By Luke Tucker
Photos by Tom Galliger (Galliger Studios) on behalf of Pioneer Pump, a brand of Franklin Electric Co.
Franklin Electric Co. recently worked with Ohio Cat to create a large-scale sewer bypass solution that would facilitate capital improvements to a local municipality’s more than 2,800 linear feet of 84-inch sewer pipes. The city needed these pumps to bypass the normal sewage flowing through the pipes as well as handle any “worst case” pumping scenarios, like unseasonal infiltration from weather-related events. In addition to pumping capacity, the pump packages would be operating in a residential area, so noise control was a concern.
“The project’s scale and complexity required the right solution, one that we could easily transport and service,” said Joe Wagner, pump & shoring manager for Ohio Cat, who worked on sourcing equipment for the job. “We had used Pioneer Pump packages in the past and thought their experience would be a good match for this size of a project.”
The resulting pump packages paired the Pioneer Prime 18-inch with Caterpillar C13B engines, creating four custom sound-attenuated diesel pump packages, each engineered to handle 10,800 gallons per minute. In addition to developing the pump packages, Franklin Electric also engineered the entire solution be portable and easy-to-access, critical to meet the demands of the job site and application.
Ohio Cat invested in the units specifically for this project and plans to add them to its offering of rental equipment for the future. “These units are unique in what they can handle and since they are built on a skid, we can easily transport them across the country, if needed,” Wagner said. “This is the type of equipment that becomes essential as more cities improve infrastructure that’s been in place for centuries. They do the job in a way that makes everyone’s job easier so progress can happen quickly.”
Ohio Cat anticipates using the pump packages for dewatering ponds and flooding, sewer bypass pumping for utilities maintenance and underground constructions, and emergency bypass for weather-related events.
Franklin Electric is a global leader in the production and marketing of systems and components for the movement of water and fuel. Recognized as a technical leader in its products and services, Franklin Electric serves customers around the world in residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and fueling applications.
Luke Tucker is marketing strategist – fleet, commercial & industrial HVAC, Franklin Electric.