Ancient pumping technology is ‘cool’ for Macomb County Public Works agency

Ancient pumping technology is ‘cool’ for Macomb County Public Works agency

Jameson Cook

The Macomb County Public Works Department will continue to use 2,500-year-old technology to ensure residents in the St. Clair Shores area can continue to flush freely and avoid basement flooding and occasional nasty odors for years to come.

Public Works is replacing four 45-year-old “giant screws” — also known as the “Archimedes screw” — that carry sewage over 30 feet upward from one pipe to another along with the motors that run them, as well as swapping out or adding other related equipment at the Bon Heur Pump Station, including an odor-control device.

“Like every piece of infrastructure, it needs to be upgraded. We looked at a bunch of different options and decided that even though this is sort of old technology, it works perfectly,” Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller said. “They’re very cool. They look like giant screws.”

The department is using technology that dates back to the ancient Greeks and

Egyptians. Also known as the “water screw, Egyptian screw and the hydrodynamic screw … , it is often credited to the 3rd-century Greek mathematician and inventor, Archimedes of Syracuse, (but) there’s evidence that screw pumps were in use centuries earlier, in both Egypt and Assyria. In fact, some scholars theorise that screw pumps were used as irrigation tools as early as the 7th century BC,” said Harry Sherrin, an assistant editor at historyhit.com.

Public Works Operations Manager Vince Astorino said Wednesday during a tour of the facility that the motors that run the screws are wearing out and need to be replaced before they no longer work properly.

“It’s more been the motors,” Astorino said during a tour of the facility. “We are constantly working on the motors, replacing parts. It’s getting worse over time.

“We’re getting ahead of it. Everything was working. It was getting to the end of its useful life.”

The existing screws appear to be getting rusty, but Astorino said they are mostly maintenance-free.

Bon Heur, located on Harper between 10 and 11 Mile roads, serves St. Clair Shores and part of Roseville, officials said.

Miller added that the $8.7 million cost is being paid with American Rescue Plan Act funds from the $40 million that Public Works received of the county’s nearly $170 million allocation.

“There’s no need to raise water and sewer rates in the area,” Miller said. “That’s not to say water and sewer rates will never be raised but not because of this.”

The work is being performed by Lee Contracting and an engineering firm, overseen by Public Works staff, officials said.

The screws, located deep underground, weigh over eight tons each and range from 6-1-/2 feet wide to close to 11 feet wide. They operate vertically at an angle to transport sewage from a north-south pipe under Harper Avenue to an east-west line that moves it south for the Great Lakes Water Authority in Detroit for treatment before release.

Also being replaced are slide gates, electrical control equipment, a standby generator and a “jib crane,” according to Public Works. Additions include an upstream flow meter, an epoxy lining of “discharge chamber concrete surfaces” and an odor control system, officials said. The odor control system, which “cleans” the air as it exits the facility, will eliminate odors that sometimes emanate from the facility, Astorino said. The screws are being replaced one at a time so three of the pumps are always in operation, which is standard practice, Astorino said. The first pump was removed in September, and the new pump is set to arrive next Wednesday, officials said.

The capacity will be increased from 40,000 to 50,000 gallons per minute, he said, pointing out that the new emergency generator is more powerful.

Initial work on the project began about a year ago, while on-site efforts commenced about six months ago, Astorino said. The completion date is about a year from now.