For the residential community of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., durable cleaning wipes turned into a slow-building blockage, preventing its pump stations from operating at their full potential.
A loyal customer of Smith & Loveless (S&L) since the late 1960s, the city of Rancho Santa Fe invested in an underground custom series pump station in 1969 designed for 100 gal per minute (gpm). Later, it was retrofitted in 2000 with two 4C2A-rotating assemblies at 20 hp, which increased the flow to 500 gpm.
In recent times, the hand wipes would build up inside the pumps. Originally, it was thought the problem was due to the station’s Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) being ramped down to low rotations per minute during the middle of the night. Theoretically, these low-flow periods could cause trouble when pushing materials through.
However, after taking a closer look, workers diagnosed that the wipes were building up inside the impellers. The pumps wouldn’t throw out the obstinate wipes because the clogs obviously were getting worse and worse, binding inside the pump.
The pump station heard about the X-PELLER pump impeller and spoke to S&L technicians, who said they thought it sounded like the perfect remedy. Combating problem trash in the collection system is one of the main reasons underlining S&L’s creation of the X-PELLER, a single-port impeller specifically designed for high volumes of trash pumping applications and low flow conditions. This development ensures end users get the most out of their pump stations. Since installing it six months ago, the workers have noticed a big difference.
For this small community, S&L has been able to cost-effectively deliver solutions to today’s collection system challenges with the simplicity of changing an impeller. Rancho Santa Fe’s maintenance staff can now rest easy knowing that whatever material passes through, the X-PELLER will be there ready to help.
Source: Smith & Loveless Inc.
