NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

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Royalder

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Most of my customers have their smaller stations designed around the use of portable generators. Will they be able to continue this practice?

This comes from a three pronged question:

1) Per the 2005 NEC, Articles 700, 701 and/or 702, are all (new) Sewage Lift Stations now required to have a permanent backup generator installed?

2) How do I determine if a permanent backup generator is "Legally Required" by "municipal, state, federal, or other codes or " by the ahj?

3) How does the FPN of 701.2 affect the above?


Since my customers are in Western Washington (State), I am most interested in the that area.
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

As far as #1 and #2 the only people who can answer it are the people you mention, City, county, state etc. Whoever is the AHJ or enforcing agency.

If it is a legally required load, then portable gensets won't cut it.

I don't have my book here so I can't comment on the FPN
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

sandsnow,

The FPN notes says that a Legally Required standby system would typically supply, among other things, a sewage disposal system.

As an inspector in California, if you inspected a sewage station with a connection for a portable generator, would you say it meets code?

Are there any codes (state, local, federal, etc.) in your area that says a generator is Legally Required for sewage stations?
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

I would double check in the building code and plumbing code (which I don't have here at home) for electrical requirements.

The ones (few) I have seen in the past just had redundant motors for back up. It was a few years ago.

If this is a public works project (owned by a water district) then put it in per the plans they give you. The water district would be the AHJ and create the rules.
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

Someone needs to determine if the backup power is legally required. I think the FPN refers more to a sewage disposal system in an occupied building. I wouldn't think it would apply to a lift station sitting in a vacant lot. But thats just my opinion.

I think there is another NFPA document that has more detail on lift stations. I would consult that.

[ December 02, 2005, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: steve66 ]
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

Originally posted by steve66:

I think there is another NFPA document that has more detail on lift stations. I would consult that.
Click to expand...
I am aware of at least one other doc: NFPA 820 Standard for Fire Protection in Wastewater Treatment and Collection Facilities. Does not cover backup generation.

My thinking was that the National Fire Protection Association is not so concerned about keeping power online, so I have not looked at their Standards.

[ December 02, 2005, 06:47 PM: Message edited by: Royalder ]
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

Originally posted by ryan_618:
Here is a link to a short article I wrote on the subject:

700 vs. 701
Click to expand...
Thanks ryan. I have been getting feed back from local municipals, and it appears so far that the only code or AHJ is the The Washington State Department of Ecology's Criteria for Sewage Works Design (section C2-1.8 ).

If there is enough overflow storage and/or reliable and fast access to portable generation, that's good enough for "small" sewage stations.

(oh, and "DOH!" the NEC is NFPA 70. Steve, I was not wake!)

[ December 02, 2005, 06:56 PM: Message edited by: Royalder ]
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

The last lift station that I did required an permanent genset. Portable was not good enough, because it would fill the holding tank in about 30 minutes without the pumps running. I never really looked to see who required it, if it was WA state or the city of Marysville. It was just engineered that way.
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

There are some installations that use both a permanently installed genset and a power inlet for a portable genset. This has several advantages such as being able to use a cheaper permanent genset and being able to change the oil in the permanent genset. How a cheaper permanent genset could be used is if the station has 2 or more pumps and the permanent genset only operates 1 pump.

In areas where well water prevails the sewage lift may have little or no work to do during a power failure.

[ December 03, 2005, 02:00 AM: Message edited by: mc5w ]
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

The FPN doesn't affect the above. However, 701.2 Legally Required Standby Systems require a permanent generator. How could you start a portable automatically. When I ask that question I realize that it can be done if the gen is there, but if it is a portable gen how do you know its going to be there?
 
Re: NEC 2005, Sewage Lift Stations, Generators and "Leg

Ok, so my related question is, what other sorts of applications have you guys run into that have had Legally Required backup generation? And who or what code required it? Was it Federal, State or Local?
 
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