New pump station has software link

The Rain Bird V-3200 Series is an above ground model, which gives reliability at a low running cost. The major advantage with this new model is that the pump station can be connected through Smart Pump software to the irrigation central control system.
“If there are problems with the pump station you can get the irrigation software to re-act accordingly,” says Victor Jamieson, regional manager for Northern Europe. “This is tremendously beneficial in practice, as if the power to the pump station goes down it stops the irrigation programme running for the night.”
Previously pump stations and central control systems were independent of each other. So if overnight power to the pump station was lost and power to the central control system was still operational the sprinklers still operated. As a result, with no or reduced pressure from the pumping station, more and more water would be drained out of the system. With two to five pumps the flow range is up to 500 cubic metres per hour.
“Rain Bird’s advanced technology with this software link is vital,” says Victor. “If one pump goes down the number of sprinklers operating on the golf course is automatically reduced by the central control system – to match the reduced output of the pump station.
“Normally the irrigation controller does not make allowances for this reduction and keeps operating the sprinklers to the full flow of the irrigation pump station. This results in poor sprinkler performance or in the pump station closing down on a low-pressure alarm.
“By continually monitoring the actual flow from the pump station Smart Pump will either increase or decrease the number of sprinklers in operation on the golf course. This ensures that the pump station works at its designed capacity, which saves water and energy costs.”
At the forefront of pump design Rain Bird was one of the first to develop a variable speed pump station for the golf course industry. This saves energy, minimizes system wear and prevents water hammer by maintaining a constant pressure against variable flow.
All Rain Bird pump stations undergo rigorous quality testing and are fully water tested and calibrated to ensure the highest standards are maintained.