Tag: strategies
Understanding primary secondary tertiary treatment is where permits, budgets, and operations collide for municipal plants. This article gives municipal engineers, licensed operators, and equipment manufacturers concise, practitioner-focused guidance: quantitative performance ranges, key design and control parameters, sizing rules of thumb, and the retrofit tradeoffs that actually determine project success. Expect actionable monitoring strategies, common failure […]
Introduction to High-Volume Pumping Systems In the realm of municipal stormwater management and large-scale raw water intake, the axial flow (propeller) pump is the workhorse of the industry. However, these high-flow, low-head machines are notoriously sensitive to installation conditions and hydraulic environments. A surprising statistic from reliability studies indicates that nearly 60% of premature failures […]
Introduction One of the most persistent failure modes in municipal and industrial fluid handling isn’t mechanical overload—it is the mismatch between pump metallurgy and fluid chemistry. Engineers often rely on legacy specifications, copying and pasting “Cast Iron Construction” for applications that have evolved in acidity or abrasiveness, or conversely, over-specifying exotic alloys for benign services, […]
INTRODUCTION The vast majority of municipal flood control and large-scale raw water intake infrastructure in North America was constructed between the 1950s and 1980s. Today, engineers face a critical ticking clock: massive concrete volute or vertical column axial flow pumps are reaching the end of their second or third lifecycle. The challenge is rarely as […]
INTRODUCTION In municipal water distribution and wastewater treatment, the vertical turbine pump (VTP) is a workhorse, valued for its efficiency and small footprint. However, when paired with Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) without rigorous thermal and mechanical analysis, these systems frequently suffer from premature failure. A surprising industry statistic suggests that up to 30% of vertical […]
Introduction In municipal wastewater lift stations and industrial effluent sumps, the submersible pump is often the most critical, yet least visible, asset. Because these units operate beneath the liquid surface, visual inspection during operation is impossible. Consequently, engineers and operators must rely heavily on external data and performance anomalies to identify impending failures. A surprising […]
Clarifier Tanks: How They Separate Solids in Treatment Article Overview Article Type: Informational Primary Goal: Explain how clarifier tanks remove and concentrate suspended solids in wastewater, provide the engineering principles and design parameters used to size and operate clarifiers, and give practical troubleshooting, retrofit, and vendor selection guidance for municipal and industrial wastewater professionals Who […]
INTRODUCTION One of the most persistent errors in municipal and industrial fluid handling involves applying centrifugal pump logic to positive displacement equipment. Engineers often approach pump curves expecting a single line intersecting a system curve, but when faced with an Air-Operated Double Diaphragm (AODD) performance chart, they encounter a complex grid of air pressures, air […]
Introduction In high-volume municipal flood control, stormwater management, and industrial water transport, the axial flow “propeller” pump is the workhorse of the hydraulic world. However, their unique specific speed characteristics and sensitivity to intake conditions make them prone to issues that differ significantly from standard centrifugal pumps. Engineers and operators frequently overlook the subtle precursors […]
INTRODUCTION One of the most persistent challenges in municipal and industrial fluid handling is not the pump itself, but the configuration of the installation. Engineers frequently encounter systems where high-quality rotating assemblies fail prematurely due to poor intake design, inaccessible valving, or structural resonance—issues directly tied to the physical installation method. Statistics from major utility […]