Samantha and the Poo Pump How she put it away in the fall for her dad and PSA 1/28/21
Her name was Samantha. Her family called her Samantha but everyone else called her Sam. She was a graduate of the PSA Junior Sail program and was now on leave from college because of COVID-19. Sams father was being called out of town on business and was not able to keep his obligation to the club to winterize the Pump Out System (POS) and asked her if she would do that for him. He felt confident that she could a good job and it wouldn't take much of her study time since they lived close in North Shore.
So the first good day after the fall work party Sam trucked down to the club with two 5 gallon buckets in hand, 2 gallons of Clorox and a box of trisodium phosphate. No one was there - no one to look over her shoulder and question what she was doing. She was confident she could winterize the POS just the way she and her father had done before by (1) cleaning the system (2) filling the system with Black Hole Creek water (3) Running a pressure check on the pier section, then (4) pumping the system dry.
Down at the end of the pier, Sam filled one bucket with 2 gallons of Clorox and water the other with trisodium phosphate and water. Then she went over in her head what to do next. She would vacuum the Trisodium Phosphate into the system and then the Clorox filled container followed by Black Hole Creek water from the pick-up pipe installed on the pier. Sam knew the timer on the pump was set to five minutes before it shut off the pump witch was ample time for all of the Clorox and the trisodium solutions to be pumped up and into the holding tank on the hill. This will leave the entire plumbing system filled only with clean Black Hole Creek water.
With the pump turned off, Sam can now switch the Vacuum/Pressure Switch to the Pressure Position which will allow the pump to pump in the opposite direction pressurizing the pier section. She knew there is no way to test the pier section for leaks with vacuum, but she could now check for leaks by pressurizing it, as has been done many times before.
She knew that the pump was capable pumping up to 60 PSI, with the pickup valve closed and the system is full of fluid it only takes seconds for leaks to appear, so she shut the pump off. With the system full of pressurized Black Hole Creek water it becomes easy to locate and record leaks.
If all is well, Sam can carefully open the pickup hose nozzle and turn the pump back on, and while it is still in pressure mode, wait for all of the clean Black Hole Creek water to be pumped back out of the entire system and back into the creek. When all of the water is out, the pump will still be pumping, but only with easily detectable sewer gas. She he can now turn the pump off and return the V/P switch to the vacuum position. DONE!
As Sam walked back up the hill with her two empty buckets, she was proud of the good job she had done for good-old-dad (god) and PSA (round trip 75 minutes). She wondered why in the past the club made such an ecological mess, wasted so much time, money and energy filling the entire Pump Out System with gallons and gallons of antifreeze, to be carted away by a Honey-dipper in the spring.
Since she didn't bring a wrench with her, and needed to get back to her studies, she would have to let some one else disconnect the hose and put it away for the winter.
Good job Sam. R. W Wagner