Sykes Pump Hire Archives

How to prepare for and manage indoor and outdoor floods?

Posted Date 26/01/2024

Flooding can occur both indoors and outdoors for a variety of reasons. Indoor flooding is often caused by leaks in the roof, pipes bursting, appliance overflows and other water system failures. Outdoor flooding happens most often when heavy rains overwhelm drainage systems and cause nearby rivers, lakes, or the ocean to overflow onto the land. With a reliable pump hire, it can eliminate any damage or any hindrance to everyday business.

What to do when your office or facility leaks/floods?

If you experience flooding in your office or facility, it’s important to act quickly to minimise damage. The first priority should be safety – evacuate any flooded areas and do not enter standing water where live electrical wires may be submerged. Try to stop the water source if possible, by shutting off valves, unblocking drains, etc. Move furniture, electronics, files and valuables out of the flooded area so they are not damaged. Contact maintenance staff if the leak is inside the building, or the city public works department for exterior flooding. Report any serious flooding to your insurance provider promptly.

The late shift: Our pumps work while the city sleeps

Posted Date 18/12/2023

As a facilities management provider relying on a steady stream of water tankers, our customer required an automated pumping solution to transfer delivered waste from drop-off skips up into the main holding tanks. With trucks arriving day and night to service the community, an set-and-forget solution was needed.

A customer who manages waste collection and transportation for a network of commercial and residential buildings. Water tankers visit the centralised depot to dispose of hauled waste in on-site skip bins which then feed into the primary storage tanks.

Sykes Pumps help leading university with construction project

Posted Date 24/03/2022

When one of West Sussex’s leading universities had plans to develop a new engineering and technological facility, Sykes Pumps was on hand to provide a temporary over-pumping solution to help facilitate the project.

The scheme in question was taking place on a live university campus so required an immediate pump hire solution to assist with a sewer diversion while a section of the existing sewer mains was being replaced.

After assessing the site, our specialists recommended the installation of two 8” electric submersible pumps. The pumps were able to over-pump the sewage from the manholes to a section of the mains approximately 80 metres away in each location, enabling the segment in between to be removed.

Sykes Pumps provides emergency pumping solution for house building contractor

Posted Date 16/02/2022

At Sykes Pumps, we’re used to receiving last-minute callouts. Our ability to handle projects at short notice is the reason so many customers know they can rely on us when things go wrong. So, when East Sussex based house-building contractor required us to supply an urgent pumping rental scheme, they contacted us at the eleventh hour.

The customer in question was about to close its site for the Christmas period when a situation arose that required immediate attention.

Sykes Pumps was asked to provide equipment to prevent water levels from rising too high during an excavation job. The ramifications of failing to address the issue included the possibility of nearby residents suffering flooding. It was therefore essential that we moved quickly!

Swift pump hire ensures sewage treatment maintenance project is completed months ahead of schedule

Posted Date 01/02/2022

When one of the country’s largest sewage treatment plants reported an issue with their fixed pumps, they knew that Sykes Pumps could provide a suitable replacement pump hire package while the original units were repaired off site.

Two of the customer’s pumps were therefore taken offline, and we had to propose a solution that would also facilitate the repair of a valve which was crucial in staving sewage effluent and preventing overflowing.

It was decided that deploying six 6” submersible pumps in the overflow chamber and having a seventh on standby would be sufficient for over-pumping a flow of 1,200 litres of sewage per second. Positioning our pumps inside the chamber could have proved a real challenge but any potential difficulties were overcome by using the cranes on our Hiab lorries.

Sykes Pumps assists construction of replacement railway bridge

Posted Date 06/12/2021

The rebuilding of a railway bridge in Bristol was dependent upon the availability of a reliable pump hire solution. Our client requested an arrangement that would permit the removal of groundwater at multiple locations and allow construction workers to proceed with an upgrade project costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

As the contractor was required to complete the project within a relatively short space of time, the urgency of the initial enquiry meant we had to act quickly and efficiently to deploy multiple pumps just hours after the call.

Sykes Pumps aids Cumbria pipeline installation

Posted Date 23/11/2021

A Keswick-based contractor sought a tailored pump hire solution for the purpose of transporting water during an underwater tunnelling job, prompting them to contact Sykes Pumps. The proposed hire would allow the contractor to successfully proceed with the installation of a new pipeline that was being constructed to allow the transfer of water within Cumbria and back to a primary reservoir.

As the contractor’s site was experiencing a severe issue with run-off water, the scope for larger problems further down the line could have potentially stalled the entire development.

Sykes Pumps provides dewatering solution for water main project

Posted Date 27/02/2020

Seeking a bespoke solution to assist the construction of a major new water supply, a well-known contractor based in Cumbria contacted Sykes Pumps for a high capacity dewatering operation.

As the project involved the construction of a twin 30km pipeline to enable unaided flow between a reservoir and a new water treatment centre, the client sought an effective and reliable pump hire arrangement that could be managed by their site team.

Jonathan King said: “The client contacted us with the idea of creating wells along the route of their excavation where we could locate pumps to dewater below the excavation depth. It was an unusual proposal but the proximity of natural water courses and seasonal rain levels in Cumbria meant that dewatering the area was a significant challenge.

Sykes Pumps responds to burst water main in Kent

Posted Date 07/02/2020

When a burst water main in Kent threatened to impede road users at a busy roundabout junction, a major water contractor responded quickly to address the issue.

The problem intensified with every passing minute and led to significant volumes of water creating puddles and subsequent disruption caused by the need for traffic to be diverted away from the area in question.

With immediate action required, the contractor chose to use one of our Rapid Response pumps which was on standby at their local yard. Our client retains the pump on a long-term hire, with its ability to be legally towed by any medium-sized vehicle enabling customer sites to be reached within minutes of a callout.

Sykes Pumps responds to sea life centre breakdown

Posted Date 29/10/2019

When sea life conservationists contacted Sykes Pumps regarding the installation of an emergency solution that would protect sharks, penguins, seals and other marine mammals, we reacted quickly to ensure the requirement reached a desirable outcome.

Reflecting on the issue, a spokesperson for the client explained: “Our reservoir is business critical because it supplies water to all our sea water habitats, and we need to maintain supply levels to ensure the health and wellbeing of our sea creatures.” The breakdown of our customer’s existing pump prevented their aquarium’s underground reservoir from being topped up with sea water – a vital provision as far as aquatic welfare is concerned.