At the beginning of 2010, KSB Group of Mexico received the order to equip La Caldera pumping station in Mexico City with 24 large wastewater pumps. Sixteen of these are among the largest wastewater pumps that KSB is building at its plant in Halle, Germany. Each of the submersible motor pumps type Amarex KRT K 700-900 weighs around 10,500 kg and has an output of approximately 2,000 liters per second. The pumps will be driven by 10-pole high-voltage motors of 4,160 volts and a drive rating of 680 kW. The impellers of the pumps measure around 800 mm in diameter. Thanks to their channel impellers, the pumps achieve an efficiency upwards of 83%, the company said.
The station at La Caldera is a combined wastewater/storm water pumping station with a total capacity of 40 cu meters per second. During heavy downpours, parts of the city are flooded by storm water and wastewater. Although the city is situated on a plateau, the subsoil is subsiding. This means that the gradient is no longer steep enough for the wastewater pipes. As a further aggravating factor, the amount of storm water to be handled has steadily increased in the recent past. To solve the problem, the municipal authorities of Mexico City have started modernizing various canals and pumping stations. La Caldera is one of the worst-affected parts of the city.
The KSB Group received the order against North American and Spanish competition because the Group could back up its offer with numerous international references, the company said. Another reason for the customer’s decision was that the first pump units would be ready for shipment already in May of this year.
Source: KSB Group
