Pumping Station
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Pumping stations, also called pumphouses, are public utility buildings containing
pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...
s and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are critical in a variety of
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...
systems, such as water supply, drainage of low-lying land, canals and removal of
sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...
to processing sites. A pumping station is an integral part of a
pumped-storage hydroelectricity Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing (electrical power), load balancing. A PSH system stores energy i ...
installation. Pumping stations are designed to move water or sewage from one location to another, overcoming gravitational challenges, and are essential for maintaining
navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Navigability is also referred to in the broader context of a body of water having sufficient under ...
canal levels, supplying water, and managing sewage and floodwaters. In canal systems, pumping stations help replenish water lost through lock usage and leakage, ensuring navigability. Similarly, in land drainage, stations pump water to prevent flooding in areas below sea level, a concept pioneered during the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
in places like
The Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...
in the UK. The introduction of "package pumping stations" has modernized drainage systems, allowing a compact, efficient solution for areas where gravity drainage is impractical. Water pumping stations are differentiated by their applications, such as sourcing from wells, raw water pumping, and high service pumping, each designed to meet specific demand projections and customer needs. Wastewater pumping stations, on the other hand, are engineered to handle sewage, with designs that ensure reliability and safety, minimizing environmental impacts from overflows. Innovations in pump technology and station design have led to the development of submersible pump stations, which are more compact and safer, effectively reducing the footprint and visibility of sewage management infrastructure. Electronic controllers have enhanced the efficiency and monitoring capabilities of pumping stations, essential for modern systems. Pumped-storage schemes represent a critical use of pumping stations, providing a method for energy storage and generation by moving water between reservoirs at different elevations, highlighting the versatility and importance of pumping stations across sectors. Some pumping stations have been recognized for their architectural and historical significance, e.g. the Claverton and Crofton Pumping Stations, and are preserved as museum attractions. Examples such as land drainage in the Netherlands, water supply in Hong Kong and agricultural drainage in Iraq underscore the vital role these facilities play in supporting modern infrastructure, environmental management, and energy storage.


Canal water supply

In countries with
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...
systems, pumping stations are also frequent. Because of the way the system of
canal lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a chamber in a permanently fixed position i ...
s work, water is lost from the upper part of a canal each time a vessel passes through. Also, most lock gates are not watertight, so some water leaks from the higher levels of the canal to those lower down. The water has to be replaced or eventually the upper levels of the canal would not hold enough water to be navigable. Canals are usually fed by diverting water from streams and rivers into the upper parts of the canal, but if no suitable source is available, a pumping station can be used to maintain the water level. An example of a canal pumping station is the Claverton Pumping Station on the
Kennet and Avon Canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of Navigability, navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than sol ...
in southern England, United Kingdom. This pumps water from the nearby River Avon to the canal using pumps driven by a waterwheel which is powered by the river. Where no external water supply is available, back pumping systems may be employed. Water is extracted from the canal below the lowest lock of a flight and is pumped back to the top of the flight, ready for the next boat to pass through. Such installations are usually small.


Land drainage

When low-lying areas of land are drained, the general method is to dig drainage ditches. However, if the area is below
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
then it is necessary to pump the water upwards into water channels that finally drain into the sea. The Victorians understood this concept, and in the United Kingdom they built pumping stations with water pumps, powered by
steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...
s to accomplish this task. In Lincolnshire, large areas of wetland at sea level, called
The Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...
, were turned into rich arable farmland by this method. The land is full of
nutrients A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...
because of the accumulation of
sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock formed by the cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or deposited at Earth's surface. Sedime ...
mud that created the land initially. Elsewhere, pumping stations are used to remove water that has found its way into low-lying areas as a result of leakage or flooding (in
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, for example).


