Pumping station facts for kids

Pumping station Van Sasse in Grave, the Netherlands.

Inside the Van Sasse pumping station in Grave, the Netherlands.

Pumping stations are special buildings or places that hold powerful pumps and other equipment. Their main job is to move liquids, like water or sewage, from one spot to another. These stations are super important for many systems we use every day. For example, they help supply water to canals, drain water from low-lying areas, and move wastewater to treatment plants. They are also a key part of systems that store and produce electricity using water.

How Pumping Stations Help Canals

Canals are like man-made rivers that boats can travel on. They often have a system of canal locks, which are like water elevators that help boats move between different water levels.

Keeping Canals Full

Each time a boat goes through a lock, some water from the higher part of the canal is used. Also, lock gates are not perfectly sealed, so a little water always leaks out. If this water isn't replaced, the top parts of the canal would eventually become too shallow for boats.

Canals usually get their water from nearby streams or rivers. But if there isn't a good natural water source, a pumping station steps in. It pumps water into the canal to keep the water level just right. A famous example is the Claverton Pumping Station in England. It uses a waterwheel powered by a river to pump water up to the canal.

Recycling Water in Canals

Sometimes, there's no outside water source at all. In these cases, special "back pumping" systems are used. These small stations take water from the canal below a set of locks and pump it back up to the very top. This way, the water is reused for the next boat that comes along.

Draining Low-Lying Land

Many areas of land are very low, sometimes even below sea level. To make these lands useful, like for farming or building, water needs to be removed.

Pumping Water Out of Low Areas

The usual way to drain land is by digging ditches. But if the land is lower than the sea, the water can't just flow away naturally. That's where pumping stations become essential. They lift the water up into channels that can then flow into the sea.

Long ago, in the Victorian era in the United Kingdom, people built large pumping stations with water pumps powered by steam engines. This helped turn huge wet areas, like The Fens, into rich farmland. This land is great for growing crops because it has lots of good stuff from old mud.

A land drainage pumping station in Sète, France.

Pumping stations are also used to remove water from low areas that get flooded or have water leaking into them. For example, in New Orleans, pumping stations are vital for keeping the city dry.

Modern "Package" Pumping Stations

Today, there are "package pumping stations" that make draining land easier and cheaper. These are complete systems built inside a strong container made of materials like plastic or concrete. They come with all the pipes already inside and are ready to be put into the ground.

These units have pumps that work underwater and can run automatically. They can even alert you if a pump stops working. Because they are built as one complete unit, they avoid problems that older systems had, like parts settling unevenly in the ground. This saves time and money during installation.

Water Pumping Stations

Water pumping stations are different from wastewater stations because they don't have to deal with sudden, huge amounts of water. They usually fall into five main types:

Pumps that take water from a source, like a well, and send it to a tall water tank.
Pumps that take raw water from a river or lake.
Booster pumps that push water along a pipe into a tall tank.
Pumps that send clean water at high pressure to homes and businesses.
Booster pumps that help move water through a pipe system without a storage tank.

These stations are built where people need water, considering how much water is used daily and what's needed for things like fighting fires. How much water people use can change a lot based on things like the weather, how many people live there, and if there are many homes, shops, or factories.

Wastewater Pumping Stations

The flooded C Station at Abbey Mills in London. It used to have large pumps that moved sewage from deep underground.

Pumping stations in sewage systems handle dirty water (sewage) that flows from underground pipes by gravity. This sewage collects in a pit called a wet well. Special sensors in the well detect the sewage level. When it gets too high, a pump starts. It lifts the sewage up through a pressurized pipe system called a sewer force main. If the sewage only needs to go a short distance, the station might be called a lift station.

The sewage then continues its journey, often through more pumping stations, until it reaches a treatment plant. This way, pumping stations help move waste to higher places. During times when lots of sewage flows in, like after heavy rain, extra pumps will turn on. If the pumps can't keep up, or if the station breaks down, raw sewage could overflow into the environment.

