Pumps for Water and Wastewater Operators
Read a pump curve, hear cavitation, set packing, check alignment and work through a troubleshooting list, so the pumps you run last longer and cost less to run.
Who it is for
Water and wastewater treatment operators, distribution and collection system operators, and maintenance staff who run, care for and troubleshoot pumps. Wet wells, level controls, drawdown tests and backup power are covered in the related Lift Station Operation class.
Format
Online, self-paced: 12 timed modules with the manual reading, worked examples and a short check after each module, plus the student manual to download.
Length and price
4 hours, $140.
What you will learn
12 modules. Every example uses the fictional White River water system and the White River Resource Recovery Facility.
- What pumps do: energy, head and the two families (15 min)Head in feet and psi, where the energy goes, the two pump families, and what happens against a closed valve.
- Centrifugal pumps: how they work and their parts (25 min)Impellers, volutes, wear rings, end suction, split case, vertical turbine and submersible pumps, priming and nameplates.
- Positive displacement and special pumps (20 min)Progressive cavity, lobe, plunger, diaphragm metering, peristaltic and air operated pumps, and when to choose PD.
- Head: static, friction, velocity and the system curve (20 min)Static, friction and velocity head, reading suction and discharge gauges, and building the system curve.
- Pump curves, the operating point and pumps together (20 min)Reading a pump curve, the operating point, the preferred operating region, throttling, trims, and pumps in parallel and series.
- NPSH and cavitation (20 min)How cavitation happens, the NPSH budget, vapor pressure, margin, suction piping and fixes.
- Power, efficiency, affinity laws and variable speed (20 min)Water and brake horsepower, motor amps, the affinity laws, VFDs on a real system, and what throttling and wear cost.
- Packing and mechanical seals (20 min)Packing and repacking, mechanical seals, seal installation and failure, and seal water.
- Bearings, lubrication, couplings and alignment (20 min)Bearing frames, lubrication, flexible couplings, misalignment, soft foot and dial indicator alignment.
- Vibration and condition monitoring (15 min)Where to take readings, trends and alert levels, spectrum fingerprints and how bearings fail.
- Troubleshooting pumps (20 min)A six step troubleshooting method, a symptom table and five White River cases.
- Pump station operation and care (15 min)Pump rounds, start-up and shutdown, isolating a pump for work, preventive maintenance and energy per million gallons.
What operators take away
- How centrifugal and positive displacement pumps work inside, drawn as cutaways, and why they behave so differently against a closed valve.
- How to turn gauge readings into total dynamic head and find where a pump runs on its curve and the system curve.
- How to recognize cavitation, work an NPSH budget and fix the suction side.
- The affinity laws and VFDs on a real system, and what throttling and worn wear rings cost each year, with the math worked out.
- How to set packing, install and read a mechanical seal, lubricate bearings and check alignment and soft foot.
- How to use vibration trends and a simple troubleshooting method, with five worked cases, and how to run pump rounds, start-ups and isolation.
- 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
4 hours, $140.
CEU approval status varies by state. Check with your state certification office before you count class hours toward a renewal.
Questions about this course? Contact help@ActivatedSludge.com.
Our courses have not been approved by any state agency unless a state approval number is shown. Whether a course counts toward your renewal is decided by your certifying authority. Please confirm with your state before enrolling. See where you can use these classes.
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 12 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 3 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, $112: 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