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On Feb. 13, the House and Senate approved HR 1–the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will most certainly have an immediate and positive impact on this industry. The $787 billion package of tax cuts and government spending includes approximately $150 billion in emergency funding for public works infrastructure with more than $7 billion earmarked for drinking water and wastewater projects.

It contains $4 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (wastewater), $2 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and $1.38 billion for the USDA rural water and waste disposal system. President Barack Obama signed the legislation on Feb. 17, giving the EPA 30 days from that time to disperse funds to the states.

The states will then have up to one year to put the money to use with shovel-ready projects.

What does this mean to P&S readers? “This is a great boost to clean water and drinking water programs all over the United States,” says Tim Williams, managing director for government affairs for the Water Environment Federation (WEF). “It will have significant beneficial and economic impacts on municipal spending and the individuals who depend on it, including consultants, contractors and equipment manufacturers.”

To be considered for funding, any appropriate projects need to be on the state’s priority list by contacting your State Water Agency, Williams says.

The positive impact will be felt industrywide, says Dawn Kristof Champney, president of the Water & Wastewater Equipment

Manufacturers Association, Inc. (WWEMA). “Congress has recognized the critical role that drinking water and wastewater facilities play in supporting our nation’s economic engine and in protecting the environment by providing $6 billion in additional capitalization for the state revolving fund programs to help communities meet their infrastructure needs.”

I will continue to blog with timely updates and welcome conversation on www.pumpconnect.com. For more information, visit www.wef.org and www.wwema.org daily for stimulus updates.

Our Publisher, Wally Evans, and I attended the 19^th Annual Gabelli Pump, Valve & Motor Symposium in New York this week. Top executives from many of the major players in our industry were there to reflect on 2008 and give us some insight into 2009.

In light of the current economic climate, we were expecting doom and gloom. But that’s not what we heard.

For the most part, there was much optimism and strong strategies for proceeding into 2009, however cautiously.

As per usual at a conference like this, there were many buzzwords and key phrases that seemed thematic:

* Capitalizing on the aftermarket will be a key revenue driver for many companies.

* Many companies continue to see growth opportunities through acquisitions.

* Companies entering 2009 with a strong balance sheet seem the most confident to weather any further detrimental economic storm.

* Companies continue to look to capitalize on international growth (particularly within the BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China). James Foung, Gabelli’s chief financial analyst for the pump, valve and motor industries, believes this will promote the greatest turnaround. “The growth rate has led to expanded income in these nations,” Foung says. “They will use more water, consume more energy and travel more – all of which will affect the pump, valve and motor industries.”

* Many companies are utilizing lean manufacturing tools and Six Sigma for speed, flexibility and efficiency – both in the front office and in the factories. (Look for a special feature on this topic in the May issue of Pumps & Systems.)

* Companies will look for ways to benefit from the Stimulus Package and hope to see monetary growth and benefits, but perhaps not significantly until 2010. This will apply particularly to those companies who play in the water and wastewater sectors.

I had the absolute pleasure and opportunity to sit next to Mario Gabelli during the conference. He told me that the pump, valve and motor industries are going through a “bottoming out” process and predicts, “The strong will get stronger.”

Look for more comments and insight from the conference in the April issue of Pumps & Systems. In the meantime, let me know what you think!

A barrel of crude is at a little less than $38 today. At that kind of price, investing in more offshore drilling and oil sands is not really practical. When oil was at a record $147 a barrel last July, it made sense to heavily invest in r&d for additional oil sources.

In related news, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement yesterday about the Obama administration’s drilling plan:

“The new Administration is stopping [the Bush administration's] headlong rush to open new offshore areas of drilling, calling for a thorough review, with much greater public participation. And Secretary Salazar is wisely initiating a review of the potential for offshore renewable energy, and moving forward with long-stalled rules to ensure that offshore renewable energy projects can proceed in an environmentally-responsible manner.

“We cannot drill our way to energy independence. But by harnessing all of our domestic energy resources, and aggressively pursuing new technology to unleash them, we move a giant step closer toward energy independence.”

Let’s just hope that people don’t go back to their old habits when it comes to oil usage–otherwise we’ll be right back in the same boat if a barrel of oil should surge in price again and gas prices rise dramatically. Because the price of oil doesn’t really lend itself to heavy oil drilling (and the Obama administration wants to move away from that plan), we don’t want to end up with shortages if people should overuse gas while the prices are low.

