For this stormwater runoff lift station, Romtec Utilities designed a lift station for the Georgia Pacific paper plant in Camas, Washington. Due to a classification of the stormwater from normal to industrial it needed to be collected and treated with a stormwater runoff lift station.

We worked hand in hand with Georgia Pacific to design a system that would meet their daily operative needs and that is able to pump up to 600 gallons per minute for any large storm events. We have designed a variety of stormwater lift stations in this Camas, Vancouver, and Portland areas and are considered the expert in pump station design and supply.

Camas, Washington is a city in Clark County, close to the Washington and Oregon border. The city sits along the Columbia River on its southern edge, while Vancouver, WA sits immediately to the west.

In the Guard Shack project, Georgia Pacific Camas came to Romtec Utilities for the supply of a stormwater pump station to meet increased requirements of the Washington State Department of Ecology (WDOE). The pump station is located near the guard shack at the entrance into operations at the paper plant. Due to a review of the stormwater at the paper plant’s South Mill entrance, the stormwater was classified as industrial and needed to be collected for treatment. But due to the topography, it couldn’t be fed into the existing mill collection system.

Georgia Pacific is a national paper goods manufacturer that currently owns the paper mill in Camas, Washington. The Georgia Pacific paper mill in Camas opened in the 1880’s and continues to make tissue paper but used to produce communications paper for many years before closing its pulping operations.

The water, waste, and cleanup activities at the paper mill site are regulated by the WDOE to ensure that hazardous wastes do not end up in the nearby Columbia River (“Georgia Pacific, Camas”, n.d.). After review of the stormwater at Georgia Pacific Camas’ South Mill Entrance, it was reclassified from normal to industrial stormwater and therefore needed to be collected for treatment.

The topography of the area prevented the South Mill Entrance storm water from being gravity fed into the existing mill collection system and therefore required a pump station to ensure the stormwater could be properly collected by the main system and sent out for appropriate treatment.

Romtec Utilities supplied Georgia Pacific with a stormwater lift station that would meet their needs. The lift station collects stormwater runoff into a precast concrete 6’ inner diameter wet well that is 12.66’ in depth. At the bottom of the wet well, two Ebara 3 horsepower submersible pumps alternate to pump the water through 4” discharge piping and valves to the mill collection system. The pumps are controlled by an alternator relay control panel that receives water level signals from four NOLTA MS1 floats inside of the wet well. For protection, the controls are housed in a NEMA 4X Stainless Steel enclosure.

Romtec Utilities worked directly with Georgia Pacific Camas to design and supply the stormwater lift station and meet the requirements of the WDOE. Georgia Pacific’s crew performed installation of the lift station, and Romtec Utilities was able to perform a successful startup and commission of the station. The effort of everyone involved and the prompt action of Georgia Pacific will protect the Columbia River from hazardous runoff and makes another step towards reducing environmental harm from production facilities.

The stormwater lift station can pump up to 600 gallons per minute with a @ 16’ TDH. At the Georgia Pacific paper mill site, there is a large, slanted parking lot where trailers and equipment is stored. This is where the stormwater lift station was positioned to handle stormwater runoff from a nearby french drain and parking lots.

The stormwater lift station helps eliminate any chemicals or pollutants from entering the stormwater that would eventually reach the nearby Columbia River.

We sent a site technician to ensure the system was installed according to the design. They also provided the commissioning of the system, along with training of the maintenance personnel on the operations, controls, and alarms.

As the designer, manufacturer, and supplier of the complete stormwater lift station, we handled the entire project from start to finish. We worked alongside Georgia Pacific on their control preferences, along with working through the pumping requirements, the site design, and components that would meet the needs of the project.

Things to consider when designing a stormwater lift station at a production plant or industrial plant:

-control preferences of the owner/operator
-pump preferences or pumping environment
-what is your pumping plan?
-what contaminants could enter the stormwater during storm events?
-what is the best way to deal with industrial stormwater?

We handle the entire process from start to finish to help with every step of the design, manufacture, and supply of the complete stormwater lift station. As the single source provider, we have a high level of quality control which is why we handle manufacturing of the system, prior to delivery. This cuts down on installation costs, time, and equipment needed.

Our team handles the warranty as well, so you don’t have to contact individual companies for specific components. We handle the entire process, hassle free.

If you have a stormwater lift station project, contact us today where we can get started on the design to help meet your project’s pumping needs!