How Do We Pump Sewage?

When it comes to wastewater, what goes down must come up again.
In some cases, it just stops being feasible to chase the slope of a sewer farther and farther below the ground surface. A good alternative is to install a pumping station that can lift raw sewage from its depths back closer to the surface. Lift stations can be small installations designed to handle a few apartment complexes or massive capital projects that pump significant portions of a city's total wastewater flow.
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Practical Engineering is a KZbin channel about infrastructure and the human-made world around us. It is hosted, written, and produced by Grady Hillhouse. We have new videos posted regularly, so please subscribe for updates. If you enjoyed the video, hit that ‘like’ button, give us a comment, or watch another of our videos!
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This is not engineering advice. Everything here is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Contact an engineer licensed to practice in your area if you need professional advice or services. All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.
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[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

🚧 Keep up with all my projects here: practical.engineering/email-list 🥑 Get delicious free meals from HelloFresh with code PRACTICAL16 at bit.ly/30Tr2CE

[@Savvy07]

Congratulations for second child!

[@ozzymandius666]

I think the practice of spreading the sludge from water treatment plants on farmland where we grow food is INSANE.

[@rosstemple7617]

It always amazes me we don’t better utilize waist material. Burning solids to carbon using collected gases then dump that carbonized material back into the waste water for the carbon to bind up the chemicals. Take the now good grey water and use it in urban landscape. We are so behind on where we should be. What’s holding us back is money and infrastructure. I’ll be so glad when we get off monetary system. Ugh

[@robertschnobert9090]

Is your name actually Gradee? 🌈

[@__nobody__]

Feedback on the graphics from 1:35 thru 2:05: the combination of movement of objects/outlines and not-movement of the high-contrast texture/hatching is _very_ disconcerting. (Just those few seconds caused strong nausea.) In the future, either move both or greatly reduce the contrast in the texture. (Later snippets had less movement and so were less bad.) (Apart from that, awesome as always - thanks for doing what you do!)

[@LanceMcCarthy]

Please don't stop the garage micro-implementations. I know it takes time to build them for little screen time, but it's a major feature of your channel!

[@MrPointless]

Honestly the main reason I watch these channels, the models are so incredibly satisfying

[@MotocrossRider155]

Probably one of my favorite parts of this channel is that.

[@tirushone6446]

his plumbing videos are the best ones for this reason.

[@UncleKennysPlace]

Yeah, that sort of thing, and _drop that damned click track,_ and this channel would be perfect.

[@youkofoxy]

And soon, he would have a ant cityscape build by a engineer.

[@a7i20ci7y]

Another reason to rely on gravity is you want to minimize the pressurization of sewage to prevent it leaking out. When I started in SCADA work I was told "In the event of a shitsplosion, close your eyes and mouth." Great video, thank you!

[@tsawy6]

This makes good sense!

[@Robert_McGarry_Poems]

What a descriptive image you paint.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Yes, you’d want to close those. Wish we could close our ears…

[@JM-yx1lm]

I've always heard it as a shitacain... Mr Lahey.

[@chris-3]

@@kaitlyn__L And noses.

[@Odin029]

About 15 years ago now, I was working with a construction group that was refurbishing and remodeling a bunch of houses in an older neighborhood in town. After that project had petered out, I became the go to plumber for many of the residents. We got a call for a stopped up drain and realized that the problem was in the home's main drain line. We worked on that drain for HOURS and finally got it flowing... for about a day or so. When he came back to do the drain clearing dance all over again, the next door neighbor said his house was backing up. And then the guy from across the alley said the same thing. Turned out that in the alley, under about 5 feet of built up gravel and dirt was a large manhole that lead to a grinder pump in a tiny little lifting station. The city's water company had no idea that pump was even there. Turned out that the pump had been installed somewhere around 1904 and had been doing its job unnoticed and without any maintenance until 2007 when it finally seized up tighter than Fort Knox. Anyway, they came with a pump truck to clear out the area then installed a brand new pump for that little station that handles about 12 single family houses. I bet the new pump won't last 100 years though.

[@marshallhunter9446]

Over 100 years of work & probably decades without maintenance is super impressive. I work for a water company & pump breakdowns are super common. Do you know what type it was?

[@nos9784]

Sounds like that pump should have ended up in a museum :)

[@Odin029]

@Marshall Hunter I wish I'd been more curious about stuff like that back then, but once the real problem was identified, I stepped back and let the water company do its thing.

[@a-person100]

i wonder if the new pump still works

[@kenosabi]

@@a-person100 doubtful, "they don't make em like the used to"

[@jdsahr]

I wish that Grady's videos would be routinely watched by school kids. We expect kids to get some education about civics, government, etc., but wouldn't it be a fine thing for them to also get some awareness of civil engineering. "Where does poop go?" is a completely reasonable and important topic for civil society to understand.

[@oldgrunt5806]

Very well said.

[@ststst981]

I agree too if only for people to understand where their tax money goes to. I feel like everyone complains about taxes but people should know that a lot of it goes to building and maintaining vital infrastructure like making sure your poop actually leaves your toilet

[@briangarrow448]

Yahoo! I spent over 20 years maintaining lift stations in the small Pacific Northwest city where I lived. I was very enthusiastic about showing off the machinery we used to keep the flow moving towards the treatment plant. A funny story- I showed a city council member one of our lift stations and he was shocked with the amount of machinery and expensive equipment that was stuffed into this small brick building. He commented that he he assumed that those brick buildings were just fancy equipment sheds and break rooms for us city employees. OMG! This guy had been part of the decision making process for our budget for years!! I was glad I was able to explain where that money went to every year. If you don’t think infrastructure is important, try living in your city or town without it.✊

[@youkofoxy]

Joke is on you, I would be happy without electricity and internet... Also water... .... Ok, you win.

[@SonsOfLorgar]

I used to work as a waste water treatment process and maintenance tech in a small Scandinavian city, we serviced around 60k people, so the waste water department was too small to have subdivisions. We were 6 people that did it all, 4 techs and two automation and machine electricians who was shared with the four techs working at the drinking water department side of the system.

