58 DECEMBER 2021 WorldWide Drilling Resource® RENEW - SUBSCRIBE NOW! Xylem’s Energy-Efficient Borehole Pumps Adapted from Information by Xylem In the Calabria region of Italy, a major waer resources agency recently set out to expand and modernize its drinking water supply network. Part of the plan by the Società Risorse Idriche Calabresi (Sorical) was restoration of the hydraulic efficiency operations. Providing over 72 billion gallons of water per year to the Calabria region, with a population of 1.96 million people, the Sorical Water Agency manages the large water supply network and drinking water treatment plants in the region. Through nearly 4000 miles of pipelines, 300 lifting stations, and 900 reservoirs and tanks, it supplies water to almost all the municipalities of the Calabria region every day. Although the hydrogeological and climate conditions of Calabria make the region appear rich in water, challenges like climate change, low rainfall, and human overuse can undermine these resources. To meet these challenges, the agency assesses and monitors water resources and demand daily, develops plans to expand and modernize water plants, as well as focusing on maintenance of plants and the replacement of old or damaged pipelines. Much of the maintenance work has focused on existing wells to improve energy efficiency. This is crucial to operations, since half of the drinking water used in Calabria comes from groundwater resources through a network of almost 300 wells. In several well fields serving the cities lying between the Ionian Sea and the mountainous plateau known as La Sila, some of the wells built at the end of the 1980s showed signs of wear and decay due to age, with clogged drains, corrosion, and encrusted filters and pipelines. These factors resulted in energy and cost inefficiencies. Sorical restored the hydraulic efficiency of the wells through mechanical brushing, jetting tools, and other methods. This eliminated encrustations and deposits accumulated on the inner surface of the pipework, improved the filters, and removed sand and debris. Five of the wells got a complete overhaul with Xylem’s Lowara Z8 submersible borehole pumps. The pumps have a high-efficiency design, including dynamic wear rings to reduce hydraulic losses to a minimum, reduce energy use, and prevent the pump from blocking during standby periods. This makes them ideal for use in water supply from deep wells, pressure boosting, and water distribution in municipal and industrial systems. The Lowara pump’s dynamic wear ring design gives it key advantages at high and low pressure. They also reduce wear by minimizing internal flow through the wear ring clearance so less solids, such as sand, are carried into the wear ring area. Across the region, Xylem provided more than 35 Lowara borehole pumps, part of Lowara’s Z Series (Z8, Z10, Z12), made of stainless steel with a semi-axial flow, making them a good choice for corrosive and abrasive environments. The pumps are also highly efficient, both in hydraulic performance and energy use. Due to these upgrades and overhauls with reliable and durable pumps, Sorical reduced electricity consumption at each well by 30%. The maintenance work also made it possible to double and even, in some cases, to triple the amount of water extracted from each well. In addition to this work, Sorical is replacing obsolete pumps and installing high-quality, energy-efficient pumps which have already saved about $3.6 million in energy use. WTR
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