Wastewater

Working With Gravity

The Holland BPW maintains over 185 miles of sanitary sewers. Gravity does most of the work in moving the water along, but sometimes we need to pump it up to a higher elevation.

When our community’s residents and businesses are finished with water, it enters into a robust collection system where it flows mostly by gravity to the Holland area water reclamation facility. Our facility uses a natural process, accelerated by modern technology, to restore the water and return it to the environment. In fact, the final effluent pumped into Lake Macatawa is cleaner than the lake itself.

Holland BPW maintains over 185 miles of sanitary sewers. Gravity does most of the work in moving the water along, but sometimes we need to pump it up to a higher elevation at one of our 35 lift stations, so that gravity can continue working.

Each lift station features sensors that monitor equipment and water levels. When the water levels get high enough, the sensors indicate that the system needs to run. The pump then lifts the water to a higher elevation, so it can continue towards the plant.

The sensors run through BPW’s fiber network which provides constant status reports on each station. The reports inform the team of which stations require maintenance, helping to prevent sewer backups in homes and businesses.