Electric submersible pump is another game-changing rental solution
Located 45 miles south of Nashville, the city of Columbia, Tennessee, has a population of approximately 36,000 people and is the county seat of Maury County.
As part of its wastewater system, the city maintains 317 miles of gravity enforced main sewer lines, 25 pump stations and a 14 million gallons per day (MGD) wastewater treatment plant. In recent years, Columbia has engaged in sewer rehabilitation projects to help reduce or eliminate system overflows, including renovating and replacing several existing pump stations.
Among the pump stations slated to undergo scheduled upgrades sometime in 2020 was the Santa Fe Pike pump station. But before those repairs could begin, the station experienced a major pump failure during the spring of 2020 that led to sewage overflows, spurring the city of Columbia to engage Xylem Rental Solutions for emergency pump rental. The local Nashville branch quickly dispatched a Godwin HL250 diesel pump for an emergency sewer bypass system.
The Challenge
Once the initial crisis was under control, the city of Columbia decided to move ahead with the $1.2 million planned upgrades for the Santa Fe Pike facility. City officials hired W&O Construction as the contractor on the project.
To maintain treatment operations while the upgrades were completed, W&O Construction needed to set up a temporary sewer bypass system, and because rehabbing the pump station would take several months to complete, the Columbia Wastewater Department made the decision to switch to electricdrive pumps to improve pumping efficiency and reduce operating costs. For temporary bypass projects that last longer than three months, electric bypass pumps are a cost-effective option as they do not rely on expensive diesel fuel.
However, Xylem Rental Solutions hit a snag in the process – the only Godwin electric option in the local fleet (Godwin HL250 pump with a 450 hp motor) was too powerful for the site’s 400 amp service.