[@Lucien86]

A city without a proper sewer system? They call that the Third World.

[@stevek6921]

As a city council member myself I've been educated many times on the subject of wastewater (and others!). We just spent millions on a new state-of-the-art treatment plant, and that thing is a wonder to behold. But I caught myself a few weeks ago asking, "A sewage lift station costs HOW much?!" :-0

[@MattyEngland]

@@stevek6921 You obviously forgot to factor in the 10% for the local freemasonic Lodge 👍

[@glennpearson9348]

As a professional engineer who has been designing, constructing and operating lift stations, sewers and wastewater treatment plants for over three decades, I appreciate the content of this video. Thanks, Grady!

[@Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer]

Thank you! 😄

[@pvic6959]

this was NOT the video to watch with my snack lol

[@johnnyh3653]

@@pvic6959 You get used it when you're in the industry. I've many hours of TV inspections of sewers while having lunch (we call it watching dirty movies). The saving grace is it's not "smell-o-vision"!

[@pvic6959]

@@johnnyh3653 hahah i imagine! i used to watch the show Dirty Jobs and its really cool to see what happens in these jobs people done often think about

[@MrAndyStenz]

Thanks for what you do, Glenn! (And Grady for teaching us about it!)

[@ZetaGirlPower]

As an odor control equipment engineer the last part is particularly fun. From the sewage gas that would blow the manhole covers in LA to the horizontal sewage lines in the north Carolina that run on a giant vacuum pump I've seen plenty of systems that need fun ways to treat that smelly air. It's not a sexy job but we get it done.

[@KawdoruTaon]

How is the issue dealt with? Sounds mega interesting. Almost like a material for next Practical Engineering video.

[@zealman79]

@Scott Page USMC aka a shit sandwich :D

[@terrysunday9406]

@Willie Marshall thanks for the information, I appreciate...

[@alexgonzalez2207]

@Willie Marshall I know hlm, he ls a fo#rex trader and a good one

[@Three_Random_Words]

There’s some fun videos of exploding manhole covers in China.

[@enlightenedart2717]

Great video! Dealing regularly with molten gob of "pump killer" dental floss which people often flush down the toilet... On par or worse than "flushable" wipes. Confined space entry to clean screens is truly a thankless job. Thanks to all the wastewater infrastructure maintenance ops for keeping the product return department flowing!!!

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I remember the PSAs decades ago where a family was being scolded by the narrator for the things they sent down the drain, like trash, (unmacerated) food, cigarette butts, fat and grease, diapers, and so on. They really made an impression on me back then, just like Daffy Duck teaching about stove safety, smoke detectors and evacuation plans. - Maybe it's time for some "influencers" to actually do something positive with their influence and put out useful information like those old commercials did.

[@Matthew-li7we]

@@MonkeyJedi99 Wouldn't that be amazing if "influencers" really did that?

[@VicAusTaxiTruckie]

We should stop flushing any solid waste at . Any carbon based solid waste should be collected and be pyrolized in a furnace. Resulting bio char can be reused to fire the furnace. Electrostatic smoke scrubber will eliminate exhaust particulates and prevent smog

[@Cozmicsaber]

The production quality upgrades haven't gone unnoticed.

[@monophoto1]

When we built our 'new' home (19 years ago), the builder cautioned us that because the lot was a the bottom of a hill, the home would require a 'grinder pump' aka 'macerator pump' to move sewage from our basement through a force main up to the top of the hill about a block away. I was initially hesitant, but in retrospect it has worked very well. The predicted MTTF for the pump is ten years; it went 14 years before it actually failed, but when that happened, it was an immediate crisis. Fortunately, the company that services that equipment in our area was able to replace it within about two hours of when we first called for help. They are noisy, and during a power outage, we know that we can only flush the toiled about 45 times before the reservoir is full. Fortunately, that is a rare occurrence and has only been a real problem one time since we have lived here.

[@NickHorvath]

That's the kind of thing I would probably buy a spare for just to have on hand immediately in case of failure. It would suck if they had to order a part.

[@otm646]

This is why life cycle expectancy matters. You should have replaced it preemptively so it doesn't turn into an emergency. This is just like sump pumps. They get replaced every 7 years no questions asked.

[@TheZooloo10]

When it failed was ita, we cannot produce any more waste water type of situation, or my basement is now flooded with raw sewage?

[@johnsmith1474]

@@TheZooloo10 - How did this illiterate nonsense get 3 thumbs?

[@otm646]

@@TheZooloo10 the way these work is that the waste water from your home goes into a pit, that pit gets drained by the macerator pump. So if you knew the pump failed, big if there, you could stop producing wastewater until you got it repaired. I've seen it many times where the homeowner doesn't know it's failed and therefore you've got a sewage leak issue now.

[@Freediver01]

Would love to see a video about the massive raw sewage spill into the ocean that happened recently in Los Angeles. It was several million gallons of raw sewage. What happened, what went wrong, what is being done to make sure it doesn’t happen again etc. kind of like the videos you did on the Memphis bridge or the Texas power grid failure

[@4n2earth22]

Excellent video, Grady! It sure did bring back some memories. In another life (young and dumb learning furiously fast) I installed a few new lift stations. That was nice, actually. But...when we (the contractor) was required to remove and reset a lift station, seems everybody else had suddenly somewhere else to be. Being the PM, Foreman, and everything else from operator to carpenter to electrician, I could have directed someone to do it, but I have always been the kind of guy who will not ask someone else to do something distasteful or difficult if I was not willing to show that I would do it. So I did. Yuck!!!! Remote Alaska work. I mean, really remote!! In the sticks, so to speak. It was us or no one. So we pumped out what we could, or I did, and then cleaned the basin by glove and respirator, dismantled the lift station and all the floats, cleaned everything and did maintenance on the moving parts. New sensors and floats, new impeller, check valves, and yes; a new screen on the inlet side sloped from the inlet side at the bottom toward the output side on the top of the barrel. We made a new lid with two manholes and replaced the upper segment which was a partial cone, with another barrel segment and raised the top of the lift station without moving the bottom. Now the lift station could be maintained by locals (or so one would think!) by scraping the grate from the input manhole, and the valves, floats, (except two on the inlet side) pump and power from the other manhole. As far as I know, that crap is still flowing.

