Middletown Wave Avenue Pumping Station


Outside

Wet Well

Pumps

Motors

Controls

Diesel

Crew
Click on any picture for an enlarged, higher quality copy.
(Use the higher quality file for printing or other reproduction.)
Photos by Morris Hirsch, Copyright © 2004,
with no restrictions for all non-commercial use.

How it Works

The "loading platform" you see is the top of a large and deep "Wet Well" or holding tank. Sewage from most of Middletown flows by gravity to the Wave Avenue Pumping Station, into this wet well. The wet well can hold several hours worth of incoming flow if the pumps should fail. Most of the spiral stairs would then be submerged.

The building goes down three levels. Pumps in the lowest level draw sewage from the wet well, and force it into a pipe running under Memorial Boulevard, along the Beach then up hill, until it can continue by gravity to the treatment plant.

There are three pumps, with room for a fourth that was never installed. Running one pump is normally enough. Valves allow each pump to be isolated, so they can be removed for repairs or be replaced. The Station keeps a spare pump and other repair parts on hand.

The top level is the same as the "loading platform" you see outside. This level is above the Hundred Year Flood Level, and is about as high up as the Carousel at the Beach.

This level houses the electric motors that drive the pumps below. It also houses the electrical control panel, and a large Diesel generator, that can power the system if the electric service should fail.

Intended Bond Work

The biggest problem is rain and ground water leaking into the gravity feed system, through cracked pipes and manhole housings. This can double or triple the normal flow. Heavy storms can quickly fill the wet well, even with all pumps running. When this happens, the overflow runs into the ocean, resulting in pollution and beach closings.

Even every-day leakage adds to the flow delivered to the Newport Processing Plant, which costs us money in over-capacity charges.

Everyone agrees that these leaks must be found and fixed, as soon as possible. This effort is already in progress, and some big leaks have been fixed. More work is needed, but we don't know how much, and it will probably be expensive.

Why fix the Pumping Station? I was one of many people asking this question. It isn't the problem, and it isn't broken. It was well designed, and has been well maintained. Why touch it?

Please note! The following section is my opinion of the several reasons and how compelling they are. You may have other opinions, and mine could be wrong.

  • The Control Panel is obsolete, so repairs parts are getting increasingly hard to find. True, but you will see the same kind of panels still used in factories all over the country. Very likely, you could get spares for the next century on eBay, they still have vacuum tubes new-in-the-box. This could wait, but not forever.
  • The pumps and drive motors are old. Both are standard industrial items, easily taken off-line and replaced at any time. They even have spares on hand. So this is no reason at all.
  • They need more capacity. The original design has room for a fourth pump and motor, which could be installed just by bolting them in. So this is no reason at all.
  • Move the diesel to a separate enclosure. You don't want to be in the room when this is running. This should be done.
  • Internal ventilation, especially in the lower level with the pumps. This should be done even if nothing else is done.
  • The renovation will actually build a whole second backup system, with a new wet well holding tank, pumps and motors. This could be a good reason, because it seems to be the only way the wet well itself could be maintained, and nothing lasts forever. We don't want to wait until the old one starts leaking, but as far as I know or was told, there is no immediate problem or even the hint of one coming.

Yes or No?

The pipe work really needs to be done, to prevent further over-flows into the ocean, more beach closings, and fines. The pumping station could certainly wait So you might wish there were two separate bond questions. But there is only one.

You could vote "No" until they put it into two questions, but that would mean another year or more of over-flows, beach closings, and fines. Or you could vote "Yes" while feeling you're buying more than you wanted, or at least sooner than you wanted. You decide.

Credits and Thanks

Thanks to Tom O'Loughlin and his crew for the tour, and for answering my questions. Finally, I want to mention that this facility has been well taken care of. Everything inside is clean, tidy, and looking recently painted.

Morris Hirsch, 2004