are sourcing and installing a pump station, time and accuracy are equally imperative. The intended application, liquid volume, waste viscosity and site layout/position will all influence the pump station your project requires.
With each of these variables unique for every project, an in-depth assessment and precise specification are the only ways to guarantee that a pump station operates to its intended ability with minimal risk of issues in the future. The process of selecting a pump station to meet every consideration can be challenging (especially when there are so many things to consider throughout a construction project) but pump experts such as the engineers at Dura Pump will take the weight of specification from you and produce a series of plans/drawings based on a site survey/your specifications to find the best pump station for the job.
What happens if a pump station is incorrectly specified?
The answer isn’t straightforward when it comes to the potential of what could go wrong due to incorrect pump station specifications. However, the risk of something going wrong is very high and could range from minor inconveniences to catastrophic failure. At a construction stage, you need to be aware of the repercussions for future site users if something is overlooked and getting something right the second time around can be a lot more expensive and invasive than finding the right equipment for the job on the first go.
A school in Suffolk faced the consequences of incorrect pump specification shortly after the daily routine began. Constant blockages forced the school to incur thousands of pounds worth of costs for call-outs and tankering. The original pump system had not taken into account the demand of the building users and the pumps and pipework were not even remotely close to being able to handle the needs of a large school.
Dura Pump were contacted to provide our service (after the school had unfortunately suffered a lot of issues) and assessed what needed to be done. The pump station (pit) was rebuilt with correctly specified components, and the two pumps our team installed will chop up debris and then discharge it into the 65mm rising main. This correct specification will reduce costly blockages.
Choosing Dura Pump means investing in reliability and safety for your facility. Talk to an expert about your needs
