Dumas Pumping Service employees used to struggle vacuuming out deep lift stations, vaults at wastewater treatment plants and other jobs that required long, vertical hose runs.

But that changed dramatically after the company invested in a Power Booster from Pressure Lift Corp., a vacuum-assisted pumping nozzle that significantly amps up vacuum power, says Jason Purcell, shop foreman at the company owned by his parents, Ray and Stephanie Purcell.

The company pumps out septic tanks and cleans sewers and related municipal infrastructure. It’s based in Dumas, a small town about 40 miles north of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.

The Power Booster lived up to its billing the first time the company deployed it about a decade ago to clean a 35-foot-deep vault at a wastewater treatment plant. The vault was packed with sludge and the company’s vacuum truck was struggling to remove it despite being equipped with two 500 cfm vacuum pumps, Purcell says.

“When you get that far down, you lose head pressure and the vacuum can’t pull up the sludge,” he says.

But things changed after attaching the Power Booster to the end of the vacuum hose and using an air hose to connect the device to the truck’s trailer service air valve. About 30 minutes later, the truck had pumped out thousands of gallons of sludge.

Going deep

The Power Booster also helps employees more easily clean sludge from 35-foot-deep lift stations, Purcell says.

“Our trucks used to quit pulling on jobs like that,” he says. “The sludge in those lift stations is about the consistency of toothpaste — it’s pretty thick. But with the Power Booster, we can remove about 1,500 gallons of sludge in about 30 to 45 minutes. It’s pretty impressive. It makes our jobs a lot easier, for sure.”

Purcell admits he was somewhat skeptical when the company purchased the first Power Booster.

“It made sense to me that it would work,” he recalls. “But I wasn’t sure if the trucks would be able to keep up with the air [pressure] required to operate it. But it hasn’t been an issue at all.”

Purcell says the company’s two vacuum trucks are equipped with trailer service air. But since the trucks don’t tow trailers, the trailer service air valve is available to provide air pressure for the Power Booster.

User-friendly device

Contractors can run the Power Booster with air pressure from a truck’s air-brake system. They can also use a trailer-mounted air compressor (160 to 180 cfm) or even water pressure, using a pressure washer or a water jetter. The device is equipped with a male camlock fitting on each end and attaches to hoses in seconds.

“It’s very easy to use,” Purcell says. “You just hook it up to the end of the vacuum hose, plug in the air line that feeds it and you’re good to go in a matter of minutes.”

When properly hooked up (either at the end of a vacuum hose or in-line), the device can pump a variety of materials — wastewater and drilling mud to heavy sludges and oils, for example — from depths or distances up to 300 feet, according to manufacturer Pressure Lift.

The specially designed nozzle uses the principles of vacuum pumps and air pressure to seamlessly convey fluids. Made in the United States, the unit can also be used in reverse to agitate thick liquids prior to pumping.

Dumas Pumping Service owns 3-inch-diameter Power Boosters. They also come in 2-, 4-, 6- and 8-inch-diameter models. The 3-inch model is about a foot long, weighs about 12 pounds and is made out of lightweight aluminum for easier handling. It contains no moving parts, which adds to its durability.

Valuable tool

Over the years, Dumas Pumping Service has found other ways to utilize the Power Booster, including cleaning out clarifiers at wastewater treatment plants.

“It’s almost like trying to pump mud,” Purcell says. “It took us about two days to pump out about 50,000 gallons of sludge and grease — a little bit of everything. Without the Power Boosters, there’s no way we could pull stuff that thick.”

The company even has used the device to clean out 50- to 60-foot-deep grain elevator “legs,” filled with water-soaked corn kernels, to allow the owners to perform routine maintenance.

“It’s a really nasty mess, but we’ve sucked out a bunch of those, too,” Purcell says. “That’s about the deepest we’ve ever gone while using the Power Boosters.”

The bottom line: The company owns two Power Boosters, which sell for about $2,500. And the units have boosted revenue and profitability by enabling the business to do jobs it otherwise couldn’t tackle.

“Without the Power Boosters, we wouldn’t be able to help out some of our customers,” Purcell says. “We’d have to pack up and go on down the road. They’re definitely worth every penny.”