Package pumping station

In more recent times, a "package pumping station" provides an efficient and economic way of installing a
drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...
system. They are suitable for mechanical building services collection and pumping of liquids like surface water, wastewater or sewage from areas where drainage by gravity is not possible. A package pumping station is an integrated system, built in a housing manufactured from strong, impact-resistant materials such as
precast concrete Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable molding (process), mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples i ...
,
polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bott ...
, or
glass-reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...
. The unit is supplied with internal pipework fitted, pre-assembled ready for installation into the ground, after which the submersible pumps and control equipment are fitted. Features may include controls for fully automatic operation; a high-level alarm indication, in the event of pump failure; and possibly a guide-rail/auto-coupling/pedestal system, to permit easy removal of pumps for maintenance. Traditional site constructed systems have the valve vault components installed in a separate structure. Having two structural components can lead to potentially serious site problems such as uneven settling between components which results in stress on, and failure of the pipes and connections between components. The development of a packaged pump station system combined all components into a single housing which not only eliminates uneven settling issues, but pre-plumbing and outfitting each unit prior to installation can reduce the cost and time involved with civil work and site labor.


Water pumping stations

Water pumping stations are differentiated from wastewater pumping stations in that they do not have to be sized to account for high peak flow rates. They have five general categories: * Source (such as a well) pump discharging into an elevated tank * Raw water pumping from a river or lake * In-line
booster pump A booster pump is a machine which increases the pressure of a fluid. It may be used with liquids or gases, and the construction details vary depending on the fluid. A gas booster is similar to a gas compressor, but generally a simpler mechanis ...
ing into an elevated tank * High service pumping of finished water at high pressure * Distributed system booster without a storage tank in the piping system Water pumping stations are constructed in areas in which the demand or projected demand is reasonably defined, and is dependent on a combination of customer needs and fire flow requirements. Average annual per-capita water consumption, peak hour, and maximum daily can vary greatly due to factors such as climate, income levels, population, and the proportions of residential, commercial, and industrial users.


Wastewater pumping stations

Pumping stations in sewage collection systems are normally designed to handle raw sewage that is fed from underground gravity pipelines (pipes that are sloped so that a liquid can flow in one direction under gravity). Sewage is fed into and stored in a pit, commonly known as a ''wet well''. The well is equipped with electrical instrumentation to detect the level of sewage present. When the sewage level rises to a predetermined point, a pump will be started to lift the sewage upward through a pressurized pipe system called a ''sewer force main'' if the sewage is transported some significant distance. The pumping station may be called a ''lift station'' if the pump merely discharges into a nearby gravity manhole. From here the cycle starts all over again until the sewage reaches its point of destination—usually a treatment plant. By this method, pumping stations are used to move waste to higher elevations. In the case of high sewage flows into the well (for example during peak flow periods and wet weather) additional pumps will be used. If this is insufficient, or in the case of failure of the pumping station, a backup in the sewer system can occur, leading to a sanitary sewer overflow—the discharge of raw sewage into the environment. Sewage pumping stations are typically designed so that one pump or one set of pumps will handle normal peak flow conditions. Redundancy is built into the system so that in the event that any one pump is out of service, the remaining pump or pumps will handle the designed flow. The storage volume of the wet well between the "pump on" and "pump off" settings is designed to minimize pump starts and stops, but is not so long a retention time as to allow the sewage in the wet well to go septic. Sewage pumps are almost always end-suction
centrifugal pump Centrifugal pumps are used to transport fluids by the Energy transformation, conversion of rotational kinetic energy to the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid flow. The rotational energy typically comes from an engine or electric motor. They are ...
s with open impellers and are specially designed with a large open passage so as to avoid clogging with debris or winding stringy debris onto the impeller. A four pole or six pole AC induction motor normally drives the pump. Rather than provide large open passages, some pumps, typically smaller sewage pumps, also macerate any solids within the sewage breaking them down into smaller parts which can more easily pass through the impeller. The interior of a sewage pump station is a very dangerous place. Poisonous gases, such as
methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...
and
hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...
, can accumulate in the wet well; an ill-equipped person entering the well would be overcome by fumes very quickly. Any entry into the wet well requires the correct confined space entry method for a hazardous environment. To minimize the need for entry, the facility is normally designed to allow pumps and other equipment to be removed from outside the wet well. Traditional sewage pumping stations incorporate both a wet well and a "dry well". Often these are the same structure separated by an internal divide. In this configuration pumps are installed below ground level on the base of the dry well so that their inlets are below water level on pump start, priming the pump and also maximising the available NPSH. Although nominally isolated from the sewage in the wet well, dry wells are underground, confined spaces and require appropriate precautions for entry. Further, any failure or leakage of the pumps or pipework can discharge sewage directly into the dry well with complete flooding not an uncommon occurrence. As a result, the electric motors are normally mounted above the overflow, top water level of the wet well, usually above ground level, and drive the sewage pumps through an extended vertical shaft. To protect the above ground motors from weather, small pump houses are normally built, which also incorporate the electrical switchgear and control electronics. These are the visible parts of a traditional sewage pumping station although they are typically smaller than the underground wet and dry wells. More modern pumping stations do not require a dry well or pump house and usually consist only of a wet well. In this configuration, submersible sewage pumps with closely coupled electric motor are mounted within the wet well itself, submerged within the sewage. Submersible pumps are mounted on two vertical guide rails and seal onto a permanently fixed "duckfoot", which forms both a mount and also a vertical bend for the discharge pipe. For maintenance or replacement, submersible pumps are raised by a chain off of the duckfoot and up the two guide rails to the maintenance (normally ground) level. Reinstalling the pumps simply reverses this process with the pump being remounted on the guide rails and lowered onto the duckfoot where the weight of the pump reseals it. As the motors are sealed and weather is not a concern, no above ground structures are required, excepting a small kiosk to contain the electrical switchgear and control systems. Due to the much reduced health and safety concerns, and smaller footprint and visibility, submersible pump sewage pumping stations have almost completely superseded traditional sewage pumping stations. Further, a refit of a traditional pumping station usually involves converting it into a modern pumping station by installing submersibles in the wet well, demolishing the pump house and retiring the dry well by either stripping it, or knocking down the internal partition and merging it with the wet well.


