Why Would a Sewer Ejector Pump Overflow?
Sewage ejector pumps are used in buildings that are at an uneven level with the sewer line, usually leading to a septic tank or city sewer. If a sewage ejector pump does not pump waste efficiently, overflowing can occur. Does this Spark an idea?
-
Pumps Out of Service
-
Sewage stations are built so that one or a set of pumps carry most of the sewage. When the pump or set of pumps is out of service, another pump or set of pumps is activated to carry the excess waste. Sometimes too many pumps are out of service to maintain an even flow, causing a pump or set of pumps to pump more wast than it are designed to, leading to overflowing.
Faulty Electrical Equipment
-
City sewers use electrical instruments to measure the level of waste in their tanks. When the level of waste reaches a set level, the ejector pumps are activated and the waste is pumped into a manhole. If the equipment is measuring the levels wrongly due to an electrical malfunction, waste can rise to higher levels than were set and overflow.
-
Faulty Impellers
-
An impeller is a rotor inside a pump that increases the pressure of the flow of waste. If these become faulty, the waste does not flow through the pump fast enough to avoid a backup. When backup occurs, enough pressure eventually builds up to force the waste through the pump or pumps with greater pressure and faster than the system can maintain, leading to overflowing.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit storm sewer structure image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com
