Everyone needs a backup

Many states, like Iowa, require every town or village with a wastewater lift station to have a backup system capable of being installed quickly to provide complete emergency bypass while the lift station is out of service, or to have a second independent source of power capable of running a downed lift station.

While in many cases, it's fine to use a portable trash pump for this purpose, portable pumps aren't designed to give continuous unattended operation. Someone needs to be close at hand in order to make sure the backup pump is still running and to refuel the pump, as often as once every few hours if the pump runs continously.

Big storms mean high flows

It's important to be realistic about the bypass requirement: Pump station failures are most likely to occur during strong storms that bring heavy rainfall, because that's when the station is most likely to lose electric power. The heavier the storm, the more likely it is to cause power outages -- and at the same time, the heavier the flows it forces into your sewer system and into the lift station's wet well.

Well-designed collection systems take this into account and ensure that backup pumps can be brought into service in case of emergency so the water can "go around" the pumps that are down. The conditions that are most likely to make lift station bypass necessary are also the worst possible conditions you'll normally have to work under.

Gorman-Rupp Silent Pump
Note how close the neighbors are -- at less than 70 dB, they won't even notice that it's running

The Silent Pump gets water moving again

Gorman-Rupp has turned this nightmare scenario on its head by creating the simplest, most reliable lift station bypass system anywhere: The Gorman-Rupp Silent Pump.

The Gorman-Rupp Silent Pump is a fully self-contained, completely portable lift station. It runs on a Gorman-Rupp Super-T Series self-priming, solids-handling pump -- the most reliable sewage pump in the business. The Super-T Series pump is outfitted with a reliable engine and a hearty fuel tank, along with a complete set of easy-to-use operator controls.

The Gorman-Rupp Silent Pump is designed for rapid plug-and-play deployment -- simply drop your bypass lines into the wetwell, connect to the discharge force main, and start the Silent Pump from the operator control panel mounted inside the trailer. Silent Pump's fully-automatic operation lets you focus on the important work you have to do.

If you expect a longer-term bypass requirement, connect the Silent Pump to the lift station's level controls or float switches and connect to local power or a generator. The Silent Pump can even be connected to the station's automatic dialer.

Much quieter than a generator

What's even better about the Gorman-Rupp Silent Pump is what's behind the name: It's so quiet, the neighbors probably won't even know it's running. The Silent Pump is outfitted with impressive sound attenuation features, including an insulation package that makes it run as quiet as a whisper.

An investment in a Gorman-Rupp Silent Pump isn't just a matter of convenience for your operators, it's a matter of compliance with the law and an investment in the happiness of the local residents, not to mention their health and safety. It only takes one sewage backup to make people sick or to rack up enormous repair bills.

For more information on a Gorman-Rupp Silent Pump, please contact us and we'll be happy to help.

Resources