Lift Station

Inside The Sewer System: A Look At The Lift Station

For something that can go unnoticed for most of your life, you will unfortunately find yourself paying attention to the sewer system or even your septic tank when the unthinkable happens and it backs up and begins to flood the area. For communities that rely on having fresh water pumped to their homes when needed, the most important piece of equipment employed is the lift station, a key determinant for keeping everything flowing as it should, especially in an emergency situation.

Want to know more about how a lift station works and how it might be of benefit for your home or business? All of us at Liberty Plumbing and Septic have years of experience customizing all kinds of plumbing and septic equipment to meet our customers’ needs, call us today.

What Is A Lift Station?

A lift station is a specially designed section of any sewer and drain, septic system or wastewater system that is needed to move water or waste to a higher elevation. When a sewer system or wastewater treatment system is laid out, to get the water to flow where it needs to go, the design will primarily rely on the natural force of gravity to move the water over changing grades of land. When gravity cannot help, then the pumps included in typical lift stations are then employed to move that water, under pressure, to the next station.

There are two types of this installation currently being used in systems all over the country: the wet well and dry well system. The simplest of them all is the wet well system, which works just like the sump pump installation that you may have in your home, to prevent backwash and flooding. The submersible pump is placed inside of a well and is equipped with water level sensors. When the sensor is triggered by the water level, the pump is engaged and the water is pumped out of the well, into pipes placed for that purpose to transport it elsewhere.

Using the Dry Well System

Larger communities and cities will have treatment plants in different areas, and they will utilize the two well dry well design to transfer water from area to area, and to handle storm water overflows when necessary. Because most cities have a limited infrastructure budget to work with, they prefer the dry well design because it traditionally has a lower maintenance cost associated with it. The wet well design leaves the pump open to distress due to storm debris and other problems, raising its maintenance cost over time.

In the dry well design, however, maintenance is less because only the pumps are exposed and all the sensors that operate them are in an enclosed well. Keeping the sensitive electronics from being exposed to the elements makes it more cost efficient to operate. There are sensors in the open well that detects the current water level, and when it reaches a certain point, the pumps in the lift station are activated to transfer the water elsewhere.