When it comes to wastewater, stormwater, and industrial process water pump stations, the site layout is one of the most critical design elements that often gets overlooked. Site layout is incredibly critical to the project because it affects how all of the components fit and work together. It also affects accessibility and can impact safety on the site. Throughout our experience supplying lift stations, Romtec Utilities has come to understand the importance of the site layout when it comes to designing a successful lift station.
Every project is unique in its needs and design, and each site will have different physical requirements that need accommodated. For a successful project, site constraints need to be taken into consideration very early on. Once flow and total dynamic head (TDH) for the lift station is determined, the next step is to layout the proposed equipment on the site civil plan. This gives both Romtec Utilities experts and our customer an idea of how everything will fit, how easy the lift station will be to access, how components and their safety clearances will impact the site, and if the site will be able to accommodate vehicular access. Determining this early on will prevent any confusion, redesign, and wasted time later in the project.
Romtec Utilities lift stations can include a wide variety of components in our systems, including the pumps and wet well, valve vaults, flow meters, generators, control panels, power meters, disconnect stands, and automatic transfer switches. Each of these is going to have their own safety considerations and clearances that need to be considered in relation to each other and site elements such as light poles, control buildings or shelters, junction boxes, fencing, security gates, and vehicle access. Some lift stations may even incorporate chemical feed systems to combat odors, or grinders/ “muffin monsters” that sit in-line with the piping and grind up any solids that are in the system. Some customers also elect to install davit cranes on site to lift heavy items such as the pumps. With all the components that can be added to a lift station design, and all of the components that could already exist on the site, it is important to have a clear understanding of what will fit on the site layout and where.
Overlooking the site layout before finishing design of the pumping station could result in a design that does not work on the site, whether because it simply does not fit in the space allotted, or because the layout was not carefully thought out. Mistakes such as this can lead to a significant amount of redesign later in the project, and can add a significant delay to project completion, especially if the initial design cannot be reworked to accommodate the site.
In addition to ensuring that everything fits and works well together on the site, a good site layout can improve the ease of maintenance by providing easy access to all components and giving maintenance personnel adequate space to work in. By providing ample workspace, maintenance personnel can work safely and more efficiently to upkeep or repair the system. Romtec Utilities understands how important maintenance is to the life of the lift station and designs our systems with operations and maintenance personnel in mind. In our eyes, a system design that has been done correctly allows both the pump station and the maintenance personnel to perform their duties with minimal interruption or hassle.
Romtec Utilities has decades of experience in designing package pumping systems and has learned valuable lessons along the way. Romtec experts have come to understand the importance of the site layout when it comes to a system design as well as incorporating the site layout very early on in the project. The site layout is a crucial element of the project that impacts how well a lift station functions, how well personnel can access the system, and what is possible to achieve in the project. Overall, the site and the equipment layout need to work in harmony with the layout of the site, with all the site components that are underground and above grade, and Romtec Utilities has both the expertise and experience to provide this for our customers.