Water pumps cope with festival demands

More than 60,000 visitors attended this years Pinkpop Festival drawn by headline acts including Bruce Springstein, Depeche Mode and Franz Ferdinand. The three day annual rock event, held in the city of Landgraaf in the Netherlands, places huge demands on the temporary infrastructure built to support the clean water demands of the revellers.

Crowds enjoy the music at Pinkpop Festival.
Crowds enjoy the music at Pinkpop Festival.

As an important part of the overall enjoyment and success of these events, Grundfos were selected as the pump solutions provider to deliver the clean water to and remove the wastewater from the site.

This was no mean feat with 823 toilets, 281 showers and a clean water demand of 2.5 million litres of water to be supplied and just as much wastewater to dispose of. Understandably the organisers had two main requirements of their pump supplier: the product had to be reliable and service-friendly.

Water Technique on Location (WTL) initially contacted Grundfos as a solution provider because of its reputation for robust pump solution systems. It became vitally clear that early co-operation, clear communications and a good understanding of the desired outcome would become even more significant factors, between all the parties, than would be normal practice.

Making sure the correct pump selection was made to meet the pressure requirements demanded of the water supply solution was particularly important as the support network that was needed to deliver the clean water to where it was required comprised an incredible 2.8 km of temporary pipework. Ensuring that this pipework always had the supplies to meet the demand was a Grundfos booster set and three Grundfos CR 45/2 in-line multi-stage pumps.

The CR range is the first ever in-line pump to be designed and developed and today still retains its edge as one of the most significant pump families available to the market. It is a stalwart of the many and various applications that require a multistage solution and today the range is constantly scrutinised to ensure that it stays at the forefront of the technological, environmental and specification demands placed upon it. With Eff1 motors of up to 75 kW and flows of up to 180 m3/h there would be few applications that are not within the CR scope.

The final wastewater solution comprised of 12 storage tanks complete with Grundfos AVG mixers that were supported by 17 Grundfos SEG sewage grinder pumps that support the treatment and removal of wastewater as well as offering the patented SmartTrim system that makes it easy to maintain peak performance through the quick and easy adjustment of the impeller clearance. In addition a large SE1 sewage pump that is also very maintenance friendly provided the back-up for peak times.

The pumps did not let WTL or the visitors down as they performed to specification and coped with everything that was thrown at them. After the event John van den Hurk, managing director of WTL said: “There's no room for faulty wastewater pumps during the festival. These pumps really have coped with everything.”