Domestic Water Pressure Booster Systems

Domestic Water Pressure Booster Pump Systems by Callaghan

Callaghan Pump and Controls located in Hackensack, NJ builds one of the finest pump systems in the world. Not only can we build you a constant pressure domestic water booster system, but we can essentially use the same system for tank filled service, or, for that matter, pump down service. We will address your needs: You can fill a tank up with water, you can pump a tank out say for rain water service where you try to capture the rain from your roof and either pump it out to vegetation the next day or out to the sewer the following day, or drain storm water for the second day, so you do not overfill New York City’s sanitary sewer system. Our systems meet a variety of needs and applications.

The way we start our pump systems is by using 304 grade stainless steel base ¼” thick unparalleled in the industry.  It has mounting holes for bolting to the floor.  It also has grouting holes; once the system is in place and bolted down you can fill the base with grout which produces a very stable platform.  We, then, can use anybody’s pumps you like; we prefer Ebara Pumps which offer you the best value featuring fantastic pumps at fantastic prices.  We are a factory direct distributor for Ebara. You can also use Aurora Pumps for which we are also a distributor. They make a fantastic end suction pump.  While they are not as quiet as the Ebara pump, they do fit certain requirements in high flow low head where the Ebara pump typically is a low flow high head. Low flow is considered anywhere from 10 gallons a minute to 500 gallons a minute.  The point is that our systems are flexible with regard to the pump manufacturer.

We then switch to the header — the industry standard is copper- every plumber can fix it or pipe into it.  We offer suction discharge gauges. While speaking of the gauges, those and everything that comes into contact with water are NSF 61, meaning NO lead. The valves we use are made by Bonomi. We use their valves for both the gate valves (butterfly style) and check valves. We use CTS flanges which are made of copper and epoxy-coated steel.  This is a powder coating epoxy that will never rust. We always use Yaskawa variable speed drives. You can program the screen readout in PSI or feet.  That is if you are filling a tank and want the pumps to start the pumps when the water level reaches 6 feet and stop when the water level reaches 8 feet, it is just a flick of a switch and very easy to do. 

Every domestic pump system we do has the option of what we call a BART system which allows you the ability to communicate with the system from any Smart device or any computer that is tied into the internet. It is not at base.  You go to the website and log-in your user name and password and you can see exactly what is happening in your system: you can see which pumps are running, see what the pressure is, check history, etc. If the pumps are doing what they are supposed to do you know it, but if you are getting complaints from the top floor that there is not enough pressure, you can use your phone to check and make adjustments by tapping on the pressure button and pressing enter.  The change can be made immediately on your smart device with an approximate 3 second delay depending upon your cell service.  Please, be aware if you opt for the Bart system, the pump system does need to be connected to the internet one way or another.

The control panels we use are Nema 12 – you can get any type of Nema rating on a controller that you like.  Some like Nema 4X which would be stainless steel. There is also a Nema 4X which is plastic. It is your choice.  We make sure the variable speed drives have the fans and the heat syncs mounted out of the back of the control panel and then we build a dust cover with louvres that goes over top of them. We can operate off of any voltage 208, 230, 240, 460, 480, whatever you have available. We do not currently offer a medium voltage drive but, for the most part, we are able to fill 99% of the requests we receive since most requests are for low or high voltage systems. An important feature of our systems is that because we design our systems for New York City, 99% of our systems fit through a 30” opening.  A 32 inch door will typically have a 31” opening so our systems are able to slip right through without having to be disassembled and then reassembled. This sizing includes a triplex 15 horsepower system which measures approximately 30.25”. 

We do not rely on a PLC (programmable logic controller). I have two 55 gallon drums at my shop filled up with other people’s booster systems where the PLC failed.  Many failed due to programming issues.  I am not sure of the exact cause of the programming failures but I have heard of a term called drifting — not sure exactly what this is, but I do know after 3-5 years, my competitors’ PLCs fail. The drives are working fine but they fail due to PLC failure.  Instead, we use a smart drive by Yaskawa which has its own logic built in and does not rely on a third party PLC. We also give each drive its own transducer; if one fails, it sends an alarm and then starts using the second transducer. We bring the keypads for all of our booster systems through the door of the control panel cabinet so that you do not need to open the cabinet door to look at what is happening with your system.

Check out our website callaghanpump.com where you will find images and CAD drawings. We look forward to filling your pumping needs.