In the near future, Eagle River Water and Sanitation District (ERWSD) is facing the replacement of, or improvements to, 56 aging water distribution system booster pump stations. In order to perform these repairs, temporary by-pass pumps are usually rented, at a steep cost, to provide uninterrupted water supply to customers. ERWSD turned to SGM’s Drinking Water Team to investigate options other than renting, and the answer ended up being rather unconventional: use a fire pumper truck!
Using a fire pumper truck has many advantages:
- The fire pumper truck is capable of proving high flows at moderate pressures and moderate flows at high pressures.
- Connections to the distribution system can easily be provided at existing fire hydrants.
- Being mobile, the fire truck pumper truck solution can be deployed in a matter of minutes to address any pumping emergency in the system.
- Purchasing a fire pumper truck provides long-term cost savings for the District, and gives them more flexibility in scheduling improvements over the original rental scenario.
Ultimately ERWSD decided to have SGM design custom distribution system connections to protect existing hydrants and better control operating conditions at the pumper truck when in use. ERWSD has already begun to use the fire pumper truck to provide emergency pumping around five of their pump stations scheduled for complete renovations this fall.
In addition to providing conventional drinking water treatment and distribution services, it was very gratifying for our engineers to provide an innovative, cost-effective, red and shiny solution like the fire pumper truck for ERWSD.