[@Umbrie]

you guys are doing a truly thankless job

[@elliottmanning]

As an Electrician for 40+ years, I spent more than my share working in underground sewage lift stations...

[@caseydamiano269]

Big shout-out to all the Engineers & Technicians who keep the systems running! As one Wastewater Engineer quipped, " It may look like s**t to you, but it's bread & butter to us!"

[@frzstat]

lol

[@dougcarlisle5034]

And all the rest of us would gladly pay double the bill if we had to….

[@chuckycheezburger3313]

And it smells like money!

[@tsm688]

@@chuckycheezburger3313 Frankly I don't think they're getting rich in that business

[@chuckycheezburger3313]

@@tsm688 Didn't mean get rich, just ment that's how they make a living.

[@kentd4762]

Thank you, Grady, for bringing to light some unsung heroes and the equipment they build/maintain. And thank goodness for people willing to do the work of those two workers who were literally knee-deep in sewage, with their ventilators and waders on!

[@walthodgson5780]

As a sanitation senior pumping plant operator I appreciate you making this and other sewer related videos. I show them to the new guys, and it saves a ton of questions.

[@chopperhead2012]

Yes. Source: worked in sewage treatment plant. I personally disassembled and reinstalled sewage pumps. They were actually pumps that drained settling tanks. I don't know how many kinds of pumps will do the job, but these look like giant reciprocating engines. They were driven by electric motors though, and each piston had a rubber ball on top sealed with a gasket that only let the waste through one way. P.S. The amount of baby wipes, tampons, condoms, and wash cloths that get flushed is disturbing. Yes. Wash cloths. I have no idea who thinks that's a good idea. Stop it people.

[@millomweb]

As they say, toilets are only for pees: Piss Pooh Puke Paper (toilet !)

[@pappabob29]

As an electrician (who wired a few commercial lift stations), I worked with a VERY GOOD plumber lots of years ago who made one very simple and complete statement: "Besides human waste, the only thing that should go down a toilet is TOILET PAPER"!!! I, personally, take a similar approach to "garbage disposals". They ARE NOT a substitute for "the garbage can" unless you enjoy frequent stoppages when the stringy garbage you tried to grind comes in contact with a soap/grease restriction in your 2" waste line/drain.

[@olrak1670]

I thought the pumps on the FST's were there for moving the sludge to the RAS SAS pumping station?

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

Interesting. I have never worked with a reciprocating displacement pump. Every pump I've have worked with in my system be it water or waste water has been centrifugal. Some dating back to the 30's even.

[@chuckycheezburger3313]

Oh man, you ain't kidding about what you find in the sewers...I've found pipe plugs, sex toys, trash can lids, an assortment of live and dead wildlife, and a small cow...It's crazy.

[@jawa6306]

0:01 "Fun" fact: The 5-day incubation for BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) that we use for environmental monitoring today is directly based on the amount of time it would take for the sewage from this lift sation to make its way down the Thames to the sea.

[@josiahferguson6194]

That's really interesting, I used BOD5 in calculations, but didn't know it was based on a physical process.

[@tessiepinkman]

Never thought I'd be *this* immersed in a video about sewege. But, here I am, utterly amazed.

[@greenfire6924]

Good of Grady to shine a light on the largely unknown and underappreciated lift stations and the longsuffering joes and janes that keep them running. Factoid: There is a series of small sewer lift station in Yosemite Valley, CA (The part of Yosemite National Park that most tourist visit). Although a river flows through it the "fall" isn't enough for sewage to flow down valley by gravity alone. The massive flood of New Year's Eve and Day 1997 wreaked havoc to much infrastructure on the valley floor. Not only did the flood fill the sewer laterals/mains with sand it also knocked out multiple lift stations. The lift stations were designed and built to endure flood with a concrete pill box structure and gasketed doors like warships and submarines. However, over the decade's penetrations had been made for things like conduit entry so the "watertight design" became severely compromised. Therefore, repair and renovation were enormous.

[@bradley3549]

I think the most fascinating part of this whole video for me was the fact that kitchen sink disposal grinders have enough head to pump that high. I never realized they were such effective pumps.

[@CCWSig]

I was thinking the same thing! I always though of them as just gravity feed after they do their thing.

[@KevinT3141]

Right?

[@DavidGuild]

I mean it was only a few feet? Although I guess I have no idea how much head I should expect from a small pump, maybe that's a lot.

[@bradley3549]

@@DavidGuild Garbage disposals are not pumps - so that's the point of my amazement. For something that's not a pump, it sure does a good job pumping.

[@KevinT3141]

@@DavidGuild Yeah, but I didn't know that it pumped _at all_, I thought it only ground.

[@jacobhood5770]

Taking a wastewater treatment class right now, and this is spot on! I'll let my professor know about this video, he loves these!

[@roblaquiere8220]

Waste water isn't distributed! I believe you mean waste water collection or management.

[@jacobhood5770]

@@roblaquiere8220 wastewater treatment* Thank you

[@nightmaresnightmare5846]

I must confess, I loved this video. Although I am a bit dissapointed you didn't mention the advantages of different types of pump wheels like those which are made to cut up/chew fiber. (we call it fiber where I worked because rags gets torn apart one way or another and combine with hair to make really nasty grease traps you will have to pressure wash off the machinery.) We had one active machine at the treatment plant dedicated to take out fiber by having a steel plates with 4mm holes in them rotate in a track-like way where the fiber would get stuck on to which it was then moved upwards and taken off at the top so it could fall into a waterslide leading it into another machine pressuring the fibres in an upwards turn to have the water come out and later take it to the trash container. This saved us a lot of the daily maintenance ehich would be required of the cages you briefly mentioned because sewage never really stops and there are SO MUCH FIBER. People throw the hair their shower collects, the hair they cut off at home, rags, paper, and everything fibery into the toilet after all and it takes a lot more to work on than most people realize. Regardless, it was an excellent video and I appriciate the ideas you came up with, we sorta have a collector/cage AFTER the fiber collecting machine which has to be emptied/cleaned weekly! (Also appologies if my english breaks anywhere, I'm Norwegian, but I hope this helps!)

