The Need for Wastewater Pumps
Water is one of the most important elements for any industry. Be it paper manufacturing, sugar processing, chemical industries or more, water serves many purposes in the industrial plant. And, this essential element is becoming more and more scarce.
This means, industries have to look for ways to reuse water, thereby reducing the burden on the environment. Once water has served its use, it needs to be collected and dispatched to the wastewater treatment plant.
A wastewater treatment plant is one that treats used water and makes it suitable for other applications. In the treatment plant, wastewater flows through the system. Sometimes, wastewater has to be moved opposite to gravity. In such instances, you require a pumping station and pumps to create a stable and smooth flow of the wastewater throughout the treatment plant.
The Unique Challenges faced by Wastewater Pumps
Wastewater is trickier to transport. This is because it has plenty of rags, organic solids, debris and other waste water immersed in it. Also, it’s essential that the pumps you use for displacing wastewater are highly reliable, to prevent overflows and spills. In the unfortunate case that a spill occurs, it could lead to environmental pollution, thereby attracting huge fines from the local authorities.
This is why; you need to spend considerable time picking the right state-of-the-art pumps and wastewater pumping stations for your industry.
No worries, here at Sintech, we help you find the right wastewater pumps that meet your specific requirements. Let’s get started.
What to look for in a Wastewater Pump?
Here’s a quick look at the factors you have to consider while choosing a wastewater pump.
- Minimum energy use
- Maximum pumping reliability
- Aesthetically pleasing design (it has to be invisible)
- Features that deal with odour (mostly hydrogen sulphide)
- Intelligent control systems
- The pumps must suit even challenging pump station layouts
Types of Wastewater Pumps
There are several kinds of wastewater pumps. The common ones are:
- Single-stage dry well pumps. These are known as conventional wastewater pumps and are available in a vertical or horizontal configuration.
- Single-stage, solids handling, wet-well submersible pumps. Some particular types of submersible pumps are suited for both dry and wet well installations.
- Single-stage or two-staged solids handling pumps with vertical turbines.
When choosing the right type of wastewater pumps, you have to consider several factors like life-cycle economic costs, applicability, and more.
Quick Description of the Different Types of Pumps
- Conventional Wastewater Pumps
These are also known as non-clog, solids handling or dry-well pumps. Their main purpose is to pump liquids that contain soft solids and other stringy material. They don’t require frequent servicing and cleaning and operate without plugging. They can either be installed with horizontal or vertical mounting. Vertically mounted pumps use a motor on the pump frame or a life shaft.
These are non-clog pumps that are immersed in the wastewater for operation. They come equipped with powerful motors. They are installed directly in wet well. This means wastewater pumping stations that use submersible pumps don’t require a dry well. The pumping system construction above the ground is minimal. All that’s visible above surface is a concrete slab and a small housing construction for the control centre.
Conventional Vs Submersible Pumps – Which one to Choose?
Both these types of
wastewater pumps have pros and cons. here’s a look at the differences between them.
Submersible pumps don’t require a dry well. This means the construction and installation costs of this type of pump is way lesser when compared to conventional pumps. On the flipside, submersible pumps are not readily available for service and inspection and don’t give much warning of any impending problems. This means the cost of service and maintenance are higherwhen compared to conventional pumps. Also, if any repair occurs it could lead to lengthy downtimes.
When it comes to installing submersible pumps in wet-wells, it’s usually set up with a fixed discharging pipe that is supported by a tripod placed on the wet well floor. In such an installation, the wet well has to be drained during inspection, maintenance or service.
Another alternative method of installing submersible pumps is the new pull-up design. Here, the discharge pipes are connected to a specially designed elbow that’s permanently fixed to the wet well floor. The pump discharge and the elbow come with a self-locking coupling. This set up, comes with a mounting bracket that moves up and down on rails.
The pump can be raised or lowered into the wet well with the help of cables and cranes. The result, inspection personnel need not enter the wet-well and there’s no need to drain it during service.
A few types of
wastewater pumps that have submersible motors require continuous immersion in water during operation. They run only for short periods when exposed to air. Other advanced submersible pumps come with motors that provide internal cooling and can be operated continuously even at full loads, without immersion.
You can also find internally cooled pumps for dry-well installations too. These pumps are highly resistant to damage even if the dry well gets accidentally flooded. The minor drawback with these types of pumps is that they come with higher initial costs.
The latest pump in the non-clog pump world is the solids-handling,
vertical turbine pumps. As the name implies, these pumps have the best of both vertical turbines and solids-handling. It’s installed directly on the top of the wet well and there’s no need for a dry well. It uses an angle gear or motor that is placed on top of the pump discharge head.
This pump uses standard drivers and the drivers are easily accessible during maintenance or service. The discharge connections and the symmetrical bowl design can be mounted either below or above ground. Though this pump is a bit expensive, it reduces the need for a pumping station and dry well, thereby keeping the overall costs down.
Choose the Right Wastewater Pumps that meet your Industry Requirements
Now, that you’re aware of the working of the different types of wastewater pumps, we hope you can easily pick the best one that meets your specific requirements. And, if you need any further help, all you have to do is
reach out to our team of pump experts, here at Sintech, India’s most trusted supplier of wastewater pumps.
