Water treatment
EKOPROGRES HRANICE®, a.s., provides a full range of water treatment and distribution installations. Founded in 1990, the company appeared among the first wholly private joint-stock companies. It is headquartered in the grounds of the former Pavézka Co., one of the water supply and distribution tradition founders at Hranice.
We are system wastewater, sludge and effluent treatment and handling equipment designers, suppliers, installers, and service providers for capital projects in form of separate components up to a complete package deal. We manufacture a variety of special equipment by our specific designs. The pumping stations are one of our very interesting programmes.
It should be noted that we are not manufacturers of pumps and fittings. Applying our own system experience, we comply with client's wishes, and we acquire such equipment from various manufacturers. It follows from this that we include pumping stations mostly as parts of larger units in our supplies. A choice of small pumps is available in the company shop centre. We manufacture all sorts of system equipment, distribution pipes and fittings, mounting materials, service walkways, and the like. Among our interesting elements is a Link-Seal that is capable of sealing all pipe ducts in the structural components. A pumping station supply also includes the electrical motoring installations with the control system. The hand-over of a pumping unit to the investor is done only after complete tests and training of operators. We project pumping stations for a variety of purposes. Below are exemplified the available pumping stations.
Sewer Pumping Stations – for drainage system wastewater to pump heavily polluted water of variable quantities over relatively low pumping height. Currently, submersible pumps with impeller wheels and great throughput are used almost exclusively here. It looks much like the paradox of the sewage treatment plant size – i.e. the pollution remains constant, even if the delivery rate decreases, and accordingly on the pump size, too. Therefore, it is advisable not to use too small pumps and piping systems for the standard operation. Similar problems have to be reconciled in a pump station designed for the sewage treatment plant. The company own production comprises the equipment for the mechanical pre-treatment of sewage (racks, grit chambers and grease traps), channel flow gates (gates and valves), distribution piping, and other necessary accessories. Electrical motoring installation and control system (usually remote) are of particular importance here.
Similar problems must be reconciled in the flood pumping stations designed for dangerous high waters along watercourses and their inflow regions. These installations do not work for most of time, but their operational reliability comes first in case of threats to lives or assets. They often run at maximum discharge, therefore much care should be taken to the pump intake mouth.
Waterworks pumping station – it is designed for the water supply or similar installations. As it has to cope with the landscape irregularities and PE (population equivalents), the design of this pumping station calls for individual approach. The pumping is divided into several stages. Regularly, the first stage is a booster pump station followed by a main pump station, and finally the stage of a pump station into water distribution reservoirs. To simplify the function of the pump stations and the water-treatment plant process, there should be several impounding reservoirs to create needed reserve. The booster pump delivers the required raw water from a water source into a water-treatment plant; it works with relatively low pressures. The main pump station is the heart of the plant, as it has to cope with inflow variations. This poses high requirements on the control system. The pump stations care for the proper parameters of the water delivered to the final users; they are useful namely in the rugged landscape and in high buildings. Here, the company production includes equipment for the mechanical pre-treatment, channel flow gates, distribution pipes, and other accessories. The electrical motoring and control system is of particular importance in the delivery.
Automatic pressure pump stations are a smart solution namely for smaller entities in the flat countryside, where it is not easy to build a water reservoir for a gravity system. The water reservoir may be replaced with a pressure tanks with an air plastic air bag inside. It provides the water reserve, especially for the small entities. The air bag and the relative pressure fluctuation in the system secure the pump operating conditions. The drawback is that the water reserve is rather small and troubles in water supply may occur even in a short-time power failure. Another drawback that may arise is the possibility of water shocks, mainly in long delivery lines. The installation is similar to the one used as protective element against hydraulic shocks in water supply mains – the air chamber; i.e. a pressure vessel with an air bag. So the automatic pressure pump stations with small air chamber and long delivery lines should be judged also from the viewpoint of the water shocks in the piping.
Another area of interest is in industrial wastewater pumping stations. The difference against the WTP pumping stations is that they usually operate without water reservoirs and form part of larger technology units. Because of irregularity in the delivery, great attention should be paid to the adjustment of several pumps to deliver to one pressure conduit. Great problems in this field require specific approach to every case. Advantage may be taken of the experience gained or applied in the earlier and more frequent installations of pumping stations.
Irrigation and melioration pumping stations used in agricultural drainage and irrigations systems are similar to those mentioned above. At present, this group is considerably neglected because of economic aspects. Again, the problems are fairly big, and each case has to be approached individually. The installation is active in cycles that depend on weather conditions; much attention has to be paid to the practice of its seasonal putting off/in operation.
Pumping stations for dosing of chemicals – they may form part of all the above systems. Materials of these pumps and pipes should be made for the purpose of dosing various chemicals. A capability to dose small, but accurate quantities under great pressures is their common feature. Therefore a perfect control system is also of great importance here.
An interesting method that should be also mentioned in this place is the possibility of using siphon drainage systems. They are applied with advantage in the water supply and distribution systems, but their use is not excluded also in sewerage technologies, if overcoming relief features. Evacuation stations or pumps are used to prime the siphon drainage system. However, the problems of siphon drainage system usage are very complex and have to be dealt with individually.
Long-time experience with water supply allows the staff of EKOPROGRES HRANICE®, a.s. to provide solutions from the project documents up to the handing-over of the finished works at the end of the trial operation. The company provides the warranty and post-warranty service for the operated works. If you face any problems with your water supply our specialists are at your service.