Sterling A0552321 User Manual

Pump Tanks 

Chapter 4: Operation 

16 of 36 

 

 

1.  Close the drain line at the bottom of the pump tank. 

2.  Open the 1” makeup water valve and allow the tank to fill until the automatic float 

valve shuts off. Adjust the float level so the standing water level is 16” from the top 
of the tank, 12” on 150 Series pump tanks. Some tower systems may require a lower 
level to allow for drawback from the cooling towers. 

3.  Check all wiring integrity, field installed controls and voltage. 

4.  Verify pump motor rotation: should be clockwise from the motor end. 

5.  Open all pump suction valves fully and lock down. 

6.  If the process piping is not full of water, close the discharge valves of a process pump 

and start that pump. Open the discharge valve very slowly to fill the system. Do this 
very slowly to prevent the piping from shaking resulting in possible breakage. When 
piping is full, the discharge valve can be left fully open, if the pump is a non-
overloading pump. Follow the same procedure for the other process pumps. 

7.  Repeat step 6 for re-circulating pumps. Leave pump discharge valve(s) fully open. 

Throttle the valves for proper flow and pressure drop. Lock down and mark valve(s) 
when complete. (On metal towers, throttle the pump for the flow rate and balance the 
valves on the hot basin(s) for proper depth.) 

1.  Close the gauge cock leading to the pump suction side, and open the gauge cock 

leading to the pump discharge. 

2.  Start the pump and make note of the discharge pressure in psi (kPa/bars). 

3.  Check the pump curve (See page 25) for the appropriate sample curve discharge 

pressure in psi (kPa/bars). 

4.  Project this point down to find the flow in gpm (lpm).