Dewatering activities on large construction and infrastructure project sites is not always a simple task. In fact, pumping dirty water containing large amounts of debris calls for a ‘trash pump’, according to Henru Strydom, operations manager at Integrated Pump Rental.

“Contractors often find themselves having to pump water that contains hard and soft solids such as trash, gravel, stones, leaves and twigs,” Strydom says. “In many instances, the construction site needs dewatering to be done at a consistent rate and needs to reduce the chance of a pump clogging with this kind of material. This is why a trash pump is a popular and reliable option, and it offers versatility in terms of its configuration.”

Integrated Pump Rental, with its capacity to design and assembly pump sets in-house, can customise these for the user’s specific site conditions.

“Our comprehensive pump rental fleet  has included trash pumps for some time, and more recently we have been tailor making trash pump sets for customers on request,” Strydom says. “By configuring the pump set to en end-user’s specifications we can ensure the pump dewatering solution is fit-for-purpose.”

The trash pump sets provided by the company are usually trailer-mounted with a diesel engine for optimal mobility, but Strydom says these can also be static units driven by electric motors.

Ensuring proper pump selection means understanding basic requirements like the head height to be pumped, the quantity and flow rate required, and the distance over which the water will be transferred. Trash pumps can typically handle solids up to 76 mm in size with flow rates of up to about 110 litres per second and a maximum head of 32 metres.

“Our self-priming, tried-and-tested trash pumps are often considered as the real workhorses of the construction pump market,” Strydom notes. “Apart from dewatering sites, these can also be easily moved into place where large pipelines have to be temporarily bypassed, for instance, moving large volumes of water quickly and dependably.”

Contractors even use multiple units in remote sites where access is difficult, allowing them to avoid the use of cranes to move and place large single pumping units.

Strydom highlights that Integrated Pump Rental’s in-house experience in designing and assembling trash pump sets also allows it to offer customised service level agreements, based on customers’ preferences and specific conditions. The company’s expertise and service capability mean units can be constantly supported with maintenance, repairs and replacement parts.