definition

A pumping station is used to discharge water out of an area. It can be used to transport sewer water in pressure mains. Another option is to be used in polder systems to pump water from a low lying area into a main water body like a river or a lake. It is always applied when no natural flow of water is possible. A flood control pumping station manages extremely large amounts of water flowing in open canals at low heads. This solution demands a good infrastructure because of the large inlet channels or pump sumps. Also, the power supply comes from a power plant, a dedicated power structure, or a combination of them. Additionally, by increasing the pump capacity of a pumping station water tables can be controlled better. Responding to heavy rains becomes easier, and the chance of flooding is reduced. The need for buffer capacity, translated into low water tables in rivers and channels, is also reduced as the managers have more pumping capacity. (Grundfos, Flood Control Pumping Stations US LOW web, accessed on Sept. 2016).

Co-benefits and impacts

Some of the benefits of pumping stations are the typically low operating hours which provides high reliability, the protection of large areas from flooding, the allowance of settlements in areas that are exposed due to climate changes and the capability of being combined with water gates when constructed near to the sea. (Grundfos, Flood Control Pumping Stations US LOW web, accessed on Sept. 2016).Benefit of increasing pump capacity of a system is that water levels can remain at higher levels which increases the retention capacity of the system in case of droughts. Slowing down the rate of soil subsidence is a co-benefit of the ability to maintain high water levels.

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Last modified: Sept. 19, 2016, 11:33 a.m.