Pumpstation Häspech

The municipality of Lausen, Switzerland, was operating two pumps that pumped the groundwater into a reservoir for the drinking water supply. For many years, the pumps worked reliably and without any issues, but very gradually, the pressure at the reservoir inlet dropped, and eventually, the system needed an overhaul.

The pump chamber, 2.2 metres wide, contained two pumps, each of which had a 16-metre pressure pipe consisting of 3-metre segments attached to it.

We had to work in steps: pull up 3 metres, detach the pipe segment (not as easy as it sounds), pull up another 3 metres, detach another segment … and so on. Finally, we reached the pump that was meant to go to our workshop for its overhaul. After all repairs were done, we gradually lowered the pump back into the pump chamber, installed the new pressure pipe segments and commissioned the whole system – only to start the same process for pump number two.

It all sounds a lot more straightforward than it was. But it was fun and worked perfectly, so the next overhaul shouldn’t be due for another eight to ten years.