East Chicago Pumping Station Failure

Author(s): Harvey T. Munn

Source: Journal (American Water Works Association), Vol. 41, No. 1 (JANUARY 1949), pp. 81-83
Published by: American Water Works Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41234905
Accessed: 23-01-2016 08:58 UTC

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 East Chicago PumpingStationFailure
By Harvey T. Munn
A paperpresentedon Sept. 16, 1948,at theRockyMountainSection
Meeting,Cheyenne,Wyo.ybyHarveyT. Munn,Hydr.Engr.,National
Board of Fire Underzvriters,
Chicago.
August 1948 the author was as-
signedto preparea reporton a se-
inwaterservicewhich
riousinterruption
occurredat East Chicago,Ind. Since
thecauses forthisfailureare presentin
manyotherwaterplantsand the emer-
gencymeasurestaken were somewhat
unusual,the incidentmay be of more
thanlocal interest,at least as an illus-
trationof the problemsa water super-
intendentmayoccasionallyhave to face.
Pumping Station Failure
East Chicago, with a populationof
about 70,000 and containinglarge in-
dustrial plants, was practicallywith-
out water for domestic use or fire
protection foreighthours,as the result
of a pipe failurein the pumpingsta-
tion, which flooded the building and
put all low- and high-liftpumps out
of service. The pumpingstationand
filtrationplant are on Lake Michigan
in the extremenortheastern end of the
city,and thedistributionsystemis sup-
pliedby directpumping,withonlya 1-
mil.gal. standpipeas equalizer in the
southernsection about 3 miles from
the station.
All nine pumps in the station are
drivenby electricmotorsand are placed
in threeseparaterooms,withno open-
ings between,below the balconyfloor
level. The fourlow-liftpumpsare on
the floor6 ft. below that of the bal-
81
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cony; threehigh-lift pumps are in the
deepest pit, with the floor9 ft. below
thebalcony,and the othertwo high-lift
pumps are on the floor 2 ft. below
the balcony. The balconyfloor,which
is slightlyabove ground level, is be-
tweenthe threepump rooms: the elec-
tric switchingroom, which is beyond
the higherpumproomand whichwas
littleaffected,is also at this same ele-
vation. The pipe failureoccurredat
6:45 a.m. in the 30-in. cast-ironhigh-
lift discharge line in the lower pit.
Within five minuteswater had filled
this pit and flowedover the balcony
floor,completelyfloodingthe low-lift
pit and fillingthe otherhigh-liftpump-
roomto a depthof 2±/2it. The 30-in.
line is of bell-and-spigotpipeinthesta-
tion. One spigotend pushedout about
7 in. The force also pushed out the
supportsand brokethe tee at its north
end, and where it connectswith the
10-mil.gal.pump.
This line had been in for several
yearsand had not giventrouble. It is
believed the failurewas due to water
hammeror surge caused by changing
over pumps- with necessarystopping
and starting - whichdischargeintothe
30-in. line outside the station,result-
ing in excess backpressure. Therehad
also been rather abrupt temperature
changes due to a heat wave shortly
precedingthe break.
82 HARVEY T. MUNN Jour.AW WA

