The Sea Weed In The Pump

For many years now, we have been performing half yearly inspections and maintenance of our customers dual pumping storm water system (as seen in the image on this page) on the Esplanade in Glenelg North.  This storm water pumping system is more of a commercial set up and designed to handle huge amounts of rain water for a long period of time and it is why this set up is so well suited to this location in Glenelg on the esplanade.

Inside the garage is an FPC-30021 control box (as seen in the image on this page) which controls the operation of these 2 x Lowara DOMO Xylem storm water pumps.  The purpose of the control box is to ensure equal operation of each pump so they get consistent use, but in the event of huge rains and potential waves throwing sea water down the drive way both pumps will activate and pump at once to avoid flooding of the garage which sits below street level.

2022 was a Wet Winter in Adelaide

Throughout the winter of 2022 in Adelaide, we had record amounts of rain and with these also very huge seas or otherwise known as king tides.  Unfortunately for our customer in Glenelg North lots of debris has washed onto their property and found its way into the storm water pit and consequently been sucked into the impellers of one of the pumps.

When a fault such as this occurs, it will set the flashing alarm beacon off located in the garage to inform the owners that there is a fault, and the pump needs servicing by a professional pump company such as Mayfair Plumbing.

Fixing the Faulty Storm Water Pump

In a situation like this we always attend with 2 people (1 plumber and 1 electrician) as the pumps are normally very heavy and require the lifting by 2 people.  In this case pump number 1 was in error mode.  Once the power was isolated, we were able to lift the pump.

When we lifted the pump out of the sump there was lots of sea weed hanging out the bottom of the pump’s impeller, this was certain to be the issue!  The pumps impeller has a cradle like device around it to keep the pump off the very bottom of the storm water sump and allow for the pump to suck adequate amounts of water to cool the pump and allow for minimalization of air locks.

Doing the Job Right Every Time

It is very well to just remove the sea weed from the pump and reinstall it into the chamber, but to help minimise this problem occurring immediately again we proceeded to clean out and empty the entire storm water sump pit.  In doing this we can be certain that the pumps will now work as designed.

Unfortunately, in situations such as coastal locations of South Australia in Glenelg, West Beach, and Somerton Park you are going to be exposed to more debris during storms because of the proximity to the beach.  With regular programmed maintenance we can help you stay on top of the potential issues which could cause the need to arise for an emergency plumber call out in Glenelg.

If you need help with your property’s pumps, please call Mayfair Plumbing today on 0429 361 819 we offer emergency plumbers when you need it for everything plumbing related.