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As part of an ongoing effort to provide the best possible service for all product lines, Pump Products employees attended a training session with a representative from See Water Inc.  See Water, located in Riverside, CA, is one of Pump Products' newest manufacturing partners and is renowned in the industry for its line of innovative water products and controls. Pump Products currently carries a plethora of quality wastewater pump control accessories from See Water, including water level alarms, control panels and junction boxes. Eric Wallace, Vice President of Operations at See Water, gave a presentation lecture in which he dove into the history of the company, its products, and practices for ensuring across the board customer satisfaction. "We're a customer-driven company and we pride ourselves on great customer service," he said. "Our focus is always on the end user." Wallace said that this focus is best exemplified by the simplicity and straightforwardness of See Water installations. He described his ideal customer interaction as, one in which the customer is able to install the product so easily that he feels compelled to call the company to make sure the process really is that simple. That's why many See Water products are "plug and play" an approach that emphasizes the end user in the consumer interaction chain.  This produces return customers, and according to Wallace, there's nothing See Water likes more than return customers. It is a philosophy that Pump Products shares as well. Another, incredible fact is that, all See Water products are constructed at the company facility in Riverside, CA. Having everything manufactured in the U.S., is an important mark of quality. All products are also UL-listed and CSA certified for the U.S. and Canada. Such customer care also extends to the warranty process. Most See Water products (except custom builds) include a 3-year warranty. Wallace estimates that "90%" of warranty issues are able to be resolved through calling the company directly and troubleshooting. This allows the user or contractor to solve the problem onsite. In cases where that doesn't work out, customers can send the product back to See Water for thorough examination. "We're just interested in the customer being happy," he said. Testing is also an important aspect of the process. Each product that leaves the warehouse is factory tested before it is packaged. Wallace emphasized that the testing is not a la carte but holistic. "We don't have a station with a bunch of floats and then hook up a panel to test it," he said. "We test each control panel with the specific float that will be in the package before it gets sent out. That way the customer is sure to get everything that works." For lead times, prebuilt products can usually be sent to Pump Products within a matter of days. Custom panels can take up to four weeks but See Water tries to push those panels through sooner if possible, particularly for repeat customers. See Water also emphasizes the commonality of various parts and components across various types of panels. This allows the engineers to rig up all sorts of custom panels, with special custom features, tailored to make the user's life much easier. Some of these features include but are not limited to: touchscreen interfaces, variable frequency drives, programmable logic controllers, multiple alarms (that can be run back to a main alarm) and solar alarms. The thoroughness of the engineering process allows for a lot of same-day and next day quotes on custom panels. Making sure exactly what each customer needs, also reduces the risk of returns and call-backs. "It was a really interesting and informative lecture," Pump Products application engineer Nick said. "It's always good to get insight into how other companies interact with customers and think about how we can apply those practices here [at Pump Products]." The training session with See Water is part of a continual effort by the Pump Products staff to familiarize themselves with manufacturer products, to deliver the best possible service and product information to our customers. Pump Products application engineers are standing by to help you find the right pump, as well as to provide price quotes, stocking availability and shipping information. Call our toll free number 1-800-429-0800 to speak to an expert today.

The sewage basin collects and contains wastewater before it is removed from a building's system by way of a submersible sewage pump. It is a critical part of any wastewater (sewage, effluent, sump) system. Commonly constructed with fiberglass or high grade plastic, basins are heavy duty containers. They come in a variety of system types (simplex or duplex), sizes and applications. Some basins operate with multiple types of pumps while others are designed expressly to be paired with a specific pump. Basins sit below grade while the pump itself sits at the bottom of the basin. How it functions is simple: wastewater enters the basin through an inlet pipe or port. The wastewater accumulates in the basin until it reaches a certain level, at which point your sewage pump will activate (by way of a float switch or preset control) and pump the wastewater through a discharge pipe out of the building to a municipal sewer or septic tank. A correctly sized basin is important to ensuring that the wastewater system and the pump itself runs smoothly and efficiently. For instance, a basin that is too small could fill up rapidly and contribute to improper pump cycling. If the pump turns on and off repeatedly, it will quickly burn out. Longer downtime between pump cycles keeps the pump cooler and results in longer life. In this blog we will walk you through the process of sizing a basin to fit your needs and application by working through a specific example. (more…)