The town of Sutton, Massachusetts, is a small bedroom community of approximately 9,300 residents. Originally settled in 1716, Sutton is a small rural community located about 50 miles west of Boston. Crane Pumps & System's local representative Williamson Pump & Motor Repair (Chelsea, Massachusetts) staff, worked with Donal Obuchowski, sewer superintendent of Sutton, on a solution for the problematic pump station in July of 2017. The site of this install, the Whitins Road pump station, is the second of three pump stations in a series that collect wastewater from the local community and pump it on to the Sutton treatment plant. The stations serve the local community, which includes roughly 100 homes and small businesses.

Lift station details

While stations within the municipality are cleaned with a vacuum truck quarterly, the station in Sutton exhibited a considerable amount of floating grease debris despite being cleaned roughly two weeks prior to CP&S’s visit. The pump installed in the station was jamming on average once a month and needed to be cleaned or deragged in order to return to operation. The pump was typically jamming due to nonwoven flushable wipes.

SITHE installation

With pump installation assistance from Williamson Pump & Motor Repair and Kats Pumps, the team successfully installed a 20 hp SITHE Chopper pump. The installation was aided by a pump discharge adapter that matches the Barnes pump to the existing rail system, resulting in no modifications to the rails or panel. Since the installation of the SITHE over a year ago, the town of Sutton has had fewer service calls to clean the station, resulting in a 75 percent reduction in service costs. The SITHE is able to pump the same amount of sewage in half the time, allowing for a 25 percent reduction in run time. Additionally, the grease debris buildup has been alleviated, providing a cleaner and more efficient station.

Key takeaways

Pain Points:

• Station cleaned with a vacuum truck quarterly
• Station exhibited a considerable amount of floating grease debris despite being cleaned two weeks prior to visit
• Existing pump jams on average once a month and needed to be cleaned and deragged in order to return to operation
• Pump typically jammed on flushable wipes

Solution:

• 20 hp SITHE Chopper installed to replace existing non-clog pump
• Run time of pump reduced by 25 percent
• Service costs of vacuum truck and cleaning reduced by 75 percent
• Grease debris buildup alleviated, improving station efficiency