For High-Rise and other commercial buildings, the city water supply pressure isn’t sufficient. Whether it’s the building height, size, specialty applications, or a combination of all three, these buildings will require Pressure Boosting Systems to operate properly.
The primary purpose of a Pressure Boosting System is to maintain constant pressure in the building across the demand load profile. In most cases, the pumps will use the city pressure and boost up to the needs of the building. However, in Houston, we have a code requirement to use atmospheric tanks before the pumps, which adds to the scope of the system. The booster system will provide all the potable water to the building for restrooms, kitchens, hose bibs, etc, as well as makeup to the mechanical loops and Cooling Tower.
Pressure Boosting Systems, like the Hydro MPCE from Grundfos, are comprised of a Control Panel, Multiple Vertical Multi-Stage Pumps, suction & discharge headers, and all necessary sensors.
Pressure Boosting Systems have evolved over the years from a few large, constant speed pumps to multiple, smaller pumps with variable frequency drives. Upgrading an existing building from an old system to a new system can achieve energy savings as much as 60-90%! Here is an example of a hospital in the Texas Medical Center where we upgraded an outdated system to a new Grundfos Hydro MPCE with estimated annual savings of over 800,000 kWh, ~85%!
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