Days of heavy rains battered Southeast Kansas in late May and Early July, leading to massive flooding in many small towns. Hundreds of people evacuated their homes and towns, returning days later to find devastation and that their lives would be forever changed.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Red Cross and thousands of volunteers descended on the small communities in the Federally-Designated Disaster areas. Among those there to help was Smith & Loveless, particularly with its in-stock pump station program.

S&L representative John Tillman of the Ray Lindsey Company received a phone call from the city of Altoona, Kan. the morning of Saturday, July 7th. Altoona and neighboring Fredonia lie directly in the path of flood waters created by the Verdigris River. Later that day, Tillman provided the city with a quote for a Classic Wet Well Mounted Pump Station. A purchase order was received the following Monday, and that brought a new S&L pump station to the flood-ravaged town of less than 500.

"The water flooded everything out (in the old station)," said Altoona’s Maintenance Operator, John Troutman. "The motors were blown and nothing worked."

The city looked at what it would cost to repair the old lift station, which had been running since 1972. But, the extent of flood damage and repair costs were high, so a new station from S&L’s in-stock inventory was an obvious choice.

Some slight modifications were made to the station before it was shipped, including upgrading the motor from a 5hp to a 7.5hp, starters and breakers, an LW alarm, 120V light, panel mounted alarm silence switch, lightning arrestor, surge capacitor, running time meters, pump running lights and compound pressure gauges.

"Our in-stock program really came through this time," said Municipal Sales Manager for Pumping Systems, Bob Durdee. "It’s nice to know that the work we do here can help people, particularly in their time of need."

The city is taking steps to help ensure this does not happen again. Contractors will install the station 4 feet higher than the old station to help guard against high water. The goal is to keep all electrical parts out of harms way by raising them above any anticipated flood stage.

For more information about Smith & Loveless’ in-stock program and what is available, visit with your sales manager, or click the link below to visit our in-stock page.

January 15, 2007
LENEXA, Kan. – Smith & Loveless today augmented its preeminent pumping control options by announcing PROTRONIX^® II Control System for its cutting edge FORMULA X^® Wet Well Mounted Pump Station (WWMPS) and semi-recessed R² WWMPS systems. Specified by thousands of municipalities, developments and industrial-commercial facilities, Smith & Loveless Wet Well Mounted Pump Stations are the premier above-grade wastewater pumping systems in North America. The evolution of PROTRONIX^® II controls not only gives designers and end-users the latest in system control technology in a single interface design, but expands the complete range of standard control system options available for these innovative pump stations.

PROTRONIX® II controls more than just the pumps; it’s a complete PLC pump station controller, providing users the ability to quickly set, monitor and adjust a range of station functions. For additional information, request bulletin number 655 here.

Visit the PROTRONIX^® II page here.