Alarms for pumping stations

[Furniss]

We fit quite lot of treatment plants/compact filters/pump chambers, in general the manufacturers dont seem to be getting their act together and incorporating an alarm into their systems etc what solutions have people found for alarms in little pumping chambers for after septic tanks etc ?

the solutions out there seem pretty expensive ... has anyone sorted buying a float switch and battery powered alarm box with test button and putting it together yourselves ? for retro fitting maybe a solution would be to have an alarm unit robust enough to stand being in the pump chamber itself under the lid

Would be Interested to know what other people doing this king of work are fitting or have come up with

 

[Mintsauce]

Is that for extraction /pumped outlet breakdown? The aeration pump which comes separately to the treatment plant already has warning system. I presume you don't mean that.

Most people who have a treatment plant installed try to get gravity emptying where possible. We have a pumped outlet here with a built in warning system. Falcon tank. When it is serviced the pump and alarm are checked. It works off a float valve.

 

[Mintsauce]

This was supplied by WTE and I expect they may do the type of kit you need?

 

[V8Druid]

We fit quite lot of treatment plants/compact filters/pump chambers, in general the manufacturers dont seem to be getting their act together and incorporating an alarm into their systems etc what solutions have people found for alarms in little pumping chambers for after septic tanks etc ?

the solutions out there seem pretty expensive ... has anyone sorted buying a float switch and battery powered alarm box with test button and putting it together yourselves ? for retro fitting maybe a solution would be to have an alarm unit robust enough to stand being in the pump chamber itself under the lid

Would be Interested to know what other people doing this king of work are fitting or have come up with

doesn't sound like rocket science that.... biggest issue'd be checking the batteries regularly ... could do with a low battery beeper, like a smoke detector has

 

[Antony Holmes]

R S do most of what you would transformer all so beacons with klaxon as one unit i think this is ip66 so can be fitted on top of you enclosure all you need extra to that would be a simple roller ball float switch.

 

[Furniss]

Is that for extraction /pumped outlet breakdown? The aeration pump which comes separately to the treatment plant already has warning system. I presume you don't mean that.

Most people who have a treatment plant installed try to get gravity emptying where possible. We have a pumped outlet here with a built in warning system. Falcon tank. When it is serviced the pump and alarm are checked. It works off a float valve.

Yes its mainly for a pumping chamber scenario after a septic tank to a drainage bed etc as like you say the blower on a treatment plant generally has an alarm.

Of course we try whenever possible to have a gravity system - but regs are different here and that makes things a bit more complicated in some scenarios - for instance they wont allow a treatment plant with a blower ( no fixed culture ) for a holiday home due to start up times, means often we find ourselves installing compact filters which filter vertically and loose about 1m through the filter media hence sometimes leaves us having to pump up to a ditch afterwards.

We dont as a rule choose what goes in - we have some input but a site study is done for each install by a separate firm that theoretically come up with the best system taking all factors into consideration, this has to be sent to the authorities for approval, once its passed then we price and install - all installs are checked by an inspector before being signed off.

So anyhow I was looking at a way to put together a simple pump alarm - consisting of a float switch and some 2 core cable with an alarm back in house/garage etc ........ even some of the compact filter manufacturers that have a built in pump after the filter havent got their finger out and starting supplying an alarm integrated into it the unit

 

[Furniss]

R S do most of what you would transformer all so beacons with klaxon as one unit i think this is ip66 so can be fitted on top of you enclosure all you need extra to that would be a simple roller ball float switch.

RS ?

 

[Antony Holmes]

RS ?

R S components
https://uk.rs-online.com

 

[Antony Holmes]

R S components
https://uk.rs-online.com

this is the type of thing i was thinking of
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/beacon-sounder-combinations/5294474/

 

[Furniss]

this is the type of thing i was thinking of
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/beacon-sounder-combinations/5294474/
View attachment 7978

That has potential - needs to be a stand alone setup power wise though, something similar that has a battery compartment that could be wired to a float switch.

https://www.sumpsandpumpsdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Sump-Pump-Alarm-9v-battery-powered.html

Thats o.k but 5m cable is too short so wondered whether I could put it together myself... float switches are easy enough but was looking for a battery alarm unit that could be triggered

 

[V8Druid]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-Wat...581282?hash=item1ccaec8062:g:D8gAAOSwhMpT0SL3

all sorts on flea bay

 

[Furniss]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-Wat...581282?hash=item1ccaec8062:g:D8gAAOSwhMpT0SL3

all sorts on flea bay

Had a look through Graham and not sure there is something there thats up to the job, they all look a bit poundshop

 

[V8Druid]

Had a look through Graham and not sure there is something there thats up to the job, they all look a bit poundshop

yeh the 'kit' things' are 'pound shop' grade but there're bits too, for creating with.... some tidy float switches, etc .... ... I find RS an incredibly difficult site to search unless you have their exact terminology for things have used them a lot in the past, when they had the 13 volume catalogues out once a year ... was easier thumbing through them .. on't net you really need to know exactly what to search for