[@cherriberri8373]

I never realized how much my hair could be an issue... I have a septic tank, but I still think I'll be more mindful about making sure it ends up in the trash, not the drain. Also, your english is very good, dw! :D

[@MyEyesAhh]

I have been interning for a civil engineering water resources company in Southern California for the past 4 months and all I’ve worked on thus far is sewer systems. I still haven’t drawn any lift stations, but i have been reviewing the plans and your video has significantly cleared some misunderstandings i had. Many of the project managers are too preoccupied to explain the nitty gritty to an intern and so i diverted to online learning (youtube). And boy i am glad i found your channel. Thank you man. Seriously, please be like a professor or something, you are so good at explaining this stuff.

[@Lashb1ade]

You would think the government would prevent companies for falsely advertising wipes as "flushable."

[@jasonreed7522]

I think issue is that they "flush" out your house but aren't "sewer safe". And it is surprising that the government that runs most utilities hasn't attempted to stop the usage of so call "flushable" wipes as it is directly costing them money. Must not be expensive enough, or they don't care.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@jasonreed7522 Unilever etc pay lawmakers enough that they don’t care even though it’s a waste of tax budgets.

[@SonsOfLorgar]

@@kaitlyn__L sad but most likely the truth...

[@ev6558]

@@jasonreed7522 What isn't surprising is uninformed people spouting their opinions on KZbin. Small local governments are the ones who are responsible for maintaining those sewer lines, and small local governments don't have the power to force the hand of multinational corporations.

[@Ntmoffi]

Everything is flushable if you're brave enough.

[@andrewpalm2103]

There is an sewage lift station less than 100 yards from my home. I lived here for a long time before I found out what it was. Thanks for explaining how it works.

[@mattflannagan9769]

From a pumping perspective, it’s interesting to note that the industrial pumps used for moving wastewater typically have two vanes or one, curving like a screw with a variable clearance wear cone. This is contrasted to impellers used in nearly every other application that have three or more vanes for flow smoothing. As many have said already, the amount of things that aren’t human waste or toilet paper that get flushed are the issue with nearly any system. The screw lift pumps are also very effective, though limited in lift capacity to their physical height. They are self loading- the more they are flooded at the bottom the more they lift to the top.

[@hardrays]

dont they refer to these variable clearance open impeller pumps as process pumps?

[@maloz_pasoz8429]

I work in Northern California at a sewage treatment plant as an operator and I always enjoy watching well put together videos like these as refreshers! They’re simple and well explained! Even when I go on vacations with my wife I keep my eyes open for treatment plants and pump stations! It’s burned into my psychi

[@Pickleriiiiiick]

I've had the joy of being a millwright, who works on the 14,000 gpm+ pumps that perform this function. These pumps are freaking crazy!

[@biggreenblob]

Cool. We have 3 pumps of that exact capacity at our treatment facility, with 350 HP motors driving them. Absolute monsters. The whole assembly stands about 15 feet tall.

[@Pickleriiiiiick]

@@biggreenblob Saskatoon!?

[@kevinheard8364]

in my own ignorance, all I can envision as a "millwright" is one of those Saturday morning ETV woodworking shows :)

[@biggreenblob]

@@Pickleriiiiiick Birmingham

[@Pickleriiiiiick]

@@biggreenblob ahh, they're all the same, massive poo movers haha

[@rhamph]

A dedicated grease demo could be interesting, showing liquid grease in a pan (even at room temperature) can still congeal in the lower temperatures of a sewage system, congeal from mixing with other particles or other effects, doesn't mix with water unless thoroughly mixed with soap, etc.

[@markfryer9880]

Often it doesn't even get that far and congeals in the S bend of the kitchen sink. I grew up with always pouring any fat or grease from cooking into an old tea or coffee cup. Once it had solidified it could then be scraped into the empty milk carton we would use for small rubbish items and disposed of into the rubbish bin. It wasn't until I had to unclog a neighbour's sink trap that I realised that not everyone followed our family practice when it came to fats and oils.

[@SirDominic]

An interesting point you might wish to know (if you didnt already) - in some towns in the UK to control the build up of "unwanted gases" special gas street lamps were introduced to burn off the excess methane. Often you can tell these apart from other lamps as they burn continuously during the day time as well as at night. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewer_gas_destructor_lamp

[@tsm688]

Not everyone annotates a youtube comment! Thank you for sparing me lots of effort and guessing

[@technicalvault]

There’s also a lot of plain ol’ iron cast iron pipes (and some brick chimneys) that run to about street lamp height and exist for discharging and venting sewer gas around the U.K. Airlocks in the system would be “unfortunate”.

[@denislostinlondon199]

There is a gas lamp that meets this description in New Cross, London, at the junction of New Cross Road and Queen's Road. Thanks for the insight.

[@WanderTheNomad]

@@tsm688 Depending on the specific youtube channel and the link, sometimes comments with links in them get automatically deleted.

[@tsm688]

@@WanderTheNomad really. Too bad they haven't figured out how to do tht to the neverending torrent of porn links lately

[@michaelward2869]

Hey Grady and other half . Love the way you condense and explain extremely technical topic's that are critical for the success of any city or town to off grid. Water come and water must go , as simply as you explain everything on your shows . I will say , you have a beautiful family and the interaction between you guys from one video, just shows that happiness in the kitchen between two people and little bubba ❤️ is exactly how you do it . I know that you two will be the parents of very successful children . ❤️ cherish and live life the way you are . Love your presentation 👌 👏 👍 🙌 as a subscriber Love you bro. You two are the perfect example's of how all familys 👪 should be .

[@whodatsaints17]

I helped build a pump station in durham nc last couple of years. Did everything from excavation to laying all the pipes and pumps. Really cool!

