Ultrasonic Transit Time Flow Meters Optimize Wastewater Treatment Operations in Village of Lombard

Exhibitor Promotion
Presented by Badger Meter

The Village of Lombard, Ill., experienced several failures due to meters that were in poor working condition at its wastewater lift station.

“We had no idea of the actual flow we were pumping from the different lift stations, whether it was dry weather or wet weather flow. We knew our sanitary stations ran a lot more due to inflow and infiltration (I&I) and sump pump connections, and we needed to address this problem quickly so we could generate better flow data,” said Luke Sharp, water treatment and wastewater pumping supervisor for the Village of Lombard.

Flow monitoring is the first step in identifying I&I to determine where problems are occurring, so the village’s water and wastewater treatment division decided an instrumentation upgrade was necessary to eliminate chronic Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) and basement backups during rainfall events. Additionally, the flow meters would reduce I&I within the entire collection system, prevent potential high-risk failures within the collection system, better analyze discharge flow information from each lift station, reduce wastewater treatment costs and provide analytics to evaluate capacity for future major development projects.

The Village of Lombard evaluated several flow metering technologies based on known constraints, such as the inability to shut down station operations due to high demand and difficulty installing in-line flow meters into existing piping. After careful consideration of different flow measurement solutions, the Village of Lombard found that ultrasonic transit time flow meters were the best approach for its lift stations.

“Our goal was to install working, reliable flow meters at each of our lift stations in the most economical way,” Sharp said.

Ultrasonic transit time meters enable improved diagnostics to accurately measure flow, help identify potential pump failures and initiate appropriate preventative maintenance programs on equipment at the stations, thus extending the life of assets. Additionally, they measure flow rate by propagating ultrasound waves into liquid-filled pipes and measuring the time of flight.

With clamp-on technology, meters like the Dynasonics® TFX-5000 Ultrasonic flow meter from Badger Meter are non-intrusive — a design that provides advantages such as reduced installation costs, uninterrupted production, installation flexibility across a wide range of pipe sizes, no pressure head loss, no contact with internal liquid and no moving parts to maintain.

According to Sharp, the use of ultrasonic transit time flow metering has also provided a significant return on investment for his department’s wastewater pumping operations.

“The ultrasonic clamp-on meters were easy to install, which reduced our overall project costs,” Sharp said. “We can use the accurate flow data to better plan for capital improvement projects related to I&I and verify the costs from the wastewater treatment plant in order to prioritize our budget allocations.” WW

Badger Meter is exhibiting at WEFTEC21, booth 4048. To learn more, visit www.badgermeter.com.