Acquedotto Pugliese Has Chosen CAPRARI As Supplier

Experience with these particular electric pumps has led Acquedotto Pugliese to widen the range of products purchased from CAPRARI to include the new K-Kompact series: a sturdily built, reliable, compact and safe product.

The main application fields for these K-Kompact electric pumps are water purification and treatment: denitrification, nitrification, sludge recirculation, filter washing and in industrial installations in general, especially in the textile, paper, steel, tanning, food, ceramic and marble industries.

Backed by experience acquired in Germany with the AWS Consortium and in other countries where use of the K-Kompact series electric pumps has achieved brilliant results with sludge re-circulation and in water treatment systems, CAPRARI suggested that AQP replace its progressive cavity pumps with those of the K-Kompact series.

AQP’s technician in charge of the treatment systems and his colleague, chief of the Ostuni plant, expressed their satisfaction for the way the two enterprises were cooperating with each other. “The K-Kompact installations used for sludges have achieved surprising results from all points of view.”

The Ostuni plant treats the wastewater produced by 35,000 inhabitants, amounting to some 7000 m3 of water/day.

CAPRARI, which had already supplied AQP with various installations for supplying, distributing and treating water, was also well known for the systems it had installed for the marble cutting industry, the plant manager told us. “These are extremely heavy-duty applications. The pumps are obliged to convey fluids with highly abrasive particles in suspension”.

The sludge situation was becoming unsustainable for AQP owing to the high maintenance costs and periods when the systems were forced to remain at a standstill while the progressive cavity pumps (eccentric screw pumps), widely used in these installations, were serviced.

Progressive cavity pumps need a lot of maintenance as much as two or three times a year. The stators and rotors often wear out. The couplings must be replaced about six times a year along with the clamps, covers, bushes and pins. The belts in the speed variator must be changed about once a year. All this is aggravated by excessively long lead times for spares. The stocks of products are a long distance away from the customers, sometimes even in another country.

K-Kompact pumps have been designed following innovative research into fluid dynamics and structural mechanics plus specific research into the motor-pump coupling so as to guarantee a highly reliable and efficient system. These electric pumps are extremely efficient in both the single and double channel rotor configurations. The vortex recessed version is especially suitable for use with liquids containing high concentrations of solid particles, long fibers and dissolved gases. Ceramic cladding has not been envisaged for the specific application.

Amongst the other characteristics of the K-Kompact electric pumps, AQP expressed great satisfaction for the easy way in which they can be installed.

At last, alongside the K+ pumps, even “ dry chamber” installations can benefit from a truly advanced solution. Pioneering design allows the electric pumps to combine the compact construction of monobloc versions, with their reduced levels of vibration and smaller dimensions, with the robustness and versatility of baseplate-mounted pumps assembled with flexible couplings.

The K-Kompact series electric pumps are exceptionally reliable thanks to a special motor-pump coupling and double bearing on the pump shaft that prevent the wet end from transmitting vibrations to the motor bearings. The coupling system is also self-aligning and does not require any adjustment.

The customer underscored how the pumps require very little maintenance, thus they are very economical and only need to remain at a standstill for a very limited period of time: the motor is very easily disassembled from the wet end and this latter from the pump casing, while the pipes remain flanged to the casing. This has been one of the successful point of the collaboration between AQP and CAPRARI.

The double mechanical seal with separation and lubrication oil chamber guarantees the utmost safety and reliability over time, while the conductivity probe keeps the condition of the mechanical seals under constant surveillance.

Now, 4 years after installation, the first machines are still functioning perfectly without maintenance. Used to replace existing progressive cavity pumps and for new sludge circulation systems, CAPRARI’s K-Kompact electric pumps continue to operate with the full satisfaction of the technicians who run the systems.

About Acquedotto Pugliese

Acquedotto Pugliese is a water utility that manages the integrated water cycle in Italy. It extracts, collects, treats the water to make it drinkable, distributes it for civil uses and manages the sewer and wastewater purification services for the Puglia region and for several municipalities in other regions.

The pipeline network extends for over 15 thousand kilometers (15 times the length of the river Po, the longest river in Italy) and provides more than four million people with water. The overall flow is enormous: over 19 thousand liters per second, enough to fill 640 Olympic swimming pools in an hour. 154 treatment systems, 6 for making the water fit for drinking, 321 tanks with three-million cubic meters of storage capacity. These are just some of the statistics of this important undertaking.

About Caprari

CAPRARI has been dealing with the integrated water cycle on an international scale for over 60 years. It is appreciated throughout the world by stakeholders in the industrial, irrigation and water industry sectors for its reliable and professional way of doing business. Thanks to important investments in research and development, the experience acquired over so many years, sensitivity towards market demands and close relations with its customers, CAPRARI is able to develop technically advanced products to meet specific needs.

The aspect that allows CAPRARI to become stronger every day is the high opinion in which it is held by its customers who, besides the excellent quality product, also receive advice, assistance, valuable innovative solutions, digital and/or multimedia work tools in all phases of the relations they establish with the company: from the project to the offer, from help with their purchases to after-sales assistance.