Lift Station Operation, Maintenance and Troubleshooting
Keep lift stations running and catch problems before they overflow: pumps, valves, controls, backup power, station math, safety, maintenance and troubleshooting in a set order.
Who it is for
Collection system and lift station operators, maintenance staff and on-call crews, and plant operators who cover lift stations.
Format
Online, self-paced: 10 timed modules with the manual reading, worked examples and a short check after each module, plus the student manual to download.
Length and price
3 hours, $105.
What you will learn
10 modules. Worked examples use fictional lift stations in the fictional White River collection system.
- What a lift station does and the main types (15 min)Why lift stations are built, and how submersible, wet well/dry well, suction lift, package and grinder stations compare.
- Pumps, impellers, valves and force mains (20 min)Inside a submersible pump, four impeller types, wet well design, check and isolation valves, force mains and how check valves fail.
- Level controls, control panels, drives and SCADA (20 min)Floats, transducers, bubblers and ultrasonic sensors, set points, the control panel, starters and drives, alarms and SCADA callout.
- Backup power, bypass pumping and odor control (15 min)Generators and transfer switches, generator care, hold time before an overflow, bypass pumping and odor control.
- Pump curves, TDH and the operating point (15 min)TDH from static head and friction, pump and system curves, the best efficiency point, drives and the affinity laws, and the shutoff head test.
- Station math: wet wells, drawdown, cycles and run times (20 min)Gallons per foot, working volume, drawdown tests, cycle time and starts per hour, run hours, detention time and water hammer.
- Lift station safety (15 min)Confined space entry, gases, lockout before a pump pull, arc flash labels, traffic, lifting and biological hazards.
- Preventive maintenance and records (15 min)A station rounds routine, a PM schedule, inspecting a pulled pump, megger trends, current unbalance and reading the records.
- Troubleshooting controls, power and pump motors (17 min)A seven step troubleshooting order, a high level alarm decision path, and tables for pumps not running, short cycling and high amps.
- Troubleshooting hydraulics, force mains and corrosion, with cases (18 min)Pumps running with no pump down, air binding, rags and grease, check valve slam, force main and odor problems, and three cases.
What operators take away
- How each type of lift station works and what its pumps, impellers, valves, controls and panel parts do.
- Pump curves, system curves, the best efficiency point and what drives and worn pumps do to the operating point.
- Station math you can check yourself: gallons per foot, working volume, drawdown, cycle time, starts per hour, run hours, hold time, TDH from a gauge, shutoff head, unbalance and water hammer.
- Safe work habits for confined spaces, lockout before a pump pull, arc flash labels and traffic.
- A systematic troubleshooting order and tables for eleven common symptoms, from a high wet well with the pumps off to odor at the force main discharge.
- Timed online modules with a short check after each one, a final quiz that opens when every check is passed and the study time is logged, and a certificate of completion from Wastewater Academy™ when you pass it.
- A student manual to download (comes with the class).
Look inside
A few sample pages from the student manual. Tap a page to open it full size.
These are sample pages only. The full student manual comes with the class.
Register
3 hours, $105.
CEU approval status varies by state. Check with your state certification office before you count class hours toward a renewal.
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Registration is open. Register online and start right away.
After you pay, you are taken to a page where you start the online course and download the student manual. Work through the 10 modules in order; each ends with a 4-question check, and you need 3 of 4 to open the next module. The study timer counts time only while a module page is open and in the foreground, and you have been active in the last 5 minutes. It pauses when the tab is in the background or idle. Module checks open after about 30 percent of that module's required study time is logged. The final quiz opens after every check is passed and 2 hours 50 minutes of study are logged. It has 15 questions; you need 80 percent, with up to 3 attempts. After you pass and fill in a short course evaluation, you get a certificate of completion from Wastewater Academy™ in the name you enroll with. Online access, including the course, manual, quiz, and certificate, lasts 90 days from purchase. To see the style of questions first, try a free practice quiz.
Before you buy, read our refund policy, terms of use and privacy notice.
Certificate Only, $84: Same online course, manual and final quiz, with 90 days of access. The certificate reads “Certificate of Completion. Not submitted for continuing education credit.” and lists no contact hours, CEUs or license numbers. See terms.
Taking more than one class? This class is part of the All-Access Pass: every online class except Indiana exam prep, for 365 days, for $220. Training a crew? See group pricing.
See the All-Access Pass