Pumping Station FAQs

Drainage or Sewage Pumping stations are used when there are no natural/gravitational means of transferring waste or nuisance water away from a development or application. A pumping station incorporates a collection chamber to hold liquid, and via integral pumps, the liquid is lifted under pressure to a separate receiving location (sewer network/treatment system) after which gravity flows take over.

Adoption of a water pumping station is a legal transfer of a pumping station from the owner or developer to the local water authority. The water authority is then responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the pumping station.
The basis of Sewers for adoption is to ensure that the developer builds to a required standard and quality. To achieve ‘adoption’ of a pumping station the specification, build and installation of the system would have to be compliant with local water company specifications. Details of these specifications are found in the sewers for adoption guidelines, published by WRc Plc, which is the standard set for the design and construction of sewers within the UK.
T-T are familiar with the requirements of all utility companies which enables us to provide the correct equipment to meet the needs of a particular scheme as we are pump station manufacturers. T-T control the adoption process from concept through to adoption on the client’s behalf to ensure a smooth handover to the utility company incorporating all documentation from a design package to operating and maintenance manuals. Pre-handover inspections are a standard feature of our service liaising with the adoptions engineers to ensure a smooth, uninterrupted handover.

For more information on adoption, visit: http://sfa.wrcplc.co.uk/home.aspx

Click here to find out more about how T-T can handle the whole process from concept to adoption.

For housing developments, it’s both practical and cost-effective to construct a wastewater and sewage pumping station that can be adopted by the local water company – eliminating the developer’s responsibility for future maintenance and running costs. 

Subject to the size of the development and the requirement to obtain permission to discharge into a local water authorities sewage network, as part of the consultancy process with the water authority, adoption may be a mandatory requirement.

The Water Authority that covers your location is the supplier that provides your water, this depends on your postcode. You can find out what water authority covers your location on the following website: https://www.water.org.uk/consumers/find-your-supplier

The water authorities are:

• Anglian Water
• Welsh Water
• Northern Ireland Water
• Northumbrian Water
• Scottish Water
• Severn Trent Water
• South West Water
• Southern Water
• Thames Water
• United Utilities
• Wessex Water
• Yorkshire Water

Pumping station adoption is an application process to the appropriate water authority. This is something that T-T can handle from start to finish. Once the approval has taken place, the legal documents are issued and the water authority will then be responsible for all issues relating to the pumping station.

There are a number of reasons why you might need a pumping station:

• A pumping station is needed when gravity cannot transport sewerage to the nearest sewer system.
• When the cost of installing a gravity sewage system outweighs that of a pumping station
• When the sewer system passes over a ridge

Our package pumping stations have the following dimensions:

Mercury – 1.2m deep x 1m diameter
Venus – 2.3m deep x 1m diameter
Saturn – 2m – 4.5m deep x 1.5m diameter
Jupiter – 2.5m – 4.5m deep x 2.1m diameter

An adoptable pumping station requires a complete segregated compound area, with access for future maintenance vehicles and larger plant lifting equipment.  The size of the compound can vary depending upon the size of the application and which authority the development falls under.

Typically, small pumping stations start at circa £500.00 ranging to tens of thousands depending up the size and requirements.

The type of pumping station required is determined by the location of the pump station and the inflow required, plus the results of the application and subsequent requirements via the water authority when obtaining permission to discharge into the sewage network.

If a pumping station is located on your land, then it would fall under your ownership. This would be a private pumping station.

If the pumping station is on public land then this would suggest an adoptable pumping station is required.

See question 4 for more information on the differences between private and adoptable pumping stations.

No. The mechanical pumps are submerged below the liquid level and are practically silent during operation.

When a pumping station is sized and selected correctly, consideration should be taken to ensure that foul waters are pumped within a good time before the liquid becomes stagnant and septic.  Stagnation and septicity are the main causes of significant odours, yet as a pumping station typically transfer raw sewage waste, odours are apparent in very close proximity.  Measures can be taken to tackle such issues, airtight access covers and separate ventilation to high level being the most popular.

Yes, pumping stations come with a locked access cover, meaning only trained operatives can access the well.

Pumping stations remove sewage safely and ensuring correct size, selection, operation and regular maintenance there shouldn’t be any issues.

There is a risk of environmental damage if the pumping station stops working; if the pumps stop removing the sewage there is a risk of overflow. This can result in environmental pollution and fines issued to the owner of the pumping stations. This can be prohibited with preventative maintenance ensuring correct operation of the pumping station with regular checks of the equipment to avoid breakdowns.

Private package pumping stations can be provided within 24 hours and the installation process and concrete backfill cure time on site can take between 7-10 days.  Once installed, the system will require commissioning via trained engineers so collectively a 2-3 week process.

For adoptable stations, the station structures have to be constructed on site in line with site specific drawings.  This process can take time, as permission and approval of designs must be obtained via the water authority prior to commencement.  Typically an adoptable station can take 10-12 weeks to complete, yet the requirements are driven by the developer and their onsite programme for completion.

A pumping station, in essence, contains mechanical, rotational parts and electronic control systems.  They require routine maintenance to ensure that they are performing and are in optimum condition.  Without such maintenance, wear and tear over time can result in a system failure.

As part of T-T’s service, we also offer a comprehensive sewage pumping station maintenance packages customised to suit your requirements. More information can be found here: /maintenance-and-repair/

Typically, sewage is fed into and stored in a wet well. When the level of the sewage rises to a predetermined point, a pump will be activated via integral level control, to lift the sewage under pressure through a discharge pipe system from where it is received into a gravity sewer manhole.

The level is monitored by level control equipment, this could be via a float switch or liquid level sensor. A float switch monitors the liquid level by floating on the top of the liquid present, an internal micro switch will turn the effluent pump station on and off when it has been moved by the liquid to the on/off switching point.

Once the pumps are switched on, they will pump the liquid through the pipework to a gravity sewer.

You will need a pumping station when gravity will not get the sewage and drainage water to a gravity or mains sewer.

Depending upon the requirements of the application, a pumping station can prove expensive yet a requirement never the less.  At T-T, we design, manufacture, install, commission and service pumping stations, so you have the benefit of the manufacturer's price without additional, sub-contractors overheads.

A well selected, professionally installed and commissioned system is economic to run.  A pumping station when in operation between fill cycles, runs for a matter of seconds/minutes so subject to the size of the pump motors, the electricity costs can vary.

Since 1959, T-T has stood out as one of the UK’s most reliable pump station manufacturers, suppliers and installers of pumps, pumping stations, valves, controls and other specialist equipment. We operate as a one-stop-shop for everything needed to master water management challenges. We specialise in not only off the shelf products but also customised pumping solutions, with specialist pump designs that are tailored to meet the exact requirements of many applications.  We can provide surface water pumping stations and domestic sewage pumping stations.

T-T have a dedicated technical team, who are on hand to help you through the process of selecting, designing, installing and commissioning a pumping station. We have vast experience in both small dwelling pumping stations and large development schemes.

T-T Package pumping stations come complete with a manufacturers comprehensive 12-month warranty which will run from the date that the system is delivered to site, or from the date of commissioning, should T-T complete this element of the installation.

If you choose for T-T to commission your pumping station and you take out a service agreement with T-T the warranty will be extended to three years from the date the pumping station was commissioned*.

*please note to validate the warranty extension, both the commissioning and the service agreement package must be ordered together with the pumping station at the initial order stage.

BIM or Building Information Modelling is a process for creating and managing information on a construction project across the project lifecycle. You can find out more information here: https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/what-is-building-information-modelling-bim