Pumps

A pump is a link that imparts energy to a fluid thereby raising its hydraulic head.  The relationship describing the head imparted to a fluid as a function of its flow rate through the pump is termed the pump characteristic curve.

In a sewer collection system, pumps are only allowed in conjunction with wet wells.  Therefore, a wet well and chamber (manhole) must first be digitized prior to creating a pump.

This page contains the following topics:

Create a Pump

To create a pump, click on the add pump link icon or from the Create menu, click Add Pump.

Once the command is initiated, a pencil cursor will appear.  Select the Wet Well for which the pump is to be placed and begin digitizing the location of the pump.  Intermediate shape-defining vertices can be placed by clicking the mouse in any location.  Configure the pump accordingly and double-click the mouse on top of the Chamber to end the digitization process.

Once the pump has been located, a dialog box will become present requesting the ID number of the pump, a description and the type of pump being created.  Once these data are entered, press OK to end the command.

Types of Pumps

There are three different types of pumps the user is able to input into InfoSewer. 

Fixed Capacity

The characteristic curve is unknown and constant capacity is used.  Via the Modeling option under the Attribute Browser, enter the following:

Capacity - The pumping flow rate of the pump in the field (cfs, l/s, etc.).

Design Point Curve

A standard pump curve with no extended flow range, where the cutoff head is 133 percent of the design head and the maximum flow is twice the design flow.  Via the Modeling option under the Attribute Browser, enter the following:

Design Head - The design operating head, ft (m).
Design Flow - The design flow, in flow units.

Exponential 3-Point Curve

A three-point pump curve with an optional extended range flow; some pumps exhibit a different type of characteristic curve beyond their normal flow range. InfoSewer allows for the representation of a pump’s behavior in its extended flow range.  Via the Modeling option under the Attribute Browser, enter the following:

Shutoff head -The shutoff head at zero flow, ft (m).
Design head - The design operating head, ft (m).
Design flow - The design flow, in flow units.
High Head - The head at the upper end of normal operating flow range, ft (m).
High Flow - The flow at the upper end of normal operating flow range, in flow units.

Edit a Pump

Graphic Edit - To edit the pump graphically, select the Edit Link Vertex icon and click on the pump or from the Edit menu, select the Edit Link Vertex command.  To add a vertex, click on the pump two times - one to select the pump, the other to add a vertex.  Once a vertex is added the selected vertex will turn blue.  By clicking on the blue box and holding down the left mouse button, the user can drag the vertex to its new location.

Data Edit - To edit the data related to a pump, first select the pump using the select tool.  Once selected, the user is able to edit the database data related to the pump under the Link tab of the Attribute Browser dialog box.

Delete a Pump

To delete a pump, from the Edit menu, select Delete Link.  From here the user selects the desired pump to be deleted and is asked by InfoSewer to confirm the deletion of this pump.  This pump is deleted graphically but can still be recalled from the database using the recall command.  However, if Auto Database Packing is enabled (Tools -> Preferences), then any element deleted is permanently deleted from the database and cannot be recalled.

Recall a Deleted Pump

To recall a deleted pump, go to Utilities menu, point to Recall, then select Link.  In order to perform the recall, the user must know the ID of the pump that was deleted.  If the ID is unknown, select the Show Deleted Links command from the Recall menu to see a list of ID's that have been deleted.

Redraw a Pump

Redrawing a pump is the same as modifying its geometry.  To redraw a pump, select the Redraw Link icon or from the Edit menu, select the Redraw Link command.  Once initialized, the mouse pointer will change to a crosshair.  At this point the user is able to redigitize the new location of the pump currently highlighted.  This command is dependent upon highlighting the pump in question first, then changing its geometry via this command.

Create  Pumps in Parallel

InfoSewer allows you to model an unlimited number of pumps in parallel as shown in the figure below. Each pump may have unique properties.

Pumps in parallel of the same type (i.e. all fixed capacity pumps or pumps described by characteristic curves) can be represented with one pump by specifying the number of parallel pumps in the PARALLEL field of the attribute browser. Pumps described by characteristic curves can be of exponential or design point type.

For Extended Period and Dynamic Simulations (EPS/Dynamic), InfoSewer  allows you to control the on-off status of each pump based on the upstream wet-well levels or volumes.