Water affects economic growth everywhere
December 1, 2014

You wouldn't normally think of Vermont as a parched land with water shortages, but a couple of towns there are running into economic-development hurdles because of the limitations of their water and wastewater systems. Water supplies matter everywhere.


Twitter 101 for Water Utilities
December 3, 2014




Draining a footing
December 5, 2014

A very pleasant gentleman called us today to ask about one of our portable engine-driven trash pumps. He explained that he wanted to drain some footings that had been dug for a household construction project and that had subsequently been flooded by rainfall.

Now, it's important to know that we do not offer pump recommendations -- there are just too many variables involved with any given pumping application for us to be involved in picking pumps from our online store. (Pump application and selection assistance is something we do every day for local customers on engineered applications, but that's because we have special local knowledge of conditions prevailing in Iowa and Nebraska.) However, this was a case where the customer was trying to pick a pump that was completely wrong for the purpose, so we advised strongly against choosing the pump he had in mind.

The footings the customer described were only about 1' in diameter and 2' deep. In other words, about 1.6 cubic feet -- or around 12 gallons, if completely full.

One of our engine-driven trash pumps would be too much pump for the job. That would be like using a blender to put sugar in your coffee. Much more appropriate to a small drainage application like this might be one of our handheld utility pumps or even a hand-operated pump.

Again, we're not equipped to make pump selections for our online customers. Pumps are affected by everything from local power supplies to elevation, and from water quality to the type of hoses used for suction and discharge. We share Gorman-Rupp's pump application manual freely since it is a great tool for making those selections. But we thought this particular case was one worth sharing because it illustrates our thinking on the importance of getting the right pump for the job -- not just selling the pump with the highest price. AMT's engine-driven trash pumps are great for workhorse jobs where the volumes involved are in the dozens or more, and we're happy to sell them. Get the right pump for the job, and don't trust anyone whose solitary goal is to get you to spend as much money as possible on a pump. Sometimes the best fit is surprisingly compact.


Your cat is secretly trying to kill you
December 11, 2014




New presentation available: Computer safety 101 for utilities
December 19, 2014

We are offering a new presentation for our utility and association clients: "Computer Safety 101 for Utilities". This presentation is a summary of important information in plain English for operators and management of utilities to know about keeping their computers and networks safe from attack. Our full list of presentations includes lots of talks on subjects from maintenance to management. Many of the slideshows that accompany the talks are available online as well, though the full talks are of course much more in-depth than the slideshows illustrate. Contact us if you would like to arrange for one of our presentations at a conference or other event.


Merry Christmas
December 24, 2014

We wish all of our customers, associates, and manufacturing partners a very merry Christmas. Our offices will be closed for the holiday, re-opening on Monday (December 29th). However, our phones will be forwarded throughout the holiday weekend, so if you need assistance, please don't hesitate to call 515-223-4144. If you leave a message, we will return it as soon as possible. We can also be reached via e-mail or via our emergency contact page as needed.

Have a safe and happy holiday!



Past water and wastewater news updates