Lift stations come in all shapes and sizes and the type you choose to install and/or maintain will depend on a variety of factors. Today, we’re going to discuss the two most famous forms of lift stations and briefly touch on their advantages and disadvantages. Both could be entire blog posts unto themselves and then some – but we’re going to stick to the basics tonight.
Here are the two most common forms of lift stations and what advantages and disadvantages make them unique. Let’s jump right in!
Dry well
In dry well lift stations – the actual system itself is located in another, separate location. It operates using an above ground tank that contains, captures and holds sewage or wastewater until it reaches a certain point – in which it then releases its contents into a designated disposal area.
While wet wells are submerged in water – dry well pumps are usually located at the top of a tank – and draws the wastewater up and expels it to a higher elevation than it was collected. They’re powered by electricity and air pressure depending on the specific needs of the application that they’re serving.
Dry well pump stations are smaller and less expensive than wet wells – but due to the separation between the destination and where the wastewater is collected – they can represent a significantly greater challenge to maintain and keep working well compared to wet wells. This means naturally, that they have the potential to be naturally more expensive to maintain over a shorter period of time.
Wet wells
Wet wells use submerged pumps to get water from A to B. The water itself is held until tis needed and then pumped out when it’s needed. Wet wells find themselves most commonly used for dealing with raw sewage and volume wastewater pumping. Even better – they’re great for big jobs and can be custom built to specifications.
Now while wet wells can certainly handle greater capacity and tougher substances, they are a substantially more complex installation and some of their maintenance functions can be as well. Think of it like this – dry wells tend to be a little bit more pricey over time cumulatively – but wet wells can have singular, one-off maintenance that can be significantly more costly than one, individual dry well issue.
What you’ll need will largely depend on your needs and requirements. If you have questions or would like to learn more, give our team a call today and we’ll be happy to provide you with a free consultation. Until then – good luck!