Part 4 of 4

It is good practice to initially fill the pump and as much of the inlet piping system as possible with the liquid to be pumped. This will assist in priming and reduce the risk of pump damage during an otherwise dry start. A rotary pump will prime more quickly if internal pumping elements are at least wetted. Priming is nothing more than pumping air from the inlet system to the discharge system. The ability of a rotary positive displacement pump to act as an air compressor is very much related to having some liquid present internally.

Pump shaft seals, especially mechanical seals, should never be operated dry. Immediate, or at best premature, seal failure is the inevitable result. Again, filling the pump with the liquid to be pumped and hand rotating the pump a few times helps ensure that liquid is present at the shaft sealing mechanism to carry away frictional heat during startup. If the particular pump has a seal chamber access plug, remove the plug, fill the chamber with liquid and reinstall the plug.

Have phone numbers of key vendor service departments, fire brigade and medical emergency services on hand in the event they are needed. When handling petroleum and other flammable liquids, there are both pollution and fire hazards present.

Ensure that there is an adequate supply of liquid in the pump inlet system (no half empty supply oil tanks or the like). It is also prudent to confirm where pump discharge flow will be going to be sure the discharge system is ready.

Loud or erratic noise at startup is an indication of cavitation (inadequate pump inlet pressure) or air being drawn into the pump inlet system. It is frequently accompanied by increases in or excessive vibration. If mild, troubleshoot the cause. If severe, shut down the pump and find the source of the problem.

Use the ROTARY PUMP STARTUP CHECK LIST or a similar control to help ensure that all contingencies have been addressed.

CONCLUSION

Our discussion cannot be considered all-inclusive since each pumping system has unique features and requirements, some of which may interact with each other or with other aspects of the overall plant operation. In addition, no allowance has been made here for regulatory requirements, specialised industry or company guidelines or the like. Where values are recommended, they are intended for use in the absence of vendor or specifically engineered information. Always use the more stringent of either the recommendations herein or the vendor or engineer’s guidelines.

ROTARY PUMP

Project:__________Location:__________Unit No.:__________Tag No.:_________

1. PIPING 7. SPARES AVAILABLE

❏ Clean ❏ Pump

❏ Bolts Tight ❏ Driver

❏ Strain Removed ❏ Gear

❏ Gaskets in Place ❏ Other__________

❏ Pressure Tested

❏ Flushed 8. RESOURCES AVAILABLE

❏ Other__________ ❏ Electric

❏ Steam

2. VALVES ❏ Cooling Water

❏ Not Backwards ❏ Hot Oil

❏ Clean ❏ Auxiliaries

❏ Bolts Tight ❏ Gages in Place

❏ Gaskets in Place ❏ Other__________

❏ Correct Position (Open/Close)

❏ Relief Valve Set Pressure 9. LAST MINUTE

❏ Other__________ ❏ Pump Filled with Liquid

❏ Shaft Seals Wetted

❏ Key Contact Phone Nos.

3. FOUNDATION ❏ Inlet Liquid Supply

❏ Level ❏ Discharge System Ready

❏ Solid (No Voids) ❏ Air Bleed Valve Open

❏ Bolts Tight ❏ Pump Hand Rotated

❏ Other__________ ❏ Other__________

10. COMPANY/INDUSTRY SPECIFIC

4. ALIGNMENT ❏ _______________

❏ Angular (Cold & Hot)_____ _____ ❏ _______________

❏ Parallel (Cold & Hot)_____ _____ ❏ _______________

❏ Other__________ ❏ _______________

❏ _______________

5. ROTATION

❏ Verified (CW or CCW)

❏ Other__________

6. LUBRICATION

❏ Pump

❏ Driver

❏ Gear

❏ Other__________

7. SPARES AVAILABLE

❏ Pump

❏ Driver

❏ Gear

❏ Other_______

8. RESOURCES AVAILABLE

❏ Electric

❏Steam

❏ Compressed air

❏Cooling water

❏ Hot oil

❏ Auxiliaries

❏ Gages in place

❏ Other_________

9. LAST MINUTE

❏ Pump filled with liquid

❏ Shaft seals wetted

❏ Key contact phone numbers

❏ Inlet liquid supply

❏ Discharge system ready

❏ Air bleed valve open

❏ Pump hand rotated

❏ Other____________

10. COMPANY SPECIFIC

❏ _________________

❏ _________________

❏ _________________

❏ _________________

❏ _________________

For more information, contact Jim Brennan at