[@christianwilliams9663]

I really appreciate these Wastewater videos. As a wastewater professional myself, it's great to see an educational and professionally put together video that talks about the things people don't typically think about once they press the flush button.

[@jakebrodskype]

Excellent description of how waste-water pumping works. I spent a career of over 30 years working around many waste-water pumping stations of all sizes. There is more to sewage than just the yuk or eww factor. If waste-water sits in enclosed spaces for too long it can be quite hazardous. Sulfur dioxide is one hazard, and Low levels of oxygen in confined air spaces is another. Occasionally people dump things down the drain that they shouldn't. Some of it may be explosive (literally). One technician I used to work with happened to be calibrating a flow meter for wastewater when he noticed a smell that was an awful lot like ether. They were just down the street from a hospital. So raw sewage is to be approached with caution. You really don't know what might be in it. Jacob Brodsky, PE

[@cr10001]

The grossest thing I have heard of was in a pumping station that served the freezing works / abbatoir area. The smell driving past was nauseating. 24" main pumps, they could still be clogged by e.g. parts of cows (!) Fortunately by the time I was involved with that station, almost all the freezing works had shut down. Also, another sewer downstream of a tannery - the smell was unbelievable, and whatever the tannery had dumped down the sewer had eaten all the concrete away from the bottom so there was just a skeleton of steel wire reinforcing cage in the ground.

[@felixkunz1219]

I had a tour at the local sewage treatment plant, and they used several archimedes screws to transport the sewage uphill. Was super cool to see them in action!

[@Soundhound101]

I love these videos. I worked as a civil construction estimator for city underground and site servicing works in a major city. I love your explanation of Sanitary systems for the layman. Thanks a million Grady.

[@adamsmithelec]

I was at Crossness pumping station just last weekend! Brilliant day out. Sadly she wasn't in steam, but still impressive.

[@TomOConnor-BlobOpera]

Ever been to the Kew Bridge Steam Museum? Similar steam-powered pumpy things!

[@adamsmithelec]

@@TomOConnor-BlobOpera I've not. Sure I'll end up there one day though!

[@tibsie]

"We don't typically release raw sewage into waterways anymore"... The UK Government would dispute that statement. They are under the belief that it's OK for water companies to do this now.

[@Woodman-Spare-that-tree]

Yes we do, deliberately, in the UK, as a safety valve to prevent the levels at sewage treatment centres from overflowing when the sewer pipes are full after heavy rain.

[@Mireaze]

Thank god we go longer have that pesky EU telling us not to poison ourselves with raw sewage /S

[@erikziak1249]

A Brexit benefit, surely.... /irony off

[@SMSBJM1981]

Fake news, the water companies receive fines for doing this. Thames water accrued over 30M pounds in fines in recent years. It’s not the government, nor is it Brexit. It is that the UK has had some of the wettest days on record recently. When the systems are overwhelmed there is little choice but to dump the sewage. It wouldn’t somehow be different if only Labour were in charge.

[@SuperGingerRob]

@@SMSBJM1981 totally agree, I work for one of the big water companies in the UK and in the year I've been there I know of at least 10 million worth of fines in my small cachement alone.

[@julianduquette7790]

Practical Engineering is one of the few channels that I always keep up with; it's just worth it. Thanks for all these hours of education!

[@SavantAudiosurf]

Wastewater operator for 5 years here. You got this on point! Great video

[@0zux45]

This channel is one of my most favorite science channels. Shows me the genius of engineering for everyday convenience which otherwise would get no recognition at all :)

[@Robert_McGarry_Poems]

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, ain't that some shit...

[@noahway13]

It blows my mind how the general public takes for granted how hard it is to make solid, safe bridges, tunnels under a bay, and sewer systems you don't have to worry about... The average person couldn't make a log bridge over a small ditch...

[@Watchyn_Yarwood]

Absolutely! The only problem I have with Grady's channel is that it's too long between videos!!

[@TheRottenwaffle]

As a wastewater employee I guffawed at your staffing comment but otherwise very accurate good work.

[@Harani66]

I've been to Crossness and the size of those beam engines is quite something when you are up close to them. the entire building was built around them. Three stories; the top holds the massive beam arms, the ground has the steam engines and underground contains the huge pump chambers. Well worth a visit. especially if you can get there on a "steam day" when it's actually running, once a month.

[@spidermight8054]

Great video. I work on underground utilities for a living, mostly sewage. We often install these “pump stations”, usually that service just one house. We use heavy-duty, expensive “emaciator” pumps controlled by floats attached to a circuit board.

[@r0cketplumber]

That's a bold move to pair a discussion of sewage systems with a foodie sponsor, Cotton.

[@mtn_linda364]

I see what you did there. One of my favorite characters.

[@Dave_Hrabosky]

Nothing quite helps me enjoy my morning bagel more that watching a @Practical Engineering video on Sewage Lift Stations. Perfect!

[@chuckycheezburger3313]

MMMMMmmmm...I got some Brown town peanut butter for your bagel...We get an insane amount of used, congealed cooking oil that gets brought up in our bar rakes that is the same color brownish tan as peanut butter. We started joking around about it and we figured we could put it in jars and sell it as "Brown Town peanut butter...So good,, you'll eat it twice and Its even better the second time around!"

[@TimLPINE]

First congrats on growing your family; I wish you lots of love and fun ahead! I'm a 25 year sewer system manager and mechanical engineer- this is the best vid I've ever seen extolling the virtues of lift stations :) And...down with UN-flushable wipes! I'm thinking of a class action on behalf of sewer workers everywhere!

[@MyKutie]

I think my favorite thing about your videos is how you talk. Not the words specifically as much as the tone and inflection and the fact that the way you talk comes off very genuine rather than lecturing or boring or as if you were just reciting from memory rather than actively engaged with the subjects you talk about. It comes off very refreshing and happy and I'm here for it haha

[@1945d18]

Designed many lift stations in my 38 years of wastewater engineering. You have done an excellent job of explaining the issues involved for the general public that have no idea what goes into transporting and treating wastewater. Look forward to your videos on treatment.

[@leonfa259]

Those grinder pumps look like a great way to produce microplastics, if and how is that handled?

