What is Bypass Pumping?

Graduate Engineer Joshua Hollingsworth explains bypass pumping in about 90 seconds. www.dewberry.com Hello, my name is Joshua Hollingsworth. Today I'm going to talk about bypass pumping. First of all, what is bypass pumping and why is it important? Bypass pumping is simply diverting flows around existing infrastructure, such as gravity sewer, sewer force mains, water mains, and pump stations. It is important because you must maintain constant service to your customers while work is being performed. Today I'm going to talk about gravity sewer application, but the same concept can be applied to sewer force mains, water mains, and pump stations very easily. So the first thing you need for bypass pumping is to stop your flows. This is accomplished through temporary plugs. And one is placed in your upstream manhole, which is your suction manhole, and one is placed in your downstream manhole, which is your discharge manhole. The second thing you need is your pumps, and the pumps will be placed close to your suction manhole and have pipes routed to your discharge manhole. The third thing is, after your work is performed and completed, the plugs and the bypass pumps will be removed and flow will be restored to its normal path. So there are some key considerations when you're doing a bypass pumping plant. The first thing is the length of your bypass pump lines, the location of your pumps, and your expected flows must be known in order to properly size your pumps and your bypass lines. Second, there should be redundancy in your pumps, so that way if one pump goes down you can still maintain flows. Third, bypass pump lines are usually routed above ground but must be buried in special circumstances, such as road crossings. And the fourth and final thing to consider would be along your bypass route you must coordinate with local residents and impacted parties about this.