Algeria goes super silent

Selwood super silent pumps help improve drinking water and sewage problems in Algeria

Four of Selwood’s larger super silent pumps are in use in Algiers to help improve the drinking water and sewage problems. 


The pumps supplied consisted of a 12in S300 skid unit, two 8in S200 fast-tow units and a 6in S150 fast-tow unit. These were to a contractor of the Algerian government following the award of a three-year contract to upgrade the drinking water and sewage systems in and around Algiers city.

The design of each unit was tailored to meet the exact requirements of the customer in respect of the pumping duty required and the mobility of the pumps to allow both emergency response and remote flow control.

Algiers City has a very old infrastructure with some parts of the city having fresh drinking water for less than two hours per day with other parts having a full 24h supply. The company’s main task is to increase the quality and availability of fresh water to all citizens. On the waste water side the main sewer system dates from the late 1940s and many of the pumping stations date from the 1970s. Less than 5% of the wastewater produced is treated or screened in any way and is discharged into the local river network where it ends up flowing into the Mediterranean.

The contract involves the installation of over 500,000 water meters and the upgrade and repair of all of the 28 major pumping stations in Algiers and its suburbs. The pumps were supplied at the end of 2006 just in time for the rainy season. In fact, it coincided with some of the heaviest rain in months and the resulting floods claimed 46 lives and nearly overwhelmed the entire sewage system. Over a three-day period the pumps worked non-stop and the water level was bought down to its norm.

The Selwood models were all chosen for their reliability, speed of priming and ability to cope with large solids and high flows. Whilst the bulk of the waste water was rain water, this carried with it all the detritus and rubbish washed into the sewer system by the heavy rains including bottles, sandals, planks of wood, general sewage, rags and the obligatory plastic bags. By the time the pumps had dropped the water level, the concentration of these objects had increased but caused no problem for these solids handling units.