[@1945d18]

@@leonfa259 tried to stay away from grinder pumps instead selected pumps that could handle large solids if at all possible. Did occasional use muffin monsters which ground up large solids using rotating grinding teeth prior to pumps but mostly relied on screens to remove hard to deal with solids. Of course that required more maintenance etc. sometimes there are just no easy answers. Grinding up solids can cause issues with treatment units since the first step in most instances is clarification of the wastewater by settling and larger stuff settles more readily.

[@victorcroasdale4992]

They work OK until the edge goes off the cutters, then they jam up readily. Condoms can also be a problem as they stretch and can cause a stall, tripping the motor.

[@1945d18]

@@victorcroasdale4992 yeah they do have problems. Never was a big fan and that is why I stayed away from them. You had to watch the headless through the units in design also.

[@cr10001]

@@1945d18 Generally grinder pumps were the smallest sizes, intended for small flows and (IIRC) quite low heads. I also suspect they were horribly inefficient hydraulically, though of course that didn't matter much with small pumps. Could also have used vortex pumps but their efficiencies were terrible. I never had occasion to use either, instead used (mostly) pumps with open single-channel impellers. I was happier with bigger pumps for bigger flows where impeller solids clearance was not an issue. (Retired wastewater engineer here).

[@NathanBreese]

Love this stuff! As a wastewater engineer, I enjoy seeing this kind of information being presented to the general public in an entertaining way. Thanks!

[@Oddman1980]

I work for a concrete precaster, and one of the things we supply concrete parts for is water treatment plants. Thanks for the video!

[@barbatloosenutproductions2027]

I remember a episode of Dirty jobs with Mike Rowe, he was at one of those lift stations. He was quick to point out the smell! Not to mention the debris that wasn't going to make it through the pumps! God bless the people who keep up the maintenance, so the rest of us can lead civil lives!!💝💪🏘👍🌹

[@ryanlange6766]

Was literally researching lifting stations the other day wondering when you'd make a video on it! Cheers!

[@EvocativeKitsune]

Grady could talk about literally anything, and I would listen.

[@RealJohnnyDingo]

pumping poo? it's interesting with the Grady treatment 😅💩

[@QueenOdika]

Never thought I would understand lift stations so well! Your videos should definitely be used in classes for future environmental engineers like me. Thank you!!!!

[@MoparMarqG]

Thank you for the video. Haven't done any engineering for a long time, but my sister is on the sewer board of a small town in Oregon. She's always telling my stories of the cluelessness of the town council on how city money should be spent. And there's no shortage of cluelessness of the seasonal inhabitants on what makes the town run. Sewer, water, power, road maintenance, lighting, snow removal - there's plenty to be maintained.

[@Thundawich]

I love the shoe grinder. I wish more engineering processes needed those, they are just fun to watch.

[@thagemizer]

Look up Muffin Monster.

[@Thundawich]

@@thagemizer Ok that was a weird ad I just watched. Upbeat music backing someone just throwing random shit into a grinder, cheers :D

[@aabatteryalex]

Imagine how many sewer rats got grinded up

[@gabiferreira6864]

@@aabatteryalex Ratatouille

[@horsey2083]

1:53 "It almost never gets knocked out during a thunderstorm" Do elaborate on the times it has, that sounds crazy interesting.

[@LaserFur]

I would like to stop payment on my gravity bill.

[@vigreene9849]

I don't often stay for sponsor segments, but I absolutely love yours! They feel so authentic and honestly just always make me smile

[@nathaneddy502]

It makes you full of respect to think about the engineering behind such simple yet ingenious designs like sewer systems.

[@terryboyer1342]

I had a friend whose family owned a sewer cleaning and septic repair business. He would often exclaim "your shit is our bread and butter"!

[@madhobbit3577]

I worked at a pump repair shop. We said sewage smelled like money.

[@PatrickJago]

My first day as a wastewater operator the supervisor took me to show me the sludge dewatering building and I said “Man that smells bad”. His response was “ that’s the smell of money”. Wastewater treatment operators make pretty good money. Obviously the supervisor makes even more.

[@_mickmccarthy]

"Oh cool! A new video from Grady, just in time to sit down and watch while I grab some lunch. I wonder what this one's about. Oh..."

[@ditchdigger7824]

Nice presentation. As a utility contractor I've put the smallest all the way up to very large lift stations. Open cut does get very expensive and I'm glad you mentioned that. HDD is another option that has some limitations but is more cost effective when open cut depths get deep. Pipebursting and lining is another important related subject that would tie into this well.

[@thoughtful_criticiser]

I spent my childhood and teenage years spending alternative weekends at the largest sewage plant in the city. Going to work with my dad who was a plant operative. It gave me a complete understanding of the whole process, as well as the dangers of the works. One of the staff died falling to on of the deep level sections. The worst part of the plant was the screens, these removed all of the unnatural solids. It was surprising then just what people flushed, disposable nappies were new then but made appearances now and again.

[@gryyphyn8639]

Our new hospital facility experienced a sewer backup just two weeks after it opened due almost entirely to "flushable" wipes. Those things are terrible for munucipal systems.

[@cuad7913]

Wipes are a disaster!!! Need a grinder or macerator to combat those issues.

[@bellybutthole]

@@cuad7913 (t)issues - the pun escaped you;)

[@cuad7913]

@@bellybutthole Excellent catch sir, that would have been a home run 🤦‍♂😂

[@512TheWolf512]

It's asinine that marketing ANYTHING as "flushable" isn't outlawed

[@SonsOfLorgar]

As a former waste water tech, I agree, and same thing with garbage disposal grinders.

[@crazydragy4233]

I really don't understand how that is legal. It literally costs the government millions. You'd think they'd put an end to it.

[@nomore6167]

"It's asinine that marketing ANYTHING as "flushable" isn't outlawed" - So what should people do with their feces-covered toilet paper? Throw it in the wastebasket? Or are you suggesting that people shouldn't use toilet paper and should instead walk around with caked-on feces and urine? Or are you going with option C and suggesting that people should scrape the waste away with their hands and them immediately shower every time they use the toilet?

