Preventative Maintenance for Pumping Station Success
Pumping stations frequently feature as part of a development's drainage infrastructure, providing a crucial service when access to the drainage system is not available via traditional gravity methods.
Often positioned below ground, they are an easy asset to ignore, only to raise their heads when a system fails, resulting in a potentially hazardous, messy clean-up process a risk to the surrounding environment.
Regular, routine maintenance is key, ensuring that a pumping station performs within its optimum condition, avoiding unexpected service interruptions and consequences.
Pump station and maintenance experts T-T discuss different approaches to maintenance and the best way to keep your system running smoothly and reliably.
Corrective Maintenance
Reactive maintenance occurs as a direct result of an incident taking place. Often time-critical as such needs are frequently required as a direct result of a system failure, putting the pumping station operation at risk.
A costly process, requiring elongated periods of labour from qualified engineers, replacement parts which can be costly, plus the added expense of other impacted services or customers that are directly affected by an inoperable system.
The appointment of a tanker may be required to maintain the flows entering a pumping station or to cleanse the system whilst such maintenance works are taking place.
One significant key factor, often overlooked during corrective maintenance, is the cause of the event. The incident may be a result of the deterioration of a key operational component, exposure to a contributing factor that could have been captured ahead of the failure taking place, with the very real risk of repetition.
Though it may be necessary from time to time, corrective maintenance is generally disruptive, uneconomical and not conducive to maintaining an effective pumping station.
Scheduled Maintenance
Scheduled maintenance involves planning periodic services of a pump station, either annually or biannually, subject to the critical nature of the application served, the risks and significance attributed to a system failure, which all feed directly into the frequency of required service intervals.
Employing the services of specialists like T-T and their in-house maintenance division, T-T Service®, will ensure your site receives the right amount of care for its needs.
During scheduled maintenance, key components are observed:
- Pumps, valves and level controls are cleaned to ensure no blockages or obstructions inhibit their operation.
- All electro-mechanical components are tested to ensure they are performing efficiently according to the original design.
- Key items prone to wear (impellers, mechanical seals) are checked and replaced when necessary and finally, lubricating oils within the pump are also checked for contamination and replaced if necessary.
Scheduled maintenance by competent and qualified engineers will reduce risk and avoid issues such as those detailed previously within this article and is as important as the product itself.
Preventative Maintenance
A more modern approach as this directly involves the need for telemetry (remote monitoring), via which the health and operation of a pumping station can be observed, changes to traditional performance trends identified and corrective actions taken, often before a physical incident takes place, avoiding the needs to expensive repairs, parts and labour.
Remote monitoring systems like T-T's Seer® telemetry relay live operating data to users and securely store this within the cloud.
Data is used to establish a pump station’s normal operating behaviour – this serves as a reference for daily performance, with discrepancies in data highlighting the need for attention and investigation.
For example:
- Data shows that the system took longer than usual for the system to empty.
- Further investigation revealed extended pump running duration via one of the two installed pumps, indicative of a compromised valve.
- Maintenance operatives are informed and arrive on site with the knowledge and parts needed to complete the repair, increasing labour efficiency.
Preventative maintenance and supporting technology are often seen as an additional cost, yet when directly compared to the costs of a system failure due to lack of maintenance, the life cost of the system is often significantly reduced.
Reliable. Responsive. Ready 24/7.
Ensure your pump station runs smoothly with T-T’s expert service support. Our customisable maintenance packages are tailored to your site’s exact needs—offering everything from scheduled servicing and 24/7 remote monitoring to priority access to critical spare parts.
Take the stress out of pump maintenance—chat with one of our experts today by calling 01630 647200, emailing response@ttpumps.com or completing our online enquiry form.