Pump overhaul preserves historical pumping station

Water and pumps are inherently linked to the Netherlands. Our country has a rich tradition in the fight against flooding and the construction of polders with their own pumping stations. The diesel pumping station J. Leegwater is located in Alkmaar, a cultural city located close to Amsterdam. This pumping station had been active from 1913 to 1988, but now functions only as working museum with the pumping equipment kept running through the help of volunteers. Recently this historical pumping facility threatened to become inoperative, presenting a very interesting pump overhaul job for our service technician Cor Wams.

Diesel pumping station with a unique story 

The best hidden monument in Alkmaar lies between the modern houses; the picturesque J. Leegwater pumping station. The name pays tribute to the Leegwater family, who for three generations worked passionately on the pumping station. The pumping station has a centrifugal pump with a capacity of 33 m³/min and bears the name of the Werkspoor brand (this was the largest machine factory in the Netherlands during the 1850s). This pump is powered by a MAN single-cylinder diesel engine with an output of around 25 hp. The engine with the construction number 320 comes from a series on which the inventor Rudolf Diesel had personally worked on. The centrifugal pump is supported by a Stork cooling water pump and a Jaffa vacuum pump that, according to the son of the last operator, was last overhauled in 1968.

Authentic pumps from 1913 

The BBA Pumps service team was introduced to the Adapt foundation by Theo van Velzen, a large wellpoint dewatering customer and also a sponsor of the pumping station. The Adapt foundation is committed to the redevelopment of the cultural heritage in Alkmaar. The J. Leegwater pumping station is also covered by this initiative and now needed help. After so many years of loyal service, the two auxiliary pumps required an overhaul. Something had to be done quickly in order to keep the pumping station running. Our service technician Cor was challenged with the task of overhauling the old Stork cooling water pump and the Jaffa vacuum pump from 1913 while retaining their authentic appearance.

Century old pump technology requires real craftsmanship 

Cor, with so many years of experience as a pump service technician at BBA Pumps, is highly trusted and can find a solution to any problem. This is still the case even when the work involves pumps that are more than a hundred years old. In this case the pumps were completely disassembled, cleaned, reworked and provided with a fresh coat of paint. Cor had to make some of the parts himself, but that just made the work even more interesting.

"How the pumps were put together shows what great engineering they were capable of back in those days, they could manufacture with real quality and the fact is that many pumps still look exactly the same today in terms of design!" said Cor Wams.
 
The auxiliary pumps are, in a manner of speaking, restored back to their original condition and can certainly last for many more years! This is another great example of how our service team specializes in overhauling pumps.