[@512TheWolf512]

@@nomore6167 here in the first world country we have a special bucket in the toilet. We throw it there, then burn it.

[@1Legofilms]

@@nomore6167 I have never seen toilet paper advertised as flushable. I've seen septic safe, but never flushable

[@DanteYewToob]

Cool. Thanks for showing me that my friends and I used to hang out on top of a poop chute as kids. Cool. Cool cool cool. Cool. Veeeeery cool. I’m fine. It’s fine. No big deal. Basically my best friend and I lived at opposite ends of a really long street in FL and halfway there was a big hump in the path with a circular pad of cement, those metal doors, and one of those boxes with a light that would flash after a storm. Literally I saw the exact model and setup in the video! We assumed it was for storm water and flooding which is common in FL. Man. I can’t wait to tell Sam our meeting spot and snack hang was a big ol poo toob!

[@godblessamerica7048]

Very well-made video explaining the basics. I'm a retired water and wastewater treatment plant, superintendent. I installed a grinder in the flow to our community lift station. It saved us from having to pull the pumps because of clogs from several times a day to months. It saved us from being called at 1 am because of an alarm! Wipes were always the source of the failure.

[@jonathankleinow2073]

I picked the wrong video to watch while drinking my iced coffee. In all seriousness, I now know what's inside the many little lift stations I saw all over the place when I lived in Florida. They're very common, particularly on barrier islands. It's also interesting to see what you can do when installing a wastewater system for a city in the late 20th century. Cape Coral relied on individual wells and septic tanks until many wells began to run dry in the 1970s. The city opened one of the first reverse osmosis water treatment facilities for drinking water. For wastewater, they provide non-potable, reclaimed water from the treatment system to businesses and homes for landscape irrigation, saving an estimated 20 billion gallons of water over a 25-year period. The city is still expanding the water and sewer systems, and will be for several years to come. Too bad the original developers in 1957 didn't care to put water and sewer mains under the giant grid of streets and canals in the first place.

[@tomschmidt381]

Another interesting infrastructure video. I love when you build these little mechanical demos to highlight the topic.

[@johnyendrey5590]

Thanks to Grady, I now understand how much sheer effort has to go into the almost-invisible profession of "dealing with the unimaginable and constant flow of human waste."

[@SHDANK]

As a son of a small family owned sewer and plumbing business this video fascinated me, thank you for uploading

[@TravisRez]

I work as a PLC programmer for water and wastewater SCADA systems. This is a very well done video explaining how lift stations work and the various types of systems used within them!

[@defeatSpace]

I like having a clean ass, so I'm wondering how much of a problem "flushable wipes" still cause for your facility of employment, and whether or not I should even flush one at a time.

[@Eternal_Tech]

Are the systems that you use connected to the Internet? If so, what security measures, without being too specific to prevent compromises, are used to prevent breaches?

[@banana_spl1t]

Hi, I just finished a course on waste and wastewater management this semester and we saw that in order to lift sewage, Archimedes screw were used since they can handle important flows. You didn’t talk about them in your video and I wondered if it’s a difference of custom in engineering or if the sewage system was different in North America in a way that using them would be impossible (I live and study in Western Europe) or if you just didn’t mention them ? Beyond that I really like your videos and they remind me why I am studying engineering!

[@roblaquiere8220]

In America, the sewage system typically serves a much larger urban and suburban area than most European service areas. Because the incline of the sewage pipe must be maintained, the sewage can only travel a couple blocks before getting very deep into the ground. Digging is expensive, so instead we chain lift stations together so that no length of pipe ever gets too deep. This chaining of lift stations can also extend the service area of an existing sewer system (sometimes a lift station's capacity must be increased). Using a screw at every lift station you build is also expensive. A (relatively cheap) duplex submersible pump setup can do an equal job without installing a giant metal screw in the ground. The difference can really add up when you intend to build hundreds of lift stations. The bottom line here isn't to get the absolute best and most expensive system that can last for lifetimes; instead we want to maximize the ratio of sewage treatment capacity versus cost. "Anybody can build a lift station that works. Only an engineer can build a lift station that barely works."

[@paulhaynes8045]

We use Archimedes screws in the UK, but those I'm aware of are used for pumping flood water. But then presumably any used for sewage wouldn't be visible.

[@jamesbluebaughjr.4886]

Came to say the same about the archimedes screws that are used here in Philly at one of the water pollution control plants

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

I have never seen a screw type pump used in NA. I have only ever seen centrifugal style pump used. I have seen some old displacement pumps that were still technically in the system but were disconnected decades ago. They had a municipal serial number so no one could technically throw them away but they were never used.

[@ptappola]

@@dimesonhiseyes9134 When I was building plumbing station in the 90s we installed screw for back pumping in the beginning of the preprocessing. It can handle quite rough stuff - head size stones and so on. After that area are initial screens to filter out bigger stuff. But when those get clogged, operators appreciate option to pump it empty before cleaning.

[@mgildersleeve]

Dude, thank you. I love learning, and you are a fantastic teacher. So efficient. I'm a non educated project superintendent for government projects, and that means I've grown an incredible appreciation for plumbing. Plumbers rule the world!

[@davidwayneprins]

Having grown up near an inlet of Lake Michigan and later working in the plumbing department of a major home center chain, I am very familiar with sewer lift stations and sewage lift pumps.

[@deonmurphy6383]

Your discussion of screens to block debris also comes into play for any kind of “water” conveyance. Pumping and generating stations also need them, and for the same reasons.

[@noahway13]

I would hate to be the one who had to change out these screens

[@paulhaynes8045]

Our local nuclear power station uses sea water for coolant, so obviously this water has to be sieved first. I went on a tour of the station once and that was possibly the most interesting part - the amount of sea life trapped on the grating was amazing. I had no idea so much weird stuff lives in our seas!

[@magickaldood]

"the fascinating combined history of human waste and Victorian engineering".

