Pump cuts maintenance costs at Luggage Point WWTP

Utilita Water Solutions (Utilita) is a joint venture between Broadspectrum and Downer Utilities, delivering maintenance services for Queensland Urban Utilities from July 2016 through to July 2021.

Queensland Urban Utilities is one of the largest water distributor-retailers in Australia, supplying drinking water, recycled water and sewerage services to a population of more than 1.4 million across Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Scenic Rim and Somerset.

Utilita carries out a range of work for Queensland Urban Utilities, including mechanical and electrical maintenance and repairs, water and sewer mains and fittings maintenance, reservoir maintenance and vegetation management.

As part of their client commitment, Utilita likes to implement changes that improve processes and WHS conditions, and reduce downtime. As part of this commitment, David Tolliday, Leading Hand Mechanical with Utilita at the Luggage Point WWTP, wanted to address a continued downtime issue with his digester turnover pumps. Although he had Gorman-Rupp Super T Series pumps on the job, the heavy loading of rags was causing blockages to the pumps twice or three times per day, per pump.

Tolliday met with Darren Jones of Hydro Innovations, distributors of the Gorman-Rupp pumps in Australia, to find a solution. Jones suggested a trial with Gorman-Rupp’s new Eradicator solids management system, which was designed to reduce blockages by stringy materials. This system can be retrofitted to Gorman-Rupp Super T or Ultra V Series sewage pumps, so Tolliday was keen to try it. The trial Eradicator retrofit kit was duly installed in late March of 2021.

The results

Jones was keen to find out how the unit was going in the trial and contacted Tolliday late in May. Tolliday reported that the pump with the eradicator fitted had not had a single blockage in that eight-week period, and that he would be ordering upgrade kits for the balance of his digester pumps.

The benefits of the installation

Gorman-Rupp designed the Eradicator to address blockage issues associated with the increased use of wet wipes and their infiltration into the sewage system, ragging issues and industrial issues such as feathers in poultry processing.

The Eradicator works by continuously cleaning the leading edge of impeller vanes, and passing the materials through the pump without impacting performance or interrupting service.

The system is available for all Gorman-Rupp’s Super T and Ultra V Series pumps, in sizes from 2″ (50 mm) through to 10″ (250 mm).