Romtec Utilities supplies lift stations all across the nation, and has vast experience in designing the perfect lift station for our customers and their projects. In the Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus project, Romtec Utilities took on the task of supplying four lift stations to be installed at Microsoft’s new campus in Mountain View, California. These four lift stations, two wastewater and two stormwater, are distributed throughout the campus to collect and treat stormwater and wastewater while achieving a “net-zero” usage.

The Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus is a new 643,000 square foot corporate campus that is Microsoft’s “smartest, greenest office yet with a net zero non-potable water system and one of the largest Cross-Laminated Timber structures currently in North America.” The new campus features an official Microsoft retail store, fitness and recreation centers, a “corporate experience center”, an events center, and ample food availability through the main dining hall, restaurants, and cafes. With the employee in mind, Microsoft has gone to great lengths to ensure that their latest facility gives back to the employees, encourages healthy lifestyles, has minimal impact on the environment, and integrates the technology that Microsoft is known for. (“Silicon Valley Campus Fact Sheet”, 2020)

Romtec Utilities supplied both the stormwater and the wastewater systems to achieve the “net-zero” usage goals on the project. According to the Environmental Protection Agency “Net Zero is all about conserving water, reducing energy use, and eliminating solid waste to improve the environment, save money, and help communities become more sustainable and resilient.” (“Net Zero Resources”, 2021)

Net Zero Resources. US EPA. (2021). Retrieved 8 January 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/water-research/net-zero-resources.

Silicon Valley Campus Fact Sheet. news.microsoft.com. (2020). Retrieved 26 December 2021, from https://news.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/561/2020/07/Silicon-Valley-Campus-Fact-Sheet_7_30_2020.pdf.

The two stormwater lift stations are designated as Rainwater A & B, and are designed to handle the water collected by the roofs of nearby structures. The two wastewater lift stations are designated as the CUP and Eastside lift stations, and will manage the waste from the new campus. Each lift station is housed in a 6 ft inner diameter precast concrete wet well, and utilizes Ebara Submersible solids handling pumps (with variations in size to accommodate the different pumping needs of each station). All of the stations are controlled by alternator relays, and use NOLTA MS1 floats as the primary or secondary level sensors.

This project was brought to Romtec by McGuire and Hester, who installed the four lift stations on the site. In addition to McGuire and Hester, Romtec Utilities also worked with Rudolph and Sletten, Natural Systems Utilities, and Microsoft to ensure a successful project. Romtec Utilities would like to thank McGuire and Hester for bringing this project to us, and for the successful install of our lift stations on the job site. The hard work of everyone involved has allowed Microsoft’s Silicon Valley Campus to reach their goals and open their new campus in the Bay Area.