Wilo pump 210 meters deep

The installation of a new Wilo brand submersible pump in the well of a former iron mine has improved and secured the drinking water supply.

Chatou. The Syndicat Intercommunal des Eaux du SOIRON, a public service under management, manages a vast territory comprising 44 municipalities in the departments of Meurthe-et-Moselle and Meuse.

A major objective: the quality of public service

The Syndicate collects its water from the Soiron springs with a pumping station at Saint-Julien-lès-Gorze, from Grand Fontaine with a pumping station at Buret and from the Paradis mine via the Batilly pumping station.

The dewatering water from the Batilly station is an essential resource, especially during low water periods when the flows produced by the two catchments in the South can decrease sharply. The station thus supplies drinking water to some forty municipalities in Lorraine.

Located in the old iron mine in Paradis, the station already had 2 pumps in service but which dated from 1994. In order to anticipate and avoid any risk of service disruption, the Syndicate decided to install a third pump within the station.

Wilo's answer

In July 2014, the Syndicate launched a call for tenders, including a component for the supply of the new dewatering pump. This had to answer a double problem:

pump back the water trapped in the mine to the raw water basins of the Paradis station, alternating with the two existing pumps,
secure the Syndicate's water supply in the event of a malfunction of the two pumps.

Given the sulphate content of the dewatering water, the pump also had to be designed in resistant materials, stainless steel and bronze.

Able to pump up and send up to 500 m3 / h of raw water to the treatment station, but also to resist pressure and erosion, the Wilo-EMU K22 pump was then selected.

Installation, a technical challenge

“Our call for tenders imposed a deadline of 4 weeks, including delivery, installation and commissioning of the third pump in Well V, 210 meters deep. Each team worked together to meet this challenge. Since then, we haven't had any malfunctions ” concludes Antoine FLORENTIN, Technical Manager of the Intercommunal Syndicate of Evening Waters.

Completed in just a few days by the teams from Sesem, a service division of Wilo Salmson France SAS, the installation proved to be a real challenge. In addition to the 4-stage turbine pump, 34 stainless steel tubes 6 meters long were attached to each other, then attached to the pump lowered to a depth of 210 m, all supplied by 590 volt electrical cables.

During the flooding of the mines in the SOUTH iron basin, the static level of the water table increased from 34.75m to 168m (NGF). To adapt the speed of the pumps to the rise in water level, the two old submersible pumps were each associated with a variable speed drive. The installation of the third pump, completely adapted to this new configuration, made it possible to maintain optimal safety conditions and continuity of service in the production of the Well.