Our entire society is built on a myriad of sewers and pipes that carry wastewater to areas where it can be stored and processed. A working system of wastewater pipes and pumping stations allows us to live in a sanitary community where diseases are literally flushed away. In times gone by, where there was inadequate sewerage system, there was a huge public health problem.
When Further Infrastructure Is Required
Times have changed, of course, and we are used to a network of working sewerage pipes that deal with our wastewater. The challenge is that some areas require additional support and infrastructure so that wastewater is carried to areas where it can be processed. Low lying lands where gravity prevents wastewater from running to processing areas, or rural areas where there is a dearth of main pumping stations often require this additional infrastructure. The good news is that specialist companies, such as Alton Pumps, design small pumping stations that can help in these situations.
The Role of a Pumping Station
A well-designed sewage pumping station moves wastewater from one location to another. In practice, this usually means that the wastewater is pumped from a collection point on a property and then fed through to either another pumping station where it continues its course, or into a collection point where gravity can then take over and move the wastewater further down the processing chain.
Here is where pumping stations are commonly used:
- Rural areas: Villages in remote areas will often use a number of custom designed pumping stations to handle their wastewater flow. In fact, depending on how far away the settlement is from a main treatment plant or larger pumping station, there may be a number of smaller units being used.
- Isolated properties: If you live in a home that is in an isolated area, such as a large property, or on hilly terrain where gravity makes wastewater movement difficult, smaller pumping stations installed at strategic points will help to solve such a
- Urban: Though it is common to see smaller pumping stations in use around towns and villages in rural areas, it is also common to find them in larger urban areas where low lying land prevents wastewater from flowing to the nearest processing station.
One of the biggest benefits of these smaller pumping stations is that they are cheaper to run and cheaper to install than bigger treatment plants. Furthermore, they are also easier to maintain and often replace larger treatment stations for cost reasons alone. In fact, micro-pumping stations can be exclusively designed by specialist companies and installed on private properties. In these cases, all maintenance jobs can be done by the property owner.
It is important that all of our sewage and wastewater is carried away from our public places, our homes, and our establishments, but there are sometimes problems due to geological issues or other factors. In these cases, pumping stations can be designed and installed so that wastewater can be effectively moved from one point to another.
