When we look at pumps that transfer liquid waste such as sewer, they need to be able to handle solid particles much larger than a conventional sump pumps used in a domestic storm water holding facility.
Cutting, grinding or macerating pumps use cutting blades to munch up the waste which in turn enables the pump to then transfer the waste. Majority of sewer pumping systems can handle particles up to 35mm in diameter allowing for objects which might get missed in the macerating process to still be moved through discharge lines.
What A Correct Pump Installation Should Comprise Of
In a correctly installed sewer pump station, the discharge hose will be constructed of flexible ribbed suction pipe or solid wall white PVC pressure pipes and at minimum size of 1 and 1/4inch/32mm in diameter and most of the time it will be 2inch/50mm in commercial applications. In a commercial application there will typically be two pumps installed inside the chamber.
It is crucial that these discharge lines have a brass or stainless-steel swing check non-return valve installed. The non-return swing check valve should be installed as close as possible to the pumps and in most cases, it is inside the pit near the access hatch. The swing check non return valve stops the wastewater which has already been pumped out of the chamber re-entering and this avoids short cycling of the pumps.
When there are two pumps installed in the one pit, they will be controlled by a CPU mounted above ground on the wall near the underground pumping station which allows each pump to run equal times and operate at alternative intervals. The advantage of this set up is that it ensures each cutting pump gets an equal number of hours use maximising the pumps life spans.
The submersible macerating pumps are controlled via mercury float switches which tell the pump when to turn on and when to turn off. If in the case of a fault, there is also a high-level float which will activate a high-level alarm (visual and audible) to bring the problem to the attention of the property owners which will need to have a service company such as Mayfair Plumbing to attend the pump fault. Our licensed pump technicians are trained to work on all types of sewerage pumps, and we carry all the parts to repair all the major brands across Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. Common brands such as Reefe, Flyght, Grundfos, Davey, Saniflo, Paddock, Bianco, Hyjet, Ultraflow, Pedrollo and Zenox are all brands of pumps which we work with on daily basis.
A good quality pump for this application will have a solid cast iron external body with high quality internals for the shaft made from stainless steel and the cutter blades made from hardened tungsten metal. The electrical workings which are submerged will be encased inside a triplex seal system to protect the motor for electrical failure. Given that these sewerage pumps are always submerged in water it is crucial that all electrical connections coming from the control box to the sewer chamber are watertight. When a new electrical connection is required in the pit our pump technicians always use a 2-part epoxy sealing system to ensure a watertight resin joint is achieved.
Applications Sewer Pumps Are Used In
A sewer pump is used for applications where conventional methods of transferring waste via gravity cannot be achieved. In Adelaide we find many homes in St Georges, Springfield, Bridgewater, Crafers and Beaumont have a sewer and storm water pumping station installed. These properties are set up with bathrooms, kitchens and entertaining rooms where the drainpipes are below the level where gravity fed drain lines can remove the liquids from the property through conventional methods used in hydraulic plumbing as per AS/NZ3500.
In the city of Adelaide nearly every multi storey property has a sewer pumping station, given that many of the operating systems such as kitchens and plant rooms are below street level which require the assistance of a sewer pump to get the waste back out to the SA Water sewer drainage in the street.
A drain will be installed the same way as if it was going to street connection except it will now go to the storage chamber below ground level. These pumping chambers are not always installed in the ground. Take for example a multi storey building in the CBD where they have car parks below ground level you may find a pumping station installed on the floor at the lower levels of this car park with all the drain lines suspended and graded to fall into this pit.
Ongoing Maintenance
Like most pieces of infrastructure installed for plumbing they are quiet often out of sight and out of mind. It is for this reason Mayfair Plumbing recommend quarterly inspections of all pumps. A quarterly inspection involves testing of all float switches, testing of non-return valves, cleaning of chamber and all parts (including ensuring all cables are free to moves), running of pumps and checking the impeller is free of any obstructions and confirmation that all electrical components inside the control box are working including the high-level alarms both audible and visual.
When a Kelco Intelligent Controller is installed on a pumping system it will provide us with data on what previous faults have occurred and what the error code the pump is currently in.
Whatever your sewer, rainwater and storm water pump requirements are across Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills of South Australia you can trust Mayfair Plumbing for all your pump needs.
Our team have recently expanded its pump division to now cover the Fleurieu Peninsula, Eyre Peninsula, and the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia for all types of pump maintenance.
We offer and all hours 7 days of the week emergency call out service for any type of pump failure in the case that your pump breaks down after hours. Just call 0429 361 819 and get fast reliable pump repairs today, trust Mayfair Plumbing – Adelaide’s preferred pump technicians.