How Wastewater Pumps Work

Wastewater pumping stations are usually designed so that one pump or one set of pumps can handle the normal amount of sewage. There are usually extra pumps ready to go in case one breaks down, so the system keeps working. The wet well is designed to hold enough sewage to prevent the pumps from turning on and off too often, but not so much that the sewage sits there for too long and becomes smelly.

The pumps used for sewage are very strong and designed to avoid getting clogged by trash or stringy items. Some smaller sewage pumps even have special parts that chop up any solid waste into tiny pieces so it can pass through easily.

Safety in Pumping Stations

The inside of a sewage pump station can be a dangerous place. Certain gases can build up in the wet well, which can be harmful if someone breathes them in. Because of this, special safety steps must be followed if anyone needs to go into the wet well. To keep people safe, these stations are usually designed so that pumps and other equipment can be removed and fixed from outside the well.

Older sewage pumping stations often had two parts: a wet well for the sewage and a "dry well" next to it where the pumps were located. The pumps were placed low down so they were always ready to pump. Even though the dry well was separate, it was still an underground space and needed safety precautions. If a pump or pipe leaked, the dry well could fill with sewage. The electric motors for these pumps were usually above ground in small buildings to protect them from weather.

Modern Submersible Pumps

Most modern pumping stations are simpler. They only have a wet well. The pumps used are called submersible pumps. They have their electric motors sealed and are placed directly inside the wet well, underwater in the sewage. These pumps slide down on special rails and connect to a pipe at the bottom. For maintenance, they can be easily lifted up the rails by a chain.

Because these pumps are sealed and work underwater, there's no need for a separate dry well or a large building above ground. This makes them safer, takes up less space, and is less noticeable. Because of these benefits, submersible pump stations have mostly replaced the older, more complex designs. Many old stations are even being updated to use submersible pumps.

Electronic Controllers

Today, electronic devices are very important for controlling and watching over pumping stations. Many stations use special computers called programmable logic controllers (PLCs) or Remote Terminal Units (RTUs). These devices help monitor everything, like pump problems, water levels, and other alarms. This makes the stations run more smoothly and efficiently, especially when they are far away and controlled from a central room using a system called SCADA.

Pumped-Storage Power Plants

A pumped-storage scheme is a type of power plant that helps store and produce electricity. It works by moving water between two reservoirs at different heights.

When there's a high demand for electricity, water flows from the higher reservoir down to the lower one, passing through turbines that create electricity. When there's less demand for electricity, like at night, the turbines reverse and act as pumps. They push the water back up to the top reservoir, ready to generate power again when needed.

Some Pumping Stations Around the World

There are thousands of pumping stations everywhere! Here are a few interesting ones.

United Kingdom

During the Victorian Era in the UK, many public buildings were built with fancy designs. Because of this, many old pumping stations are now protected as historic buildings. Most of them originally used steam engines. Where these engines are still there, many stations have become museums.

Canal Water Supply

Claverton Pumping Station: Uses water power to pump water for the Kennet and Avon Canal.
Crofton Pumping Station: Another station on the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Land Drainage

Pinchbeck Engine: A preserved steam engine that helped drain land.
Prickwillow Engine House: Now a museum about draining the Fenland.
Stretham Old Engine: A famous old steam engine in Cambridgeshire.

Public Water Supply

Kempton Park Pumping Station: A large pumping station in London.
Kew Bridge Pumping Station: Now a museum in London.

Sewage

Abbey Pumping Station: A museum in Leicester.
Crossness Pumping Station: A very ornate and famous sewage pumping station in London.

Netherlands

Cruquius pumping station: Famous for having one of the world's largest steam engines.
ir.D.F. Woudagemaal: The world's largest steam-powered pumping station still in use!

United States

Chicago Avenue Pumping Station: Built in Chicago in 1869, still used today with modern pumps, and also a theater.