Moline, Illinois, is located on the Mississippi River in northwestern Illinois. The city of 44,000, which is one of the Quad Cities, has two wastewater treatment facilities — the North Slope and South Slope plants.

In April 2010, plant staff needed to replace a piston (plunger) pump at the North Slope facility. The pump, which fed a unique blend of wastewater and lime blowdown sludge at up to 8 to 10 percent solids to the belt filter press, needed to pull a small suction lift, and it needed to operate against a discharge pressure between 10 and 20 psig because the belt filter press was across the plant.

The city of Moline turned to Penn Valley for answers. A 6-inch Penn Valley Double Disc Pump Model 6DDSX76 was installed on a trial basis in May 2010. The trial pump performed well, and the plant purchased it in August 2010. In May 2011, Moline purchased a second Penn Valley pump to replace another piston pump for belt filter press feed.

In the next three years, the city chose Penn Valley pumps for other replacements at the South Slope plant, including a 4-inch pump for waste activated sludge transfer, a 6-inch pump for primary sludge transfer, and a 4-inch pump for WAS transfer. In 2014, the city took bids for a $40-million plant upgrade at the North Slope facility. Because of success with the city’s five existing Penn Valley pumps, plant staff urged the consulting engineer to use Penn Valley in the new plant design, which resulted in the purchase of seven additional Penn Valley 6-inch pumps.

Penn Valley Pump Company, Inc. has been developing, manufacturing and marketing Double Disc Pumps for the municipal, industrial and chemical industries since 1980. The company has created a range of positive displacement solids handling pumps that provide unmatched durability, reliability and performance. 800/311-3311 • info@pennvalleypump.com • www.pennvalleypump.com