A pumped connection to the public sewers can often be the:

• only sensible option if, for whatever reason, the Environment Agency will not grant Consent to Discharge from a sewage treatment plant,
• if either the levels or the distance are too great to make a gravity connection feasible.

A private pumped connection to the mains may also have:

• the lowest capital cost,
• the lowest operational costs in terms of servicing and desludging,
• be the most environmentally-friendly solution,
• can increase the value of the property and
• privately maintained pumped connections to the public sewers have lower costs in terms of installation and on-going maintenance than those specified as ‘sewers for adoption’.

It is important to design a robust and reliable system. Unless circumstances are exceptional, Watling Hope would always recommend a dual pump system to operate in ‘duty/standby’ or ‘duty/assist’ modes. If there is only a single pump, it is not a case of ‘what happens if the pump fails but when it fails?’...

The size and type of pumps and the pumping chamber (wet well) that would be recommended to suit a particular situation depends upon many factors, such as:

• the amount of effluent to be discharged (daily flow),
• any restrictions on the rate of discharge to be allowed into the public sewers,
• whether single-phase or 3-phase electricity is available,
• the topography of the ground where the rising main (pipe) would be laid and
• the overall distance to be pumped.