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Case Study: Water Bypass Pumps Help Move 100MGD

Lake Okeechobee water bypass

MWI Helps South Florida Water Management Maintain Lake Okeechobee Water Levels with a Turnkey Solution

Florida residents depend on Lake Okeechobee to supply water for irrigation, drinking water, and recreation. However, an increase in water levels due to heavy rainfall and emergency weather events such as hurricanes in the summer rainy season necessitates the increased movement of water to prevent flood conditions or toxic algae blooms in residential areas. There is always a give-and-take within the lake and surrounding levees during the dry and wet seasons, but when an unusually high-water level threat occurs, alternative water pumping methods must be implemented to protect the surrounding areas. South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) faced such a challenge when they needed to move over 100 million gallons of water per day (30 MGD per pump). Originally they attempted to send the water east and west to resolve the issue. When this plan was deemed insufficient, SFWMD decided to send the water south but the levees that were in place were not able to move the amount of water fast enough to keep the water levels within a normal range. That’s when they called MWI to provide an efficient large water bypass solution.
SFWMD MWI Bypass Pumps Electric Drive Units

Solution

MWI Pumps rental team provided a highly-efficient bypass system solution with only four pumps and drive units to handle the excess of 80,000 GPM on a total water management job of 30 MGD per pump from Lake Okeechobee

Highlights

  • Moved 30,000,000 gallons of water per pump per day (over 100MGD)
  • MWI provided four Hydraflo™ HAC330 P37 hydraulic pumps with four 3000E electric drive units along with 200’ feet of discharge pipe per pump for discharge
  • MWI provided a turnkey solution including quick installation, set up and testing of the pumps within 4 days.
    A site visit schedule was implemented to monitor the pumps during their operation
  • Saved up to 75% of civil works due to quick and easy temporary installation of mobile pumps
    in lieu of costly facility building
  • The pumps were immediately put to work for eight weeks to move the water required
    to keep the lake levels normal
  • Helped protect wildlife and residents
  • Reduced the risk of spreading toxic algae blooms to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries
  • Electric drive units provided a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution as compared to diesel pumps
  • Improve the growth of underwater plants due to more shallow water that allows them to germinate and grow
  • Provided reliable emergency and redundancy equipment as a backup if excess rain occurred

Watch the 60 second video below showing a full pump station installation in a matter of days!

Equipment

  • 4 – 30” HAC330 P37 Hydraflo™ Pumps
  • 4 – 3000E Electric Drive Units
  • 4 – 200’ Runs of 30” Steel Pipe

Industry Segment

Agriculture / Water Management

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