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Pumps make so many things possible that no one ever thinks about, including getting your drinking water. People often take for granted how important pumps and pumping stations are to getting municipal water.

A pertinent example comes right from our own backyard. As some of you might know, PumpProducts.com is nestled in Westwood, New Jersey, a bucolic location in the northern part of the state. Westwood’s governing county is Bergen County and as is the case with most of North Jersey, we rely on the Wanaque Reservoir to receive our water.

Recently, due to a lack of rainfall and unseasonably warm weather stretching from summer into fall, New Jersey has been suffering from a drought. As a result, the Wanaque Reservoir has been far short of its usual capacity over the past few months.

According to The Bergen Record:

“The Wanaque Reservoir and its backup Monksville Reservoir, which provide drinking water to more than 3.5 million people in North Jersey, had been so depleted by the drought that they hovered at just 45 to 47 percent of combined capacity for much of the fall. By Monday, they were back up to a combined 52 percent of capacity – an improvement, but still well below the 70 percent of capacity that’s  typical for this time of year….

Even with several days of rain recently, northern New Jersey remains at a rain deficit over the past 90 days. Morris County is worst off, with a deficit of nearly 5 inches over the past three months, or 38 percent below normal. Passaic County – where the Wanaque Reservoir is – has had a deficit of 4 inches, or 30 percent below normal. Bergen County has seen nearly 3 inches less rain than usual, about 22 percent below normal.”

Obviously, drought can be devastating to both a human population and an area’s natural  ecosystem. Crops wither and decay, animals die of thirst and municipalities often enforce strict water rationing. Water plays such an integral role in the structure and conduct of life, one that is underappreciated. A drought’s impact is measured not only in inches of water but also in the adverse impact. Droughts cause a “domino effect” that touch many different industries.

That’s why pumping stations are so important. The heavy duty industrial pumps are key to moving the water from the reservoir into the water supply system. Lift pumps or centrifugal pumps are often the type used in pumping stations. Balancing the level of stream flow with the needs and demands of many municipalities, businesses and people is quite a tricky process.

Without pumps, we would never get the food or drinking water so critical to human survival. So let’s all take a moment to think about our pumps and thank them!