New Grundfos hydraulics reduce clogging problems and help build confidence into wastewater handling When the Water Authority Vechtstromen in the Netherlands built a new wastewater pumping station, they installed the new Open S-tube® impeller into a SL pump, to ensure reliable operation. Vechtstromen is a regional water authority in the East of the Netherlands. Within its water management area there are 23 midsize cities. The operations and maintenance department run 106 pumping stations and 23 wastewater treatment plants. One old pump station had to be demolished and was replaced with the new one called ‘Erica’. The situation Clogged wastewater pumps are very costly to utilities. Besides work required to clean the pumps, clogging often leads to unreliable operation in the wastewater network and even overflow to the environment. The pumps in the old station, from 1987, were at the end of their lifecycle. They clogged several times per month, and in weeks with heavy rain it could be several times per week, each time requiring dismantling and cleaning. A replacement of the pumping station was scheduled for 2018. The new pumps had to meet the following demands: free from clogging, and minimal life cycle cost for 25 years. The operations team no longer wanted to throw money at old technology, so they turned to the Grundfos sales team in the Netherlands for a more reliable and permanent solution