What do You Need to Know Before Doing a Bypass System?

Norm Rolf, Sales Associate with Holland Pump, is a bypass specialist. He spoke with Tyler Kern about the essentials of sewer bypass and backup systems. One of the first things that need to happen is determining the pump quantity for the sewer bypass and backup system.

“Anytime you are doing a large system like this, this station takes 138 pump stations and one location and moves it to the treatment plant and back,” Rolf said. “It’s very important. We’ve got a lot of large pieces of equipment running. Pump Watch should be on every bypass that it needs to be on due to public safety, equipment safety, and just general maintenance.”

Determining the peak flow of the pipeline and the type of wastewater is another essential component in doing a bypass system. In this process, the county municipality or contractor turns their electric pump system on and cracks the valve to take the flow from Holland’s pumps going through the bypass port back to the wet well. “We’ll monitor this as it takes off to ensure the permanent pumps are doing what they need to do,” Rolf said. “And, at that point, we will completely shut our pumps off, close our valve, and return the station to normal operation.”

There are some things people should know before contacting a bypass company to make a smooth transition. The suction lift and discharge distance are two essential pieces of information to gather. “If it’s a pump station, I need to know the pressures on the discharge of the pump station,” Rolf said. “We also need to know how many gallons a minute, or the actual gravity pipe size, which we will size the pumps to handle 100% flow as a safety factor for you.” After gathering the information, it’s time to call the pump rep.