Infrastructure Resilience: Addressing Non-Flushable Debris in Men’s Prison
The Challenge
A Category C men’s prison in the UK was facing severe and persistent issues with blockages caused by an extreme debris accumulation within its main pump station.
The prison’s wastewater system experienced:
- Frequent blockages, restricting flow and causing premature pump failure.
- Repeated downtime, requiring reactive maintenance.
- Escalating tanker costs, as tankers had to be called out regularly to remove debris and solidified rag to restore functionality.
- Operational disruption, with maintenance teams forced to respond both pro-actively to monitor the system and reactively to failures that put pressure on staffing and budgets.
The existing pumping arrangement was unable to sufficiently break down or disperse the heavy load generated on site, resulting in a continuous cycle of blockage, tanker intervention and system recovery. The prison needed a long-term, intelligent, automated solution that would not only manage the problem—but eliminate it entirely. The final straw came with the combined failure of both pumps putting the prison on an emergency footing.
The Solution
Dura Pump recommended the installation of its advanced Velocity Sentinam System, designed specifically to tackle this exact issue.
While the prison moves towards full adoption of the Sentinam System, Dura Pump has immediately supplied and installed a pair of macerator pumps as an interim measure. Tanker costs have been brought back under control and the system is running again. We achieved this all within one week.
This has allowed the site to immediately begin addressing the root cause of the blockages, delivering:
- Improved break-up of incoming solids.
- Reduced Fat, Oils and Grease (FOG) settling within the wet well.
- Lower risk of emergency blockages.
This transitional step has provided the prison with immediate partial relief.
The Outcome
Even with the temporary installation of the macerator pumps, the prison has already experienced meaningful improvements:
- Fewer blockages, as solids are broken down more effectively.
- Reduced tanker callouts, resulting in immediate cost savings.
- Improved system reliability, lowering unplanned maintenance and operational stress.
The prison has reported a noticeable reduction in disruption and is already seeing the benefits of transitioning toward a fully engineered Velocity Sentinam solution.
Where the prison previously faced constant downtime, repeated tanker visits and mounting operational costs, it is now on track for a fully optimised, blockage-free wastewater system that will deliver both financial and operational resilience for years to come.
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