Crisafulli Case History - Submersible, Trailer and Vertical Pumps Solve Stormwater Problems

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: To transfer storm water from a creek to an adjacent river during periods of high water during storms and spring thawing. The storm water from the creek contains a large amount of debris and sticks. If the creek water is not transferred to the river fast enough, a backup occurs creating flooded streets and residences.

KEY ELEMENTS OF JOB: After discussion with the client on what he wished to do, a visit to the site was necessary to gather more details. The situation during storms and high water runoff was a need to move large amounts of water containing debris in a short amount of time because of the narrow creek width. Also, electric power was frequently unavailable during storms because of power outages.

SOLUTION: The customer first purchased a Crisafulli 12" PTO Humpback Trailer Pump because of its non electric power requirement, high volume pumping and potential ability to pass debris from the channel. After using the trailer pump effectively through one storm season, the village purchased a Crisafulli 16" vertical PTO pump to supplement the trailer pump for this application.
During the same year a new lift station was being designed for storm water management at another site in the village. A slight conflict arose as to what type of power source (electric or PTO) to use on this application. A Crisafulli l6" Vertical Electric/PTO was chosen to satisfy both opinions: Electric power is cheaper than manning a PTO driven pump, but if electricity is not available the PTO drive still works. The specification for this project was written around the Crisafulli Pump because of its proven track record with the village.

The next year brought the design of an additional three pump storm water stations for the creek to meet the final design and complete pumping requirements for this site. This application was designed by a consulting engineering firm and not by the village as the previous applications were. The engineer chose another style of pumps (not made by Crisafulli) for the application. The complete project cost for the three alternate pumps, lift station and controls was over $100,000.00; equipment only. Some of the village managers were not happy with the choice of these alternate pumps or the final cost after seeing the performance and price of the Crisafulli Pumps in the past on the same application.

However, the project was completed and the results were terrible with the (non-Crisafulli) pumps. They could not handle the debris from the storm water runoff and had drastically different pumping rates at different heads. There was also some conflict with the engineer's total head condition estimate and the actual total head. These problems are not uncommon for a cast rather than a fabricated pump.

The alternate pumps were eventually replaced by three Crisafulli 16" Vertical Pumps for about half the cost. These three new Crisafulli pumps were a direct purchase by the village and not by bid.

After the success of the Crisafulli Pumps for the village, the decision for them to buy a Crisafulli hydraulic pump for a replacement to an existing competitor's pump was a given. This pump is used by street department personnel to dewater various pits and manholes.

RESULTS: The Crisafulli Pump line offers a variety of pump configurations, drive designs and control packages to meet the most demanding applications for any client. The fabricated design offers the benefits of flexibility and capability of passing heavy solids and debris without sacrificing flow. Customers have also commented on the simplicity of the pump design and the ease of maintenance and serviceability of the Crisafulli Pumps.

Reference: Mr. Bill Willing, Village of Winnetka, Illinois, Department of Public Works, (847) 501-6023