Hydro Innovations opens training centre

Pump supplier Hydro Innovations has opened a new training centre, the Hydro Innovations Pump Institute, to assist its customers in the selection, troubleshooting and maintenance of centrifugal pumps. The centre will mainly focus on self-priming pumps, but aspects of the curricula offered will include standard centrifugal and submersible pumps.

The institute covers two floors and houses a variety of training assets. The main attraction is a full-size functioning pump station on the first floor with suction lines going down into a clear wet well system on the ground floor, demonstrating the self-priming process clearly through clear acrylic suction lines. Other training assets include a glass-faced pump and a full-size ‘tear-down’ pump.

The glass-faced pump is a full-size pump with a glass front, allowing observers to see the inside workings of a centrifugal pump. It is capable of demonstrating a raft of troubleshooting scenarios, including air binding, pipe blockages and more.

The tear-down pump enables training for operators and fitters on disassembly and reassembly of a centrifugal pump, including tips on seal and bearing installation, setting pump clearances and other key elements in repair and maintenance procedures. Hydro Innovations hopes that this element of operator training, along with gauge reading and troubleshooting training, will help keep pumping assets at their best for long and trouble-free time.

Image caption: In the below-ground section of the training centre, thanks to custom-fitted sections of transparent plastic pipes and siding, the audience can see tonnes of water flowing right past them, cycling into of the temporary reservoir/wet well before being pumped away by Ultra-V pumps.