Lift Station Upgrade Pumps Up Facility

The City of Traverse City relies on several sewer lift stations to pump wastewater and sewage from areas of low elevation to higher elevation. One of those lift stations is situated in a building very close to the heart of Traverse City’s downtown area. Recently, the city decided to update an antiquated control system in this station. This particular system is responsible for controlling the pumps at the lift station and communicating their status back to Traverse City’s main wastewater treatment facility.

When Windemuller was hired for this project, most of the system was well over 20 years old, with PLCs that had been in place since the late 1980s or the early 1990s. Parts and pieces for these controllers and other key components were difficult to come by, making the system a challenge to maintain or repair. Put simply, the lift station was long overdue for an upgrade.