GROUNDWORKS Pump priming
Darren George of Willow Pumps looks at recent developments in pump station design, to provide ease as well as efficiency
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t’s safe to say the aim at the outset of any project is the completion of a build on time and on budget. But most industry professionals will have experience of a construction project that has encountered problems – unforeseen issues that cause delays, extra cost, or breakdown of client relationships.
Services such as pump station design and installation, both for private and ‘adoptable’ stations, can be a fundamental part of a construction project where gravity fed drainage is unachievable, and this needn’t be a problem if approached professionally and at an early stage. This can be of particular importance on adoptable stations so that all site constraints can be considered and assessed to help ensure that the pump station is designed and installed to a standard that would allow a water utility company to ‘adopt’ the asset in the future. A pump station designed to adoptable standards is often preferred over a private one, as the eventual ownership and responsibility for upkeep and maintenance will transfer to a water utility company and no longer present a liability for those who built or rely on the pump station.
Get it right from the start Even at concept stage – before drawings are completed and a build has begun – answering key questions about Sewerage Sector Guidance (the replacement for SFA – Sewers for Adoption) or private pump stations can save future headaches. What size of pump station will be required for the planned build? How much space will this take up on site? Where on site will it be most efficient to place it? What will the specific requirements of the local water authority be? By directing these questions to your pump station designer as early as possible, all requirements are understood from the outset and designs can include optimal rather than substandard solutions, avoiding costly changes and corrections being made further down the line.
ADF APRIL 2021
59
Every build is different, and pump station design should be considered as a bespoke solution for each specific project. Even between two similar projects (for example, two residential housing builds of roughly the same size), the specific requirements can vary. This might be something as simple as the size of space required for pumping facilities or unique limitations of a particular site.
By relying on precedent, or standard solutions from previous projects, groundworks crews can end up being instructed to create spaces that don’t fit the ultimate need, and responsibility for this mistake can find its way back to initial engineering or architectural planning. The process of integrating pump stations of adoptable standard or other pumping facilities can be viewed as a life cycle, from initial assessment through design, approval, installation and management, and
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