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A pump station is a storage tank which accepts wastewater. Within the pump station there will be at least one pump, and often two pumps. These pumps will require electricity and will lift the water to wherever you require it to go. The storage tank (sometimes referred to as: Chamber, Tank or Sump) can come in varying sizes. Pumps can also vary in power, depending on how far and high water needs to be pumped.
Therefore, we have three distinct variables to look at:
The first thing to consider is the chamber size. Selecting this is based on 2 factors. These are:
If you are pumping sewage from the whole house, you will require 24 hours’ worth of emergency storage. The below table details what storage volumes should be used. It is worth noting that 150 litres per person should be used, and the maximum potential flow should also be considered. Furthermore, it is advisable to select the next size chamber up from the max flow.
| Bedrooms | Maximum People | Minimum Tank Volume |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 5 | 750 litres |
| 4 | 6 | 900 Litres |
| 5 | 7 | 1050 Litres |
| 6 | 8 | 1200 Litres |
In an emergency, for example a power cut, or serious problem with the pumps, 24 hours storage provides you with one day to get someone to fix the problem.
When selecting the right chamber size, another consideration is the depth of your inlet pipe in relation to the depth of the chamber you choose.
For example: If you discover that you require an 800L chamber, and you find that the chamber for an 800 Litre tank is 1m deep, you will need to have your drainage pipes entre that chamber at 50cm below the ground. If your inlet pipe is 90cm below ground you will only have 10cm of space in the pump chamber, consequently the water will fill up in your drainage pipes before the pump turns on. Therefore, look at your levels on site before buying a tank as you may have to choose a deeper tank to accommodate your inlet depth. As a rule of thumb, the inlet must be a minimum of 50cm from the bottom of the tank (more is better).
If you are not pumping the water from the whole house, it isn’t as critical to have 24 hours storage. For example, in the scenario of only pumping water from one bathroom in an extension to your house, or an out-building, other toilets could be used while the problem is being addressed. However, you must consider the inlet depth when selecting a chamber size.
As described in the previous section, you must have at least 50cm from the base of the tank to the inlet pipe. For example, if your inlet pipe is 1m below ground, you will require a minimum of a 1.5m deep chamber.
Pump stations come in 2 versions, single or twin pump. The benefit of twin pumps is that if a pump ever fails, the second pump will take over the job of pumping the water and there will be no disruption.
When buying a single pump system you must understand that if the pump ever blocks or fails, you will have to have it repaired or replaced before it is capable of pumping the water again. For this reason it is not recommended to have a single pump system if connected to the whole house.
Whilst a twin pump is preferable, they are more expensive. There are applications where a single pump is acceptable some of these are:
If you buy a single pump and are worried about having pump failure down the line, you can purchase a second pump and replace it yourself in the event of failure. However, you must have it wired into mains electricity by a qualified electrician. Modern pumps can last for 10 years+ but like anything mechanical, it will break one day. So plan for how you will address this when it happens.
The further and higher you pump, the slower a pump will move the water. Therefore, getting the power right is imperative.
You will often see a pump rated by its “head” this term is common in the pump industry, therefore it’s worth understanding it before you buy a pump.
The pump “head” is the point at which the pump cannot pump anymore vertically (Up). Therefore, a 6m head pump would not be able to lift water more than 6m, similarly a 10m pump would not be able to lift water more than 10m.
What about horizontal distance?
Horizontal distance should also be considered. As the further you pump water, the more friction there will be in the pipe, which will impact the pumping rate. This is dependant on pipe size.
Considering most sewage pumps use a 2-inch outlet and require 63mm diameter water pipe. It is easy to give a rule of thumb:
Every 10m horizontal pumping distance is equivalent to 0.5 metre vertically.
Let’s look at 2 examples:
Property A needs to pump waste 30m horizontally and 4m vertically. The 30m horizontal is 3 lots of ten, therefore 3 x 0.5m = 1.5m, this is then added onto the 4m vertical pumping height giving you a 5.5m total “head”, a pump that does a 6m head will be ok.
Property Bis pumping 100m horizontally with a lift of 2m up. 100m is 10 lots of 10m, therefore 10 x 0.5m = 5m. Added to the 2 meter vertical gives you a total head of 7m. In this case a pump with a 6m head would not be able to do the job, therefore you would want to select a pump that has a head of 10m.
Whilst this simplistic method does work, it wont work for different size pipework than 63mm pipe. 63mm pipe happens to be the pipe most commonly used with sewage pumping.
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