The Otay River Pump Station (ORPS), which pumps 7-9 MGD of raw sewage to San Diego’s South Bay Water Reclamation Facility for water recovery, had a problem in the large, 50’ long x 10’ wide x 30’ deep wet well. A floating blanket of grease and debris, sometimes as thick as 4 feet, would occur on a regular basis. As the city has had good experience replacing their clogged pumps with Vaughan Chopper Pumps, they turned once again to Vaughan Company for a more cost-effective solution.
When used as a conditioning pump, a Submersible Vaughan Chopper Pump is fitted with a nozzle to provide high velocity mixing, and is placed in the problem wet well on a portable stand. Recirculating the wet well contents through a Vaughan Chopper pump chops and mixes not only the grease and debris that can accumulate as a floating layer, but also chops and re-suspends heavier debris that can accumulate on the wet well floor.
For ORPS, an 8” Submersible Chopper Pump with a 25 HP 1200 RPM motor with mixing nozzle and portable stand was installed. In 18 months of use, the wet well has not required cleaning. Based on the cost of the pump and installation, the pump paid for itself in 2 1/2 months of use. WW
Vaughan Chopper Pumps are centrifugal pumps with the unique ability of chopping all incoming solids prior to pumping. Learn more at www.chopperpumps.com
