Infrastructure · 2025

Obsolete drive platform migrated across a single shutdown window

Pumping station drives had reached end of support, with no spares available and a control platform that could not be extended. The site could only be taken offline for 36 hours.

Client: Regional water utility
Region: United Kingdom
Sector: Infrastructure
Service: Custom Solutions

Drives replaced: 6Drives replaced
Outage window: 36 hrsOutage window
Returned early: 7 hrsReturned early

Challenge

Pumping station drives had reached end of support, with no spares available and a control platform that could not be extended. The site could only be taken offline for 36 hours.

Solution

We specified replacement drives that fitted the existing panel footprint and cable routes, supplied pre-configured with the station parameters, and staged the delivery so the panel modifications could be pre-fabricated before the outage.

Result

All six drives were replaced and commissioned within the outage window, with parameter sets loaded before delivery. The station returned to automatic control 7 hours ahead of the plan.

Constraint-led specification

The deciding factor was not drive performance but physical fit. Panel space, existing gland plates and cable lengths determined what could be installed within the outage, so those constraints were surveyed before any product was selected.

Configuration before delivery

Each drive was supplied with the station parameter set already loaded and verified, removing the single largest source of commissioning delay on a job of this type.

Staged delivery

Panel modification components arrived ahead of the drives so fabrication work could be completed in advance, leaving only mechanical replacement and commissioning inside the outage itself.

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Next step

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