Part of the golf course reconstruction will be to update our backup well water pump controls… and this is why. Yesterday morning the guys turned on the backup well pumps, which run on pre-WWII technology, and ruptured this 6” PVC fitting from the large motors turning on full blast and sending out a significant water hammer effect. Water hammer is when the velocity of water inside the pipes suddenly slams up against a stationary object, like a closed valve or water not already moving. It’s like when you turn the water faucet off really quickly at your house and you can kind of hear the clunk in the wall. The clunk is caused by the pipes actually moving due to the velocity of the water inside the pipe still having momentum, but nowhere to go. The water shutters the pipes. That’s what caused this rather large split down the side.
The new controls for the well pump motors manipulate the frequency of electricity to start the 50 HP motor at 10 Hp and slowly ramp up the required HP to avoid this ☝️sort of water hammer pipe damage.
