By preparing your drain tile lift station for the harsh winter months, you are ensuring it runs at its most efficiency in the springtime.
4 Steps to Prepare Your Lift Station for Winter
1. Change Your Lift Station to Manual Mode
Open your VFD cabinet and place the VFD in manual mode. If you have a VACON VFD, that would be the LOC Mode, or Local Mode, meaning it will not start on its own. It will keep the power on because you’ll want to keep the breakers on as it protects the VFD and keeps the heaters on the inside of the cabinets running to protect the VFD throughout the course of the harsh winter.
2. Drop Your Tank Heater Down
3. Check the Electrical Outlet to Ensure You Have Power
Open the power box and hit the reset button on the electrical outlet. Then, check to see that the green indicator light is on. Next, plug in the cord and make sure the indicator light stays green. You can then close the power box.
Benefits of a Tank Heater
A tank heater allows the water that’s remaining below the inlet to not freeze. Once the main starts to flow in the spring, we can ensure that everything in the tank is thawed out and the pump is ready to run at its most efficiency. Not every tank is equipped with a tank heater as it’s not necessary, but it does give you that extra advantage come springtime. If your pump is equipped with a tank heater, it’s always a good idea to keep it plugged in in the winter months.
4. Protect Outlet from Ice Build Up
We want to make sure we don’t freeze the outlet when the pump is running in the wintertime. First, we want to make sure the ice is cleared from the discharge so that the water can free flow down the ground. Next, make sure the rodent guard inside is free moving by lifting it up and down. This also ensures ice chunks to flow down the outlet.
A disadvantage to having ice build up at the outlet is when the pump shuts off the water needs to be able to siphon back to the lift station to allow it to not start full of water. Another way to avoid ice build up is to place big-pellet water softener salt at the discharge
Am I Able to Run My Lift Station During Winter?
The answer is yes! You most certainly can run your lift station throughout the wintertime. There are a couple things to keep in mind, though:
- Ensure the ice in the tank isn’t freezing by installing a tank heater.
- The discharge tends to ice up. You will have to periodically clean it off, so the pump isn’t under any stress.
Now your lift station is ready for winter. Interested in contacting an Ellingson Sale’s Profession? Call, email, or fill out the form and we will reach out to you.