Weed screens improve Lincolnshire pumping station efficiency 20 January 2014

Dirtness pumping station, which controls water levels as part of the Lincolnshire land drainage scheme, is reporting reduced maintenance, and improved efficiency and operator safety, since installing automated weed screens.

The station had been relying on a rotary screen installed in October 1952, designed to remove debris from water and deposit it on a bridge over the watercourse. But when replacement tractors were too large to remove debris from the bridge, the plant had reverted to wheelbarrows.

Faced with safety issues and problems with water flow in winter, when ice blocked the screens, the Environment Agency brought in ECS Engineering Services, to design and build a new system.

The firm recommended a Landustrie automatic screen cleaner and delivered a turnkey system – also removing the obsolete equipment, using divers to modify the bottom the watercourse and carrying out the mechanical and electrical installation.

The new system performs a cleaning cycle each time it is triggered –when the pumps operate, on a timer or based on water level differential, measured by ultrasonic sensors. It can also be operated manually, using a plug-in hand held console.

The cleaning cycle now involves a grab moving from its parked position to a point above the weed screen where it is lowered below the water surface. It then closes hydraulically and is raised before traversing along a gantry to a point above a skip, where the weed is deposited. This procedure is repeated until the full width of the screen is cleared.

The installation is connected to local telemetry to provide feedback on its operational status. The cleaning system can also be operated locally by hand with a push-button pendant which is plugged into the system at a point close to the screen to allow the operator a clear and safe view of the operation.

The Environment Agency says the new system has greatly improved the reliability of the site, as well as removing manual handling and its reliance on regular operator intervention.

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
ECS Engineering Services Ltd

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