Drinking Water Pumps for New York
At the end of last this year, the KSB Group shipped five large submersible borehole pumps for the purpose of dewatering and maintaining the water in New York’s famous Delaware Aqueduct while repairs are being done.
One of the “New York pumps” in KSB’s Homburg factory shortly before its journey to the USA. (KSB Aktiengesellschaft, Frankenthal)
This task requires the most powerful single-entry submersible borehole pumps KSB has ever produced, with each of the five units featuring a 2,650 HP, 4-pole, 4160 V high-voltage motor.
The capacity of each pump is around 8,800 gallons per minute at a maximum rated head of 1,050 feet. In accordance with customer specifications some of the units are equipped with wetted components made of corrosion-resistant super-duplex stainless steel. Cable connections are effected by a special submersible connector system.
The Aqueduct was built in the 1940s and was last pumped dry for maintenance in 1957. Thanks to its gravity flow construction, the 13.5 ft (4.11 m) wide tunnel requires no pumps to supply on average 650 million gallons of drinking water to New York City from its sources in Delaware Watershed, located some 93 miles from the city.
The tunnel currently leaks in areas of poor geology, taken together with its age; the tunnel will undergo rehabilitation over the coming years.
Source: KSB SE & Co. KGaA
