Case study: Pump saves water company 260,000 kWh

Two pump systems were analysed

One of the Netherlands' biggest suppliers of drinking water pumps, purifies and distributes 5.4 million m3 of water each year to the citizens of Hengelo, Zelhem, Steenderen, Hummelo, Hoog-Keppel, Laag-Keppel, Zutphen, Ruurlo and Borculo.

The company suspected that it was consuming too much electricity and therefore there was scope for improvement. The company had to take a closer look at two of its pump systems—in the areas of purification and distribution—to gain an insight into how much water was being pumped and how much that was costing in terms of energy. The drinking water supplier had collected performance data for the reactor pumps, as they are known, that are used for purification, but none for the pumps used for distribution (often called clean water pumps for short).

Focus on optimising, not reducing energy

Reducing electricity consumption and thereby also reducing costs through optimisation may sound appealing, but the company was understandably unwilling to make any concessions to the quality of its drinking water and the surety of its supply. Another stipulation was that any optimisation measures be recouped within a short amount of time and be practical to implement. Optimisation can be achieved by utilising the latest technology and speed regulation as well as an optimal system design.

New foundation pumps

Examination of the data collected from the reactor pumps revealed that it was indeed possible to save energy. To gain a proper insight into the performance and load profile of the clean water pumps as well as the profitability of the system, it was necessary to perform a pump audit. This too revealed substantial saving potential. New pumps were selected for both systems on the basis of their suitability for the application. The costs for these pumps were calculated and compared with those for the current systems.

Next, ERIKS discussed its proposals with the drinking water supplier in detail. The company was convinced by ERIKS plan to optimise costs by equipping both systems with a total of four new standard foundation pumps. As specified, no concessions were made to the quality and surety of supply. Furthermore, the pumps were easy to install — something that was considered at length during the design stage, as converting machinery has a significant effect on the time taken to recoup the costs.

Even greater savings

After the pumps were delivered and installed, the electricity consumption of the pumps was reviewed. It was revealed that the production company's annual consumption had been reduced by as much as 200,000 kWh.

The post-implementation audit of the clean water pumps also showed that an even greater saving could be made by shifting the switching points. In addition, the drinking water supplied researched the effect of reducing the pressure in the network and discovered that such a reduction would be possible. Combined, both of these measures result in a saving of 60,000 kWh per year, bringing the total energy saving to 260,000 kWh per year.

For industrial end-users, there is enormous saving potential as regards energy costs and CO2 emissions. Several of ERIKS' customers have achieved significant savings in terms of CO2 emissions, energy consumption and maintenance costs.

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