Emergency Measures frequencychangerand special electric

theInland Steel
When the failureoccurred,all elec- equipmentprovidedon
tric currentto the pump motorswas installation, it was first possibleto pass
short cir- current at low amperage and voltage
quicklyshut off beforeany the motors for
cuits could result. At the time,water through preliminary
the
was being deliveredto the systemat a drying,utilizinginternalheatingof
rateof 12 mgd.witha 52-psi.discharge pump motors. Then special lamps
were used for the final drying. In-
pressure. The fire departmentre- sulationtestswere
and two pumpers made,usinga meg-
spondedimmediately
were placed to dewater the station. ger during the dryingprocess,and the
motors were placed in operationas soon
The Inland Steel Co. also placed three
as a safe value was reached. Addi-
large gasoline-engine-driven pumps in tional work was later carried out in
servicefor this use, and by 9:50 a.m.
elec-
the station was practicallyclear of drying,testingand replacingsome
tric controls. The formerstandbygas-
water.
oline engine had been removedwhen
In themeantimeall vitallyinterested
the Inland Steel Co. circuit was in-
consumershad been notifiedand the
stalled.
situationwas generallyknownthrough-
At 12:30 p.m. low-liftpumpingto
out the city. The Inland Steel Co.,
the filterplantwas startedand at 1 :30
adjacent to the water works, has a the firstof the
high-liftpumpsdeliver-
standingorderforits divisionsuperin- to the distribution were in
tendentsto giveall possibleaid on emer- ing system
operation. By 2:10 p.m. service was
gencycall fromthe water department. back to normal.
In a shorttimepipe and electriccrews
fromthe Inland Steel Co., as well as During the shutdown steps were
taken to utilize all possible supplies,
fromthe YoungstownSheet and Tube
and therewas some wateravailableat
Co. and others, were on hand, and
low overmostof the sys-
various portionsof work were allotted verybut pressure
not enough for domesticuse
tem,
to conserve time in gettingback in or fire
service. Pipe had to be fabricatedand protection. The storagein the
standpipehad been depleted quickly.
supportsmade, to restore the piping The emergency connection between
in the deepestpit wherethe failureoc- the 12-in.East
Chicago and the 12-in.
curred. (Steps have since been taken Hammondmain at the extremesouth-
to supportthis pipingfurther.) ern end of the city was opened at
A more difficult problemwas to dry 8 :00 a.m. and closedat 2 :25 p.m.,when
out the electricmotors. The stationis pressure at the pumping station had
normallysuppliedby two overheadcir- been raised to 45 psi. It is estimated
cuits fromthe Public Service Co. of thata rateofapproximately 2 mgd.was
NorthernIndiana, but, in addition,a receivedduringthis period,and a fair
25-cycle undergroundcircuit has re- pressurewas maintainedin the south-
centlybeen laid fromthe Inland Steel ern end of the city. At the plant the
Co. and a frequencychanger to 60 two fire departmentpumpers started
cyclesplaced in the station. Electrical at 10:00 a.m.- when they had com-
expertsfromthe two steel companies, pleteddewateringthestation - to pump
with testing instruments,supervised water into the distributionsystem
thedryingout ofthemotors. Withthe throughtwo hydrantstaking suction

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January1949 PUMPING FAILURE
fromthe clear-waterreservoir. The
Indiana State Board of Health made
continuoustestsof the qualityof water
over the system.
No fires of consequence occurred
duringthe interruption of water serv-
ice. The East Chicago firedepartment
companies,as well as those of neigh-
boringcities which would rendermu-
tual aid, were alerted to the prevail-
ing condition. Twelve men of the
East Chicagooff-shiftwere called back
foremergencyduty. The Borden and
Clover Leaf Dairy Companieshad sev-
eral milk carrier trucks available for
haulingwater to the sites of fires.
The restorationof normal service
in such a relativelyshort time was
due to the promptand efficient action
of Mayor Migas, Water Superintend-
ent Vinick, Chief Engineer Kolbert
and Fire ChiefWillardo,as well as to
the expertand valuable assistanceren-
deredbytheofficials oftheInland Steel
Co., the YoungstownSheet and Tube
Co. and others.
The principallesson from this in-
terruptionis that,when a city is de-
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83
pendenton directpumpingat a single
station with little storage available,
special precautionsshould be taken to
preventthe floodingof the stationdur-
ing breaks, and also to provide auto-
matic pressure control against water
hammeror surges on the lines.
Recommendations
To offseta recurrenceof the shut-
down at the station, it was recom-
mendedthat:
1. Additional drainage and larger
sump pumps should be provided in
the three pumprooms
2. A low wall shouldbe placed along
the balconyflooron the inside of the
east high-liftpump pit to a heightat
least above the existingwindow sills,
and a similar wall at the entranceto
the low-liftpumproom
3. Automaticpressure reliefvalves
or surgesuppressorsshouldbe installed
on the high-liftdischargelines
4. Flanged joints should be used on
all cast-ironpipe insidethe station,and
all bendsand tees shouldbe firmly sup-
ported.