Pumps win this sea battle in Gibraltar
26 Sep 2018
The peninsular is no stranger to battles but this one depended on a fleet of chopper pumps to ensure the sea did not threaten the territory’s sewage system.
A problem particular to small island and peninsular territories such as Gibraltar is their dependence on the use of sea water for sanitary purposes, as well as street cleaning and firefighting.
However, this water inevitably ends up flowing into the sewage network, which ultimately increases the salinity of the sewage, making it in turn more corrosive.
The combination of the high salinity as well as the high solid content offers a challenging scenario to any pump.
A decade ago the local water utilities company AquaGib began its longstanding collaboration with UK company P&M Pumps aimed at overcoming the problem.
In 2007 the firm trialled its Vaughan chopper pump installed at AquaGib’s Waterport sewage pumping station, and then over the subsequent 12 months demonstrated its effectiveness in dealing with high solid contents, especially when those contents were non-degradable in combination with the high salinity.
The support we get from P&M, especially when it comes to the selection, installation and operating of the Vaughan chopper pumps has given us a solution to the unique problem of a high solid content, highly corrosive unscreened sewage
Chris Gomez, water production director, AquaGib
P&M said it was able to demonstrate that retrofitting the pumps brought significant cost-savings, improved processes. They would also be selffinancing, with payback periods of less than one year, thereafter minimising the effect on the budget holders.
The results of the pilot project resulted in adoption of the technology: more than 20 self-priming Vaughan chopper pumps have now been installed across the Rock. These pumps have become a standardised feature in many of AquaGib’s pumping stations and are now a standard requirement in any future station.
AquaGib water production director Chris Gomez stated: “The support we get from P&M, especially when it comes to the selection, installation and operating of the Vaughan chopper pumps has given us a solution to the unique problem of a high solid content, highly corrosive unscreened sewage.
“This excellent relationship has resulted in P&M Pumps being one of our main suppliers of pumps, especially within our sewage network, which we hope will continue for the foreseeable future.”
To reinforce the customer-client relationship the UK company arranged for a team of AquaGib staff to visit its Cambridgeshire workshops.
The visitors from the AquaGib water production department, who are also responsible for the sewage pumping stations, received instruction in additional maintenance techniques on the Vaughan pump.
The aim was to ensure the machines were rendered more effective and extended their operating life. At the same time, the visitors provided useful feedback on their customer experience in using these pumps on location in Gibraltar.
Stated Gomez: “Over the last decade and more, P&M Pumps have continually provided AquaGib with a first-class service in supporting us through our work in building a modern sewage pumping network.”