Electronic controllers

Pump manufacturers have always designed and manufactured electronic devices to control and supervise pumping stations. Today it is also very common to use a
programmable logic controller A programmable logic controller (PLC) or programmable controller is an industrial computer that has been ruggedized and adapted for the control of manufacturing processes, such as assembly lines, machines, robotic devices, or any activity that ...
(PLC) or Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) for such work, but the experience needed to solve certain particular problems, makes an easy choice to look for a specific pump controller. RTUs are very helpful in remote monitoring of each pumping station from a centralized control room with
SCADA SCADA (an acronym for supervisory control and data acquisition) is a control system architecture comprising computers, networked data communications and graphical user interfaces for high-level supervision of machines and processes. It also cove ...
(Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition) systems. This setup can be helpful in monitoring pump faults, levels, and other alarms and parameters, making it more efficient.


Pumped-storage schemes

A pumped-storage scheme is a type of power station for storing and producing electricity to supply high peak demands by moving water between reservoirs at different elevations. Typically, water is channeled from a high-level reservoir to a low-level reservoir, through turbine generators that generate electricity. This is done when the station is required to generate power. During low-demand periods, such as overnight, the generators are reversed to become pumps that move the water back up to the top reservoir.


List of pumping stations

There are countless thousands of pumping stations throughout the world. The following is a list of those described in this encyclopedia.


United Kingdom

In the UK (as well as many other countries), water pumping stations built between the 1830s and 1920s were treated as civic buildings, with ornate, formal architecture, reflecting their social importance during the urban sanitary crisis caused by industrialisation. Consequently, a considerable number of former pumping stations have been listed and preserved. Almost all were powered by large steam engines. Many sites with preserved in-situ engines have since re-opened as museum attractions.


Canal water supply

* Claverton Pumping Station, on the
Kennet and Avon Canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of Navigability, navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than sol ...
, near
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
, water-powered * Cobb's Engine House, ruin near southern portal of Netherton Tunnel * Crofton Pumping Station, on the Kennet and Avon Canal, near
Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunt ...
* Leawood Pump House, on the Cromford Canal in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
* Smethwick Engine, now removed from original site to Birmingham Thinktank *New Smethwick Pumping Station (now part of Galton Valley Canal Heritage Centre)


Groundwater supply

''Used to pump water from a
well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
into a reservoir'' * Bestwood Pumping Station, Nottinghamshire * Boughton Pumping Station, Nottinghamshire * Bratch Pumping Station, Staffordshire * Mill Meece Pumping Station, in Staffordshire * Papplewick Pumping Station, Nottinghamshire ''(pumped from a deep well)'' * Selly Oak Pumping Station, Birmingham ''(building converted to an electricity substation)'' * Twyford Pumping Station, Hampshire


