PUMPS & VALVES
RESTORATION OF EZAKHENI PUMP STATION DURING LOCKDOWN
BEFORE While the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the implementation of various water projects last year, the refurbishment of the Ezakheni pump station was completed successfully. By Kirsten Kelly
R
esidents within the Ezakheni and Ladysmith areas of Kwa-Zulu Natal can now enjoy an uninterrupted and consistent supply of quality water due to the refurbishment of the pump station at Ezakheni Water Treatment Works (WTW). This is one of three WTWs that bulk water services provider Umgeni Water has been contracted to manage within uThukela District Municipality. Yovesh Danilala, project manager at Umgeni Water, said that when they took over the infrastructure, they found that the pump station had fallen into a state of disrepair: “A month after accepting control of the plant, there was a catastrophic failure at the raw
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AFTER water line where we lost three pumps. Funds were made available to bring the pump station back to its original condition. This meant that we had to install six vertical 18 HC three-stage pumps plus auxiliaries.” APE Pumps In 1983, APE Pumps supplied the WTW with six vertical 18 HC two-stage pumps. Being at the forefront of pump innovation within the Southern African market for close to seven decades, APE Pumps conducts manufacturerwarranted repairs and supplies new OEM pumps and valves. The company also offers a turnkey consulting, installation and commissioning service. According to John Montgomery, general manager for APE Pumps, the pump station never used the OEM for maintenance, repairs or spare parts. Upon inspection, the pump station was found in disarray. “The pumps that we had installed 38 years ago were all exactly the same, but when we inspected the pump station last year, we found that some pumps were vertical, some pumps were submersible, and nothing was the same. This makes servicing the pumps very difficult because the parts are not interchangeable. Furthermore, over the years, non-OEM replicated parts were
used. That has serious implications for overall system performance, since it’s rare for replicated parts to exactly fit the original OEM tolerance specifications. The precise tolerances that need to be achieved can be as exact as one thousandth of a millimetre,” explains Montgomery. Umgeni Water contracted APE Pumps to restore the Ezakheni pump station to its original condition. This included desilting the intake chamber by using divers and specialised equipment, as well as installing and commissioning the two transformers, six variablespeed drives (VSDs) and all the necessary electrical auxiliaries and instrumentation. APE was tasked with the manufacture, transport, and commissioning of the pumps and had to complete all required electrical, piping and structural work. Peter Robinson, director at APE Pumps, managed the restoration of the Ezakheni pump station on behalf of the company
