White Paper: Maintaining Force Main Pressure with Many Pump Stations

Maintaining Optimized Common Force Main Pressure with Multiple Pump Stations

This white paper discusses monitoring the force main and pump speed via a patented algorithm to add  a standalone pump station to a common force main with multiple pump stations already in service. Readers of this white paper will learn about conventional approaces to the problem, including:

• Costly communication systems, tying all the pump stations together, which limit the number of pump stations on line at the same time
• Oversizing the pump and/or pump motor
• Orifice plates or partially closed discharge valves to create artificial head and prevent run-out – resulting in increased energy usage and increased chances for choked piping
• Installation of a flow meter with feedback loop to a VFD to maintain a constant flow rate regardless of head. The flowmeter complicates the operation of the station and requires additional infrastructure.