Hydraulic power station

* Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, London ''(converted to electricity, now an arts centre and restaurant)''


Land drainage

* Pinchbeck Engine, near Spalding ''(preserved beam engine and scoop wheel)'' * Pode Hole pumping station, near Spalding, Lincolnshire ''(formerly steam beam engines, no longer present)'' * Prickwillow Engine House, near
Ely, Cambridgeshire Ely ( ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in the East Cambridgeshire district, in Cambridgeshire, England, northeast of Cambridge, southeast of Peterborough and from London. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the built-up a ...
''(now the Museum of Fenland Drainage)'' * Stretham Old Engine, Stretham, Cambridgeshire * Westonzoyland Pumping Station, Somerset


Public water supply

''Used to pump drinking water from a reservoir into a water supply system.'' * Blagdon Pumping Station, Chew Valley, Somerset * Edgbaston Waterworks, Birmingham * Kempton Park Pumping Station, London * Kew Bridge Pumping Station, Kew Bridge, London * Langford Pumping Station ("Museum of Power"), Essex * Ryhope Engines Museum, Sunderland * Tees Cottage Pumping Station, Darlington


Sewage

* Abbey Pumping Station, Leicester * Abbey Mills Pumping Station, in North London. ''(steam engines no longer present)'' * Cheddars Lane Pumping Station, Cambridge * Claymills Pumping Station, near
Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...
* Coleham Pumping Station, Coleham, near
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...
* Crossness Pumping Station, in South London * Dock Road Edwardian Pumping Station, in
Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...
, Cheshire ''(Gas engines. Built 1913)'' * Low Hall Pumping Station, Walthamstow, North London * Markfield Beam Engine, Tottenham, London * Old Brook Pumping Station, Chatham, Kent


Underground railway

* Brunel Engine House (now Brunel Museum),
Rotherhithe Rotherhithe ( ) is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the ea ...
, East London ''(extracted water from Thames Tunnel; engine no longer present)'' * Shore Road Pumping Station, Birkenhead, Wirral ''(originally steam, now electric; extracts water from the rail tunnel under the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...
)''


Hong Kong

;Public water supply * Engineer's Office of the Former Pumping Station, Hong Kong


Iraq

; Agricultural drainage * Nasiriyah Drainage Pump Station, Dhi Qar Province


Canada

* Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology, Hamilton, Ontario's first Water Works, powered by two 1859 steam engines


Netherlands

;Land drainage * Cruquius pumping station ''(Operational, but no longer steam-powered.)'' *:– an 8-beam Cornish engine with the largest cylinder (144 in (3.5m) diameter) in the world. * ir.D.F. Woudagemaal, ( ir. Wouda pumping station) ''(world's largest steam-powered pumping station)''


Spain

*Stations for public water supply in Barcelona. One of them is a Barcelona City History Museum heritage site ''(MUHBA Casa de l'aigua)''. Another is a museum itself: ''Museu Agbar de les Aigües'' (Agbar water museum).


United States

* Chicago Avenue Pumping Station in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, built in 1869, still in use (with modern pumps) but also serves as a theater. * Pumping Station No. 2 San Francisco Fire Department Auxiliary Water Supply System, San Francisco, California, listed on the National Register of Historic Places


See also

* Edmonston Pumping Plant *
Gatehouse (waterworks) A gatehouse, gate house, outlet works or valve house for a dam is a structure housing sluice gates, valves, or pumps (in which case it is more accurately called a pumping station). Many gatehouses are strictly utilitarian, but especially in the ni ...
 – some gatehouses incorporate pumping stations * Submersible pump * Water pumping * Windpump


Waterworks railways

* Colne Valley Waterworks railway, Eastbury Pumping Station, near
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
* Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway * List of narrow gauge railways at water treatment and sewage works in Great Britain * Metropolitan Water Board Railway, Kempton Park, London


References


External links


Packaged pumping stations - definitions and applicationsHow to look after your packaged pumpstationPrickwillow MuseumHow Much Do Sewage Pumping Stations Cost
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pumping Station Scottish inventions