Topic
Lift Stations
31 guides across the knowledge base.
CompactLogix
Field notes on the Rockwell Automation CompactLogix, the smaller Logix controller behind most lift stations and small plants: families and I/O, the two Ethernet ports, what it shares with ControlLogix and what it lacks, and what to check on site.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
AutomationDirect
Field notes on AutomationDirect controllers in water and wastewater: the Productivity, Do-more and BRX, and CLICK families with free software, the legacy DirectLOGIC line, Modbus and EtherNet/IP support, what they suit, and what to check on site.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Wet Well Level Measurement
How lift station wet well level is measured, which technology suits which well, the failure modes that flood a station, and why the high level float must stay hardwired.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Float Switches
The oldest level instrument and still the one that saves a station: how tilt and stem floats work, the wiring conventions, mounting and spacing in a wet well, classified-area ratings, and how to use them alongside a continuous instrument.
7 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Duplex Pump Panels
The duplex control panel: two pumps on one wet well and the sections every duplex panel contains, from power and starters through level control, alternation, hand-off-auto, alarms, and the backup float circuit to telemetry, with the failure responses.
9 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Triplex Pump Panels
The triplex control panel: three pumps on one wet well, the alternation schemes that keep three pumps evenly used, staging levels and standby logic, power, drives and their coordination, the backup circuit for three pumps, and what a duplex never decides.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Alternation
Pump alternation at the panel level: what it is for, the alternator relay against controller logic, schemes from alternate-every-cycle to runtime balancing, manual lead selection, skipping a failed pump, alternation in the backup circuit, and the tests.
7 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Lift Station Lead/Lag Control
How a duplex or triplex station decides when one pump is enough and when it is not: the setpoint ladder, cycle volume, the lag call, parallel pumping, and what to do when the lead pump fails.
12 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Lift Station Pump Alternation
Which pump leads, how the lead role rotates, what an alternator relay does, and why equal run hours are not always the goal. Includes the logic rules that keep alternation from causing trouble.
10 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Lift Station High Level
The alarm that stands between a lift station and an overflow: where the high-level float goes, what it must do on its own, how much response time the well provides, and how to diagnose a high level that should not be happening.
11 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Lift Station Backup Control
How a lift station keeps pumping when the transmitter, the PLC, or the SCADA link is gone: float backup logic, the control transfer relay, redundant-off protection, and how to test it with the controller actually dead.
12 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Triplex Lift Station Controls
What changes when a station has three pumps: the lead, lag, and standby roles, rotation with three positions, the diminishing return of the third pump on the system curve, availability logic, and the power and panel arrangements that three pumps require.
10 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Lift Station Generator Operation
Standby power at a lift station: what the transfer switch does, how the controls ride through the transfer, staggered pump restarts, what SCADA should see, load testing, and the portable generator connection.
10 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Lift Station SCADA
Getting a remote station onto the SCADA system and keeping it there: which signals to bring back and which controls to allow, the telemetry path from licensed radio to cellular to fiber, and the maintenance that keeps the link up.
9 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Constant Speed Pump Control
On and off pumping with constant speed pumps: why it remains the right answer at most lift stations, the level bands and the wet well volume that set the cycle, starts per hour and motor limits, and the cases where variable speed is worth its cost.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Pump Sequencing Strategies
The strategies for sequencing wastewater pumps: level bands with alternation, lead and lag and standby with runtime balancing, a drive lead with constant speed lag, pump-down against steady-flow operation, and how each strategy fails and recovers.
9 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Segmenting a Remote Site
A lift station, a well, or a tank site as its own zone: the site firewall and what it permits, the modem as transport with no public address, cameras and extras off the control segment, engineering access through the plant, and local control without the link.
9 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Pump Runs But No Flow
The motor turns and nothing moves. How to tell a clogged impeller from an air-bound pump, a closed valve, a stuck check, a broken coupling, or reverse rotation, using motor current and discharge pressure before pulling anything.
10 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Pump Short Cycles
A pump that starts and stops far more often than it should: the control band, the level signal, a leaking check valve, a waterlogged pressure tank, a lag pump doing the lead job, and the starts-per-hour limit that makes short cycling a motor killer.
9 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Level Reading Jumps
A level that steps, spikes, or flips to a fixed value while the water moves smoothly: the false echoes, foam, turbulence, condensation, cable faults, and controller-side causes behind each pattern, and how to tell them apart from the trend before opening a hatch.
9 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Ground Fault Present
The ground fault indicator is on, the monitor alarms, or a fuse opens when a field circuit is energized: how to find which conductor touches ground and where, by dividing the circuit with the monitor or an insulation tester, and where faults hide.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Generator Transfer Problems
The generator started and something still went wrong: no transfer, controls reset during the gap, drives faulted, pumps ran backward, or the retransfer caused a second outage. The sequence and its timers, neutral and rotation, and the monthly test.
9 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Pump Loses Prime
A suction-lift pump that runs without pumping, or pumps for a while and then stops: air leaking into the suction line, a foot valve that lets the line drain, a lift too high, a vortex or an aerated inflow, or a self-priming casing that lost its charge.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Seal Failure Alarm
The moisture probe in a submersible pump has tripped its relay: a seal that is leaking, or moisture in the cable, the junction box, or the probe circuit, a relay that does not match the pump, or a failed relay. What the alarm should do and what to check.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Both Pumps Running Constantly
A duplex station where lead and lag run together and never catch up: inflow beyond one pump, pumps that lost capacity to wear or rags, a force main partly blocked, a pump that runs but does not pump, a level stuck high, or bad setpoints. The drawdown test.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Remote Site Stops Communicating
One radio site silent while its neighbors answer: site power, the radio, antenna and coax after a storm, a reset configuration, the controller behind it, or a changed path. What the master diagnostics say before anyone drives, and the order of checks on site.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
The Lift Station That Overflowed With Everything Working
A composite of overflows that happen at well-built stations: every pump ran, every alarm fired, every device did what it was designed to do, and the handful of changes that break the chain.
9 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
The Cellular Router Is the Front Door
The most common way into a small utility control system is not a sophisticated attack on the plant firewall. It is a cellular router at a lift station with a public address and the password it shipped with. How these get installed, and the short list of.
8 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Inflow and Infiltration Shows Up in the Pump Runtime
Most small collection systems have no flow meters at the lift stations, but every station reports pump runtime and starts to SCADA. How to turn those two numbers into a station flow estimate, and rank where the money for pipe work should go.
9 min readUpdated Sep 5, 2026
Wet Well Level Control
The measurement that runs a lift station: choosing setpoints, protecting the pumps, validating the signal, and the failures that flood a station.
9 min readUpdated Aug 30, 2026
Duplex Lift Station Controls
The two-pump station that makes up most of a collection system: what is in the panel, how the sequence works, what is monitored, and where these stations actually fail.
11 min readUpdated Aug 27, 2026
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