Aging sodium hypochlorite feed pumps were causing headaches for operators of the Ontario Water Treatment Plant.
The six skid-mounted single-diaphragm pumps had run reliably for years but were becoming obsolete, observes Dustin Mosher, supervisor at the plant, in Oregon along the Snake River at the Idaho border.“The rebuild kits recommended every year cost $1,800 to $2,000,” he says. “And as our flows increased, we were running the pumps harder and harder. That was creating more leaks in the feed lines out into the plant.”Pulsation is inherent to single-diaphragm pumps, and the skids were equipped with backpressure valves, check valves, pressure-relief valves