[@SeanBZA]

My father used to build those sewage pump stations, along with water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants. Most of them are still running today, despite being built in the 1970's, and then being run 24/7/365. I regularly drive past one he did, which still is doing it's job, lifting sewage for it's last travel along 6km of pipe to the offshore outfall. Fun building a plant next to a river, when you have to excavate for the basement levels 10m down into clay and silt, plus bring all the pipes through the walls as well. But at least they have a very easy job dealing with any leakage, as there is a nice convenient outfall pipe to send it in to for disposal.

[@mousefad3673]

Fascinating stuff as always! It's really lovely to get quality information about infrastructure that is seldom considered by most people in their daily lives. Thank you.

[@kholdanstaalstorm6881]

Ohh, yes! Good topic as always Grady! Regarding Victorian engineering and waste management, any chance you'll make one video on the upside-down egg profile sewage pipes/tunnels that connected to London's Victorian sewage station? Regarding the burritos, both your skills are better than mine. So I'll say both seemed great to me! Say hi to the lovely family and say they're a great addition to the commercial part of the video! The engineer to be seemed really happy with the structural integrity of that cardboard box! Take care and stay safe!

[@DominicLeung87]

Hello fresh is a brave sponsor to agree to be paired with this vid !!!

[@perryrivera9033]

Thanks for the excellent video! I am not a engineer but was fortunate enough to be part of the executive leadership team of a leading water utility in the Philippines for more than 25y. Wishing you more success!

[@ocantu1987]

this channel has been so educational for me when I started as a Civil 3D CAD Tech 4 years ago.

[@Richardincancale]

Chain and disk pumps used to be used - a continuous loop of chain which is pulled by an engine or animals with disks that fit inside a riser pipe. Also Archimedes screw pumps where the heights are to great - big ones can lift anything! Also I can recommend the Drain Addict KZbin channel if you want to see the practicalities of lifting sewage!

[@seraphina985]

I suspect that the old school beam engines were rather robust for this task too because of their linear reciprocating action. I figured their ability to simply lift the entire cylinder of water straight up would be well suited to this. Seems like if designed with the cylinder and the pipes all being the same diameter almost anything that fits through the pipe should pass the mechanism too well except I suppose you have the lift rod that pulls the piston up to deal with. But that is still far less of a constriction than an impeller creates. Then again guess maybe they weren't as good as they look as it would be easy to convert the torque output from a modern motor or ICE into reciprocating motion like this, converting between linear and circular motion and back is a staple of engineering after all.

[@VincentGroenewold]

I think we need waaaaay more realization in that these things exist. People are so used to not seeing it, that they don't even give it a second thought when throwing things away. I think it's super important to know this as one disruption makes people panic completely these days. Super annoying. :)

[@hwoodthe1st]

Thank you for placing sponsors at the end. I wished more channels would this. Keep up the good work! You're doing great!!!!

[@PushingThroughThePain]

I really don't know why, but these sewage/water management episodes really fascinate me! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!!!

[@CrowArchLane]

Releasing sewage directly into waterways is a bit of a sticky subject in the UK at the moment

[@foty8679]

Wasnt sewage in waterways a reason for the great stink

[@domib2896]

I don't know about the UK, but here in my part of Germany most sewer systems mix rain water and sewage. If it rains a lot a "pressure valve" is needed and diluted but untreated sewage is released into the waterways. In contrast, the US seems to have separate pipes for sewage and rain water (storm sewers). Therefore they probably don't have that problem.

[@mariahamilton5305]

Yep, it's a become a surprisingly high profile and political issue, especially with Thames Water releasing raw sewage into the Thames, er, quite often. River swimming has become popular and there are protests about it, there was one a couple of weeks ago in Oxford.

[@damienknapman2308]

Some people may be surprised to know that more primitive arrangements still exist in developed countries. I live in Scotland in an area without main sewers. My waste flows out from under my building, down an iron pipe on the beach and into the water. That's it. I'm hoping (with others in my building) to enter the 20th? century soon and install a septic tank.

[@jopalolive]

I heard once that the twin towers in NYC (9-11) used to have all the sewage go directly into the Hudson river.

[@MyKharli]

I wouldn't worry , the water treatment companies regularly dump untreated waste into rivers and the sea ..its a national scandal as there all privatised and pay a lot of shareholder divvies .

[@crazydragy4233]

@@MyKharli It's really sad how common that is wherever you go. Guess being cheap is universal.

[@jonathandyer8028]

This was a cool segment, I transport the solid waste leftovers from that process "sludge" is what it's called. It's crazy that a lot of times it ends up in landfills

[@barbarabailey5178]

Thanks. I was recently appointed to the Board of Public Affairs. This has given me a better understanding of the lift stations that I was shown on my tour.

[@jaketus]

4:00 In Finland there are at least few underwater treatment-plants in major cities (Helsinki, Tampere) that have been drilled and excavated within bedrock.

[@SonsOfLorgar]

Same in Stockholm, but that's more to ensure function even if the soviets had turned the city surface into mostly rubble with or without radiation...

[@jaketus]

@@SonsOfLorgar People's right to take a dump shall not be infringed under any situation.

[@RegebroRepairs]

I find it bizarre that US doesn't have laws against marketing non-flushable things as flushable.

[@b43xoit]

It's runaway capture of all branches and levels of government by conflict of interest.

[@caden01691]

I do the automation, electrical, controls, and communications for water and wastewater projects so I'm pretty hyped about this one!

[@drock5404]

I started my career building lift station control panels. Fun job for a 19 year old. Very grateful for that experience. BTW, thank God for the chopper pump!

[@lmamakos]

Another great video. Just wanted to say thanks for making these videos, I'm certainly learning a lot and gaining awareness of the civil engineering wonders that surround us every day. I really appreciate the style of your videos. The length seems just about right; I find watching any of your videos a worthwhile investment of time. Best wishes and good luck; I hope you continues these videos into the future.

[@pleappleappleap]

You have a beautiful family, Grady. And congratulations on the incoming family member.

[@SteveGuidi]

Thank you, Grady, for your continued focus on civil infrastructure education! There are lot of machines and constructions surrounding us that we often take for granted, and it is fascinating to learn about their functions through your insightful presentations.