Don't Try This at Home...

BBA Pumps recently had a customer in the Tampa, Florida area who was working on a project that required a mixture of wellpoint, sock and open pit dewatering. One of the pumps they were using was a double diaphragm pump; however, unfortunately, that double-diaphragm pump failed causing water to enter the open excavation, which in turn resulted in a submerged brand new PT piston pump.

Submerged in water and only 5" of the pump exposed

While the PT piston pump was connected to a long sock run, the customer had a double-diaphragm pump, often referred to as a Double D pump, fail. The double-diaphragm pump was connected to a well point system. One of the diaphragms failed due to cracking which eventually caused a large hole in the diaphragm. This caused water to enter the open excavation, pushing up the wellpoints and eventually submerging the brand new diesel driven BBA pump, leaving approx. 5" of the roof of the pump exposed.

Back up and running for lesser than $2,000

The customer immediately thought the PT pump was finished. Once the pump was back at their shop, they did a complete rinse down, changed all filters and lubricants, switched out a few electrical parts, all under $2,000, and the PT was back up and running.