Romtec Utilities offers design expertise for complete pumping systems for all types of water from wastewater to clean water and everything in between. A major benefit of our design and engineering experience is the advantages that our pumping systems offer to contractors and installers during the lift station construction. Each of our pumping systems includes practical and helpful features that expedite the process and reduce errors. These features include complete site-specific system documentation, lift station design innovations, and an on-site Romtec Utilities advisor. Romtec Utilities also provides turnkey lift stations.
The first installation advantage is the complete documentation that is developed for each new lift station or repair & retrofit project. The documentation begins by describing the scope of work for each party involved. The scope outlines the specific roles of each organization to reduce any miscommunication of responsibilities. The next important section of the documentation provides the total system design with all elevations, dimensions, and bills of materials. After the drawings, complete product specification are provided for all major system components.
The sum total of our system documentation completely outlines the entire project from start to finish. The biggest benefit to this approach is that each party can review, comment, and agree on a process that has a defined starting point and a defined ending point. Before our lift station packages arrive onsite, the complete system is typically understood by all responsible installing parties. This works well for individual contractors, but it also works well for subcontractors operating on larger project jobsites. In fact, older versions of our documentation can now be seen in use throughout the industry.
After designing and constructing nothing but pumping systems for nearly 15 years, Romtec Utilities has created a number of small but significant design innovations. These innovations add almost no cost to a lift station package, but they make the installation and operation of our systems much better than systems that do not include them. The first innovation is the concrete barrel guide bracket. This is a very simple “peg and slot” mechanism that allows the barrel sections of precast concrete wet wells to be easily aligned below-grade. All of our concrete components arrive onsite with prefabricated hardware and pre-cored well penetrations. This means that in order for the system to be installed correctly, each barrel section must be aligned according to the lift station site drawings. Our simple brackets make this fast and easy, and the prefabricated hardware and penetrations save hours of site work for contractors.
Many of the prefabricated components constitute an innovation in their own right. Most lift stations run the electrical conduit through a disconnect stand or junction box. These devices make maintenance easier because the conduit from the control panel does not need to be disconnected and dug up. Romtec Utilities took the ease of these devices a step further. With our junction boxes, the electrical components sans conduit are preinstalled on adjustable brackets. For electricians, this makes conduit junctions faster and easier to make during the electrical installation. On our disconnect panels, one of the biggest advantages is the Romtec Utilities patented cable tray. This is a prefabricated “trough” that runs from the disconnect panel to the wet well. This innovation allows the complete in-well conduit and components to be disconnected and removed without any digging or otherwise disturbing the site. These two innovations not only help with installation time, but make future system maintenance much easier.
Two more prefabricated, in-well innovations from Romtec Utilities are the deflector panel and discharge piping mounting bracket. The mounting bracket is installed into the appropriate barrel and allows for easily installing and connecting the discharge piping to prefabricated pump elbows and the discharge penetrations. Deflector panels slow down water inflow to the well. The device itself does not improve the system installation; however, they are easily prefabricated in-place and require no added time for the installation of the system.
The final advantage Romtec Utilities offers for installation (as far as this blog is concerned) is our on-site installation advisor. This agent is onsite to assist the contractor in a strictly advisory role. They assist in explaining any questions with the documentation, describing the best practices for installation, and troubleshooting any unforeseen problems. Contractors are not mandated to take the advisors recommendations, rather this agent is available strictly as a helpful resource should it be needed.
Even with all of these beneficial installation advantages. The Easiest way to get a complete packaged lift station is to let Romtec Utilities design, supply, and install the complete system with our turnkey services. However you choose to get your system installed, Romtec Utilities will still be there to make it fast and simple. If you have any questions about installation or any other aspect of lift stations, contact us today to see how we can help your project.