Case Study 02.2021

For Newtown Township’s
Pumping Stations, DesignConsiderations Ensure
Reliability, Long Life andMinimal Service
Located in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania serving a populationof less than 20,000, the Newtown Township Municipal Authority’s sewer
system needed three new pumping stations and rehabilitation for two
existing stations.
Two and a half years into the project,four stations are up and running,with the remaining station set to belive in summer 2021. The stations areNewtown Hunt, Goshen Road, OldMasters, Camelot and Springton Pointe.
The Five Pumping StationsThere was a significant community need for thepumping stations, according to Dave Porter,
project manager and project engineer for Herbert
E. MacCombie, the local engineering firm tasked
with designing the stations. The eastern half of themunicipality’s sewerage system was in working order,
but the western half needed an upgrade in order toprovide reliable and efficient wastewater management.
“It was a pretty large project [considering] theeastern half of the municipality had already been

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sewered,” Porter said. “[In] the western half of thetownship, there were a lot of systems failing in acouple of neighborhoods, and we had folks that werepumping on a bi-weekly basis. So there were certain
areas that were in dire need of public sewer.”
Overall, the service area would provide forapproximately 961,000 gallons per day (GPD) ofcapacity to that half of the municipality, Porter said.
In addition, 1,300 EDU’s are scheduled to comeonline as a result of the project, marking substantial
growth opportunities for the impacted community.
The pumping station project was funded by a $35
million bond issue for sewer revenue bonds sold in
October 2018.

Selecting the Right Equipment
Gorman-Rupp was a vital partner to the success ofthe project, according to Porter. Dan Weaver, sales
representative for Gayle Corp., a Gorman-Rupp
distributor, assisted with the design early on in theproject to help meet both the firm and authority’s

1brought peace of mind to the project, as theirproducts are “the gold standard,” he said.

Developing New & Rehabilitated
Pumping Stations
While three of the pumping stations were new,
two were existing and rehabilitated. One of therehabilitated sites involved essentially replacing thewastewater treatment plant, as that station has its
own headworks, wet well and pumping lift station to
get into the wastewater treatment plant. This involved
coordinating around site development work.

Due to the higher heads and pressuresrequired by the township, Ultra V Series®
pumps paired up with the UltraMate® werespecified. Each pump adds up to three times
the pressure of traditional solids-handling,
self-priming, single stage pumps.
goals of reliability and minimal service. The teamcame up with some unique solutions to better fitthese needs.
“In particular, some of the unique things that were[needed for] the job [included] the head required,”
Weaver said. “Very high pressure [and] very highhead pumping systems were required. Fortunately
for us, that fell right into some unique products that
Gorman-Rupp has.”
The team designed five pumping systems, all ofwhich use multistage pumps. Weaver’s team also
recommended using bypass pumps instead ofutilizing a generator, which he cited as an increasing
trend. Using an engine-driven bypass pump insteadof a generator allows for backup pumping when thepower is out or when some part of the pump station
is down. This was utilized at four of the five stations,as one station was large enough that a generator
remained a viable option. To Porter, working with
Gorman-Rupp on the pump design and execution

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The other station that required rehabilitation wasa larger regional pump station that needed to beupgraded from approximately just under 400,000
GPD to just under 600,000 GPD. The station alsoneeded to be relocated farther away from residentialdwellings. In fact, working in partnership with thecommunities to ensure that the pumping stations
met their needs was a vital part of the overall project
design, Porter explained. The team even worked tocoordinate the aesthetics of the buildings with thesurrounding neighborhoods, with pumping station
exteriors ranging from brick to fieldstone and evencedar shingles.
As mentioned, reliability was one of the key goals
for all project stakeholders. For the main pumpstations, Gorman-Rupp built a PLC-based panel with
VFDs where each VFD had its own bypass reduced
voltage starter, so if the VFD were to fault then thebypass would run. Furthermore, if the PLC were tofail, there is a backup float system that would run thepumps. If that failed, there is a backup engine-driven
pump system that has its own level control system
to further run. These three levels of backup support
ensure station reliability.
Gorman-Rupp also tested the completed unit
at the factory test pit prior to delivery. The
manufacturer even invited Porter, Weaver andseveral other stakeholders to witness the testingof the largest station at Gorman-Rupp. Porter© 2014 ©
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Gorman-Rupp
Gorman-RuppCompanyPumpsdescribes this opportunity to see the design inaction as “awe-inspiring.”“We were fascinated to be able to see hands-on
how our design, calculations and our coordination
with Dan [Weaver] was able to bring this to fruition,”
Porter said of the Gorman-Rupp factory trip. “It wasvaluable to see, first-hand, the operation they havegoing on there.”Beyond reliability, other elements of the overalldesign ensure long service life and minimal
service, including the multistage bypass pumps,
stainless steel impellers and stainless steel selfcleaning wearplates. A RACO alarm alert for cellularcommunication provides online data access andrecording to ensure any issues are addressed in atimely manner.

About Gorman-Rupp Pumps
For more than 85 years Gorman-Rupp Pumps USA
has manufactured pumps for municipal, sewage,industrial, mining, construction, petroleum, OEM,government, agriculture and fire markets.
The company’s extensive line of pump products
include self-priming centrifugal pumps, standard
centrifugal pumps, submersible pumps, rotary gearpumps, diaphragm pumps, engine-driven pumps,and priming assist pumps. In addition, Gorman-Rupp
manufactures a complete line of state-of-the-art
packaged lift stations and booster stations that

Custom engineered to meet system
requirements, Gorman-Rupp Integrinex®
Advanced Controls, manufactured with
Allen-Bradley components, provide threelevels of back-up support to ensure pumpstation reliability.
include pumps, motors, controls, piping, accessories
and enclosures.
For more information, contact Cyndi Hoffner,
Advertising Manager, Gorman-Rupp Pumps USA; 600
South Airport Road, Mansfield, OH 44903-7831; Phone:419-755-1011; email cyndi.hoffner@gormanrupp.com;
www.grpumps.com.

GORMAN-RUPP PUMPS | P.O. BOX 1217 | MANSFIELD, OHIO 44901-1217 | USA | 419.755.1011 | GRSALES@GORMANRUPP.COM | GRPUMPS.COM2
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Gorman-Rupp
Gorman-Rupp
Company
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