Water Treatment & Sewage Applications for Mag Drive Pumps

Water treatment is an essential element of infrastructure in the United States. Consider that, according to the EPA, “the average American family of four uses 400 gallons of water per day.” The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency reports that “there are approximately 153,000 public drinking water systems and more than 16,000 publicly owned wastewater treatment systems in the United States. More than 80 percent of the U.S. population receives their potable water from these drinking water systems, and about 75 percent of the U.S. population has its sanitary sewerage treated by these wastewater systems.” 

Given the importance of sewage and water treatment for the general health of the population and the support of ongoing businesses, it’s important for public and private utilities to ensure that their operations continue uninterrupted. One of the leading causes of operational interruption is the failure of water treatment pumps.  

Role of Pumps in Water Treatment and Wastewater 

The term “water treatment” covers multiple kinds of processes, each of which has its own discrete requirements and steps. For instance, sewage treatment involves processing raw waste so that its harmful biological components can be neutralized before it is discharged or reused. Industrial wastewater treatment has a similar goal, but the substances it must manage include heavy metals, petrochemicals, potentially harmful nutrients, and similar chemicals. Agricultural wastewater must at times concern itself with sediment runoff in addition to biological and chemical compounds. 

The methods for managing harmful substances are many. Some substances must be physically removed. Plants can achieve this by using: 

• Sedimentation basins (pits where denser materials sink to the bottom) 
• Membrane filtration (liquid gets passed through a membrane with extremely small perforations) 
• Flash mixing (introducing chemicals that cause certain physical particles to agglomerate)  

Sometimes wastewater treatment may involve certain chemical processes, such as: 

• Oxidation (rendering specific chemicals neutral through the addition of oxidizing agents; this may include chemical oxidation or biochemical oxidation) 
• Neutralization (adding acids or alkali to adjust a liquid’s pH level) 
• Precipitation (extracting a soluble chemical from a liquid in which it is present) 
• Chemisorption (causing substances to chemically bond to some sort of solid body) 

While all of these methods are significantly different, they do have something in common: They require a pump to move liquid from one place to another. Indeed, pumps must move water while it’s in a “dirty” state and continue to do so once it has been “cleaned.” They are essential and irreplaceable parts of the wastewater treatment process. 

Factors to Consider for Water Treatment and Sewage 

Because water treatment and wastewater involve so many different processes and substances, it’s clear that a single pumping solution won’t suffice for every application. Some of the factors you should consider when selecting a pump are: 

• Viscosity: Depending on the state of the treatment process and the contaminants involved, the viscosity of the water may vary significantly. 
• Presence of Solids: Some pumps excel at moving solids through the system, while others may struggle. 
• Presence of Abrasives: Even if a pump can successfully move solid matter, the presence of abrasives may damage particular models. 
• Corrosivity: Some wastewater scenarios may feature compounds that can damage or destroy certain pump materials. 
• Priming: Not every pump is self-priming, and those that are not will need to be submersed within the wastewater to begin operating.  
• Operational and Maintenance Requirements: If wastewater treatment facilities must operate continuously, you should select a pump that requires minimal maintenance. 

Centrifugal pumps are some of the oldest and more resilient pumps available, and they often have applications at multiple steps in the water treatment process. In addition to moving liquid that needs processing, centrifugal pumps can also transport chemicals used in the remainder of the treatment. Additionally, mag drive pumps do not contain any seals and therefore require significantly less maintenance than other kinds of pumps. Our industrial magnetic drive pumps are ideal for moving Sodium Hypochlorite from bulk tanks to day tanks. Capable of handling mildly to highly corrosive chemicals and acids, our American-made pumps have a maximum flow rate of 200GPM and can tolerate pressure up to 75psi and a maximum temperature of 200 Fahrenheit (93 Celsius).