Lift station and sewer treatment monitoring

Mace has released its next generation of meters with the FloPro series 3, which uses ultrasonic technology to measure water flows.

One of its many applications is in lift stations and sewage treatment plants.

Lifting and conveying sewage through gravity sewerage systems and force mains requires monitoring to ensure that system capacities are not under- or over-utilised. Moreover, the amount of effluent entering, being treated and discharged from sewer treatment plants is a critical measure.

The device is suitable for use throughout the transfer and treatment systems of municipal departments. For use in lift stations, it provides an accurate solution. By using a Mace insertion velocity sensor, the device can be used in pipes from 100 mm (4") to 2.5 m (100") in diameter.

Furthermore, with a Series3 FloPro, up to five pumps can be monitored using one meter — a cost-effective innovation when more than a single pump is used at a pump station. In addition, the device can use any of its digital inputs to monitor float switches and the like to alarm, low and/or high levels in wet wells.

Because the Mace insertion velocity sensor provides very little obstruction to the flow and has no moving parts, the whole system is virtually maintenance free.

The device can be used throughout the whole treatment process. Inflows on rising mains can be monitored with the full-pipe insertion sensor, while process flows, traditionally measured using flumes, can be recorded using a depth sensor (either submerged or ultrasonic) and the FloPro’s in-built flume/weir look-up tables. Volumes of discharges from the treatment process can be equally measured using either full or partially full pipe sensors and assessed using water-quality sensors attached to the various analog or digital inputs.