Eekels 24/7 rapid response service moves into action to assist British partner

On a Friday afternoon Eekels received an urgent enquiry for assistance from one of its British partners in pumps, apparently a vital underground sewage main had collapsed in Southern England close to the city of Southampton. Within hours two large trucks complete with trailers were loaded at our Barendrecht depot with all the necessary equipment and pumps. Early next morning the trucks with pumping equipment had arrived on site where work started immediately on constructing an emergency pumping station with a capacity of 1700 l/s (6120 m3/h).

The collapsed underground sewage main was the main transport pipe between a huge 7 meter deep underground raw sewage concrete collector and the main sewage treatment works. The collapsed sewage main was leaking stagnant and untreated sewage water into the environment threatening the fauna and flora of this beautiful part of Southern England.

The underground concrete collector offered the best location for the emergency pump installation but accessing the collector was in its self a major operation. The whole site was covered with thick undergrowth and tons of earth. After removal of the undergrowth and earth specialist equipment was used to cut an access in the 60 cm thick reinforced concrete roof of the collector. The first pump to be installed was a Hidrostal I16K-SS, 140 kW immersible pumps. At the same time a steel discharge pipe of 500 mm diameter and 100 metres long was laid between the Hidrostal pump in the collector to a temporary discharge point in an undamaged section of the sewage line.

To meet the required capacity a second pump installation was required. To avoid weakening the roof structure of the collector further, our project site engineer decided to utilise a Hidrostal H12K-HD surface mounted dry prime unit with electronic vacuum system and suction pipe. Within a day the second pump unit with the required equipment arrived on site. The first discharge point in the undamaged sewage pipe was unsuitable for a second discharge connection. The only available discharge point was 400 metres away.

The Eekels site engineers together with their British colleagues rose to the challenge once more and using every ounce of ingenuity they had, they installed the second pump installation in a professional manner and in record time.

The efforts of our site engineers and our British partner were greatly appreciated by the customers. His gratitude and his appreciation for the technical solution together with the professional manner which Eekels organised the transport and installation of a vital emergency fully automatic raw sewage pump installation was very evident.

This incident confirming once again Eekels ability to respond effectively and rapidly to the most demanding challenges with its rapid response 24/7 service.

Eekels prides itself on being able to providing the right solution in any situation. That is our work and our mission.