Municipality Overview:
Life Before Chopper Pump: The Village of Coal City, IL is located approximately 60 miles Southwest of Chicago, and with a population of 6,000 people. The village’s Public Works Water Department strives to provide safe drinking water & efficient sewer services for its residents & businesses. Coal City has 6 lift stations to pump waste water & its wastewater plant treats approximately 780,000 gallons per day.
Lift Station Details:
The most problematic lift station for Coal City was a duplex station on Fourth Street that receives sewage from nearby residences and light commercial establishments. The pumps in the station discharge to a gravity sewer which then flows into the treatment plant.
The station’s submersible pumps were clogging since installation causing problems for Coal City’s plant operators, Mr. John Huddlestun & Mr. Tyler Valiente. The non-clog pumps in the station were clogging due to dental floss, rags, underwear, dye bottles & plastic gloves. The operators tried multiple non clog pump brands including expensive pumps from overseas. The Public Works Department also attempted to educate residents to not drain non-flushable solids, with little success. The pumps were clogging nearly every week and at times, amps would increase within 10 minutes of operation. Frustrated with clogging & high costs, Mr. Huddlestun & Mr. Valiente decided to install a submersible chopper pump in the station.
Chopper Pump Installation:
American Pump Repair & Service Inc., a municipal distributor of CP&S, worked with the city of New Castle to size and install a 4” 10HP Barnes Sithe chopper pump in the station in May 2018. The pump never clogged for six months. Highly impressed, Mr. Swoveland replaced the other non-clog pump in the station with a Sithe chopper pump. Both pumps have “not had any problem” since their installations. The city’s staff loves the Sithe chopper’s plug-n-play cord and patented open center cutter design. Mr. Swoveland is extremely happy with Sithe chopper pumps and with American Pump Repair’s passion for solving customer problems and quality of service. He feels Sithe chopper pumps are “what every station needs”.
Key Takeaways:
PAIN POINTS:
- Pumps in the Fourth Street lift station were clogging nearly every week
- Dental floss, rags, underwear, dye bottles & plastic gloves were clogging the pumps
SOLUTION:
- The city installed a 4″ 5HP Sithe chopper pump in the station
- The pump has not clogged since installation
To learn more about the SITHE Chopper pump:
https://www.cranepumps.com/products/details/sithe-chopper-pumps