Xylem, a leading global water technology company, designed and built a major emergency sewer bypass in Memphis, Tenn., in just six days. Sixteen inches of rain fell on the city, half of which fell during a two-day deluge, during spring 2016. This unprecedented rainfall eroded the soil supporting a 96-inch sanitary sewer main that carried wastewater to one of the city’s central treatment plants.
City of Memphis officials immediately activated their Emergency Response Plan, bringing Xylem on board to design and develop a turnkey bypass solution to maintain sewer services, minimize the environmental impact and ensure regulatory compliance, while the main line was repaired. The project included the construction of a 2,400-foot-long, 40-foot-wide road through swamp land, so the site could be accessed.
A team of nearly 200 people composed of Xylem engineers, Memphis Public Works and contractor personnel worked in tandem to accelerate the project timeline, completing the entire turnkey bypass operation in record time. Typically this magnitude of bypass pumping would take between two to three weeks to be designed and constructed. However, the Xylem-led team completed the emergency task in just six days.
“At Xylem we pride ourselves on being a 24/7 company. We’re always available with a team of people who use their expertise and experience to solve complex customer challenges every day,” said Ken Albaugh, regional director for Xylem’s pump rental business. “This project is a great example of how we use our in-depth experience and resources to rectify an emergency situation, while minimizing environmental impact and ensuring adherence to all regulations.”
“Xylem provided us with the expertise and efficiency we needed in this emergency situation,” said Paul Patterson, environmental engineering administrator for the City of Memphis. “This allowed us to focus our efforts entirely on design and construction and getting the pipe replaced. And that was key.”
The damaged 96-inch sanitary sewer main crossed South Cypress Creek and carried wastewater to the T.E. Maxson Wastewater Treatment Plant in Memphis. The bypass system needed to handle 160 million gallons per day (MGD) of peak flow and traverse 2,400 linear feet from the suction point to the discharge location.
Fourteen Godwin diesel-driven Dri-Prime CD400M pumps, two Godwin hydraulically driven CD300M pumps and nearly 30,000 linear feet of HDPE pipe were commissioned as part of the turnkey bypass, successfully pumping 60 to 160 million gallons per day of raw sewage daily.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.