Romtec Utilities designed, built, and supplied a stormwater runoff lift station for the Georgia-Pacific paper mill in Camas, Washington. New regulations classified runoff from the South Mill entrance as industrial stormwater. As a result, the mill needed to collect the runoff and send it to its treatment system. However, the site slope did not allow gravity flow. The completed pumping system can move up to 600 gallons per minute at 16 feet of total dynamic head.

Georgia-Pacific owns the paper mill in Camas, Washington, where tissue products are made. The mill is in Clark County along the Columbia River. It is near Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.

For this project, Georgia-Pacific Camas asked Romtec Utilities to supply a stormwater pump station that met new state regulations. The Washington State Department of Ecology oversees water, waste, and cleanup work at the site. These requirements support proper stormwater collection and help protect water quality in the nearby Columbia River.

Romtec Utilities supplied a complete stormwater lift station. The system collects stormwater runoff in a precast concrete wet well.

• The wet well is 6 feet wide inside and 12.66 feet deep.
• Two 3-horsepower Ebara submersible pumps take turns moving water. They send it through 4-inch discharge pipes to the mill’s collection system.
• Four NOLTA MS1 floats send water-level signals to an alternator relay control panel.
• A NEMA 4X stainless steel enclosure protects the controls.

Georgia-Pacific’s crew installed the lift station. Romtec Utilities then started and tested the system. Together, the teams helped route industrial runoff to the mill’s treatment system and support site compliance.

The completed stormwater runoff lift station collects industrial runoff from the South Mill entrance and pumps it to the mill’s treatment system. The system overcomes the site’s elevation limits and provides reliable pumping during normal runoff and larger storm events. It also helps Georgia-Pacific meet its stormwater management requirements.

The main challenge was moving industrial stormwater from the South Mill entrance to the mill’s treatment system. The site slope did not allow gravity flow. Therefore, Georgia-Pacific needed a lift station that could collect runoff and pump it to the existing system.

The station also had to manage changing flow rates. It needed to handle normal runoff as well as larger storm events. At the same time, the design had to fit the available space near a sloped parking area. The system also needed to collect water from the parking area and a nearby French drain.

In addition, the new equipment had to connect with the mill’s existing collection and treatment system. Romtec Utilities had to match the pumps, wet well, controls, and alarms to the site conditions. The final design needed to support safe operation, easy maintenance, and state stormwater requirements.

Romtec Utilities designed a duplex lift station that collects runoff from the parking area and nearby French drain. Two submersible pumps move the water to the mill’s existing collection system. The wet well stores incoming runoff, while the floats and control panel manage pump operation. Romtec Utilities matched each component to the site elevation, required flow, and daily operating needs.

Key design considerations included:

• Owner and operator control preferences
• Required pumping capacity
• Site elevations and discharge conditions
• Potential industrial contaminants
• Wet-well sizing and pump selection
• Alarm and control requirements
• Maintenance access
• Installation and commissioning needs

This project gave Georgia-Pacific a reliable way to move industrial runoff to its existing treatment system. Romtec Utilities designed and supplied the complete lift station, then provided startup and testing. As a single-source partner, Romtec Utilities helped keep the equipment, controls, and project needs aligned from design through operation. Need a custom stormwater runoff lift station? Contact Romtec Utilities to discuss your site, flow needs, and project goals.