COVER SERIES | Water Management
Emergency Preparedness Starts With Pumping System Reliability
How redundancy, controls and standby power help keep water moving during emergencies.
Mark Sheldon | Romtec Utilities
| IMAGES 1&2: A booster station at Rogue Community College in Oregon can handle the water from the campus, but in case of an emergency, the booster station is set up to handle fire flow as well. (Images courtesy of Romtec Utilities)
Pumping systems are a cornerstone of emergency preparedness because they protect public health, property and critical operations when conditions are least predictable. Whether the challenge is a power outage, extreme weather, equipment failure or a sudden demand surge, many pump stations are designed explicitly around the worst-case scenario. The common thread across wastewater, stormwater, industrial and potable water applications is redundancy, multiple layers of equipment and controls that keep flow moving even when one component is out of service.
Common design practices that support continuity during emergencies include:
- Backup pumps—installing two pumps to meet the duty point, which could be met by either pump
- Backup level sensing to start and stop pumps—for example, a primary level control with a pressure transducer and a backup level control with floats
- A backup generator to provide power if, for any reason, utility power fails
- Backup control panel functionality, such as an automatic transfer switch to allow the pumping system to automatically start the generator
Wastewater Lift Stations: Preventing Overflows
In most regions of the U.S., gravity sewers are the preferred (and often mandated) way to convey wastewater. From a home or business, wastewater flows by gravity through public mains until terrain or depth makes gravity flow impractical. At that point, a lift station moves the wastewater to the next gravity segment or onward to the treatment plant. A lift station typically includes a wet well (sump), multiple pumps and supporting mechanical, electrical, controls and communications equipment. Because raw sewage must not escape or overflow, lift stations are engineered with multiple layers of backup so they can continue operating through common emergency scenarios.
Stormwater Pumping: Managing Flood Risk
Stormwater pump systems are often built to prevent an emergency from occurring in the first place.
A common example is a detention pond application. Runoff is routed by gravity into a pond in a low-lying area, and as the pond level rises, pumps transfer water to a controlled discharge point where it can be released safely without damaging downstream infrastructure.
Across the stormwater sector, emergency scenarios vary from protecting neighborhoods and commercial districts to keeping airport runways and underpasses dry. These systems are designed around site-specific risk: peak rainfall intensity, allowable water surface elevation, discharge restrictions and the consequences of downtime. Redundancy, robust controls and maintainable equipment are central to making sure stormwater does not become an emergency.
Industrial Sites: Protecting Operations & Compliance
Industrial facilities often take emergency preparedness a step further, because an upset condition can impact production, safety and environmental compliance. For example, a Gulf Coast refinery project involved rebuilding a stormwater collection system serving roughly 50 acres.
Site drainage was routed to a large, in-ground sump that had begun leaking. The solution used multiple sealed and interconnected precast concrete structures, paired with a mix of seven pumps sized for different operating conditions—from routine rainfall events to high-intensity storms.
In that application, the system continuously reduced risk by collecting surface water before it could spread across the site. Once in the collection structures, solids were managed and oils were separated prior to pumping the water to additional on-site treatment. Only after verification testing confirmed water quality was the discharge released to permitted outfalls. The takeaway: Multiple stages of containment, separation and pumping help prevent minor upsets from escalating into reportable incidents.
Fire Protection & Booster Stations: Pressure When It Matters Most
Fire protection introduces a different kind of emergency: the need for high flow at a specified pressure with little to no notice. In developing areas that are not yet served by an established water system, or where system pressure is insufficient, pump-driven booster stations are often required to support both everyday domestic demand and fire flow requirements. These systems typically start and stop based on pressure, using variable speed drives or staged pumping to maintain setpoints.
When properly designed, the station can prioritize reliability during abnormal conditions, such as utility outages, line breaks or peak demand, so required fire flow remains available.
- Domestic boosting to maintain pressure for routine household, commercial or industrial potable water demand
- Fire flow boosting to deliver the required hydrant or sprinkler pressure and flow during firefighting events
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Define credible emergency scenarios early (power loss, peak inflow, equipment outage, discharge limits) and size the system accordingly.
- Use layered redundancy, such as duty/standby pumps, independent level/pressure sensing and automatic transfer to standby power.
- Design controls and communications for simple operation under stress—clear alarms, safe defaults and remote visibility.
- Plan for maintainability: access, lifting, isolation valves and space for safe service without taking the entire station offline.
Design for Continuity
Across wastewater, stormwater, industrial and potable water infrastructure, the emergency may look different, but the engineering goal is the same: maintain containment, capacity and control. Building in redundancy and designing for maintainability helps ensure that a predictable disruption does not turn into an overflow, a flood or a shutdown.
Mark Sheldon is the vice president of operations for Romtec Utilities. For more information, visit romtecutilities.com.
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