Pumping stations are the beating heart of day-to-day infrastructure. Most people won’t even realise they are there, but when they go wrong, the effects can be very obvious, as wastewater or sewage removal is disrupted – the most visible example of a problem. However, for operators, they also come with issues that are just as important to avoid in terms of installation, running costs, maintenance and repair. Here’s our rundown of the top five to be aware of:
#1 On-site labour and installation delays
Tight work schedules can be compounded by the skilled labour shortages currently faced across the whole UK construction industry. With predictions suggesting another 250,000+ skilled workers will be required in the next 5 years to meet demand, things look set to get worse. Offsite production is a viable and affordable way to sidestep this skills shortage and ensure projects come in on time and within budget.
#2 Surface water runoff and flood risk
1-in-100-year storms have become increasingly common across the UK over the last decade. And they don’t just happen every century. In reality, there’s a 1% chance of them occurring in any given year. This is enough risk to require that pumping stations be designed and built to cope with sudden demand that can occur with little or no notice, preventing the type of catastrophic flooding and pollution incidents that have become regular news stories.
#3 Maintenance access and lifecycle costs
Regular pumping station maintenance is a necessity to reduce costs, extend system life, and ensure the system stays safe and compliant. However, many pumping stations are situated in difficult or dangerous-to-access locations, requiring specialist engineers. All of which adds considerably to the facility’s life-cycle costs, making maintenance expense one of the major issues facing pump station operators.
#4 Working within live site constraints
When a site is operational, downtime is a costly option that most operators wish to avoid. This makes working on a pump station in a live environment, such as an infrastructure, residential, or industrial environment, difficult. Unless the pump station has been designed to allow repair to be carried out with no disruption to service, work needs to be scheduled at times when access is available, and disruption will be minimised.
#5 Blockages and real-world challenges
Debris, fats, oil and grease (FOG) and solids can all be capable of bringing a pumping system to a standstill if dealing with them was not factored into the original design. As they don’t break down like biodegradable waste, they can tangle around impellers and build up into dense masses, restricting flow, reducing pump efficiency and triggering alarms and callouts. Not only expensive and inconvenient, but also risking the incidence of pollution and non-compliance. Chances are, this type of problem will reoccur time after time unless the station’s design and equipment are reviewed and assessed to ensure they are of the right specification.
Dutypoint’s offsite solutions can help
Choosing offsite solutions can help you get the pump station right from the very beginning, by reducing on-site labour and giving you full control of the design, specification and testing. Packaged plant rooms are a proven way to streamline projects and optimise efficiency. Learn more about offsite production solutions or speak to our team to avoid pump station issues from the outset.
