Family-owned pumps manufacturer Hazleton Pumps in April won the 2014/15 South African Premier Business Awards (SAPBA) Manufacturer of the Year award for the design, development and manufacture of its medium-/high-voltage slurry submersible pump.

It can pump liquids containing abrasive and corrosive solids, and is the first medium-/high-voltage submersible pump that complies with the flameproof requirements of IEC 60079-1, says Hazleton MD Mathys Wehmeyer.

Therefore, the pump can be used in combustible gas atmospheres such as underground coal mines.

The pump, developed in 2005 and manufactured in Centurion, was specifically designed for application in Canadian oil sand mines and, to date, 23 pumps have been sold to oil sands companies.

Currently, these pumps are returned to Centurion for major repairs and refurbishment; however, Hazelton is considering opening a pump testing and service facility in Canada.

In addition, Hazleton also received the Company of the Year award for small, medium-sized and microenterprises at the 2014/15 SAPBA. It is presented, according to SAPBA criteria, to a business with a turnover of less than R100-million and a staff complement of fewer than 300. The business must be sustainable, with the potential to grow and an ability to create local jobs.

Wehmeyer says that Hazelton’s campaign for this award focused on its customer- centric approach and its record of customer satisfaction, although Hazleton’s yearly training of new apprentices from the local community influenced the decision in the company’s favour.

Meanwhile, Hazelton Pumps was also a finalist in the 2014/15 SAPBA Exporter of the Year category.

The SAPBA is a yearly event, hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry in partnership with Brand South Africa and Proudly South African. In its third year, the event was sponsored by Absa and the Gordon Institute of Business Science and held in Johannesburg.

New Product
Wehmeyer highlights that Hazleton Pumps launched a medium-/high-voltage, high-head, high-volume submersible pumps range in January.

It can pump volumes of liquids at high heads using a single-stage impeller configuration.

Wehmeyer states that no other submersible pump can currently compete with it. Hazelton has sold one of these pumps, while three are being used on a trial basis.