New guy question on pump/overflow combination

I let the sparkies and tech geeks run through the programs but I establish setpoint and times since they don't have the pump and hydraulics background, they need us operators to tell them where a pump works best in its design curve and how long it should take to ramp up or down etc.
We are trying hard to get a way from paper manuals and I write online manuals that are easily configurable by the operators and maintenance staff so they can take ownership of it, its dynamic and not static so can be updated and kept current as equipment or control strategy changes. When I walk away they are proficient in its use and most I have talked to later love to play with it.

 

And you are very correct about the operators! Most operators have worked in the facility for a long time and they know how the system should work but a lot of engineers go based on theory and what they learned in school which what is in the spec usually never works correctly. IMHO your company has a valuable employee because you were on the operating end and understand how things work in the real world. You probably also understand that what works for one plant usually doesn't work for another, everything plant I have done is unique in it's own way. Probably my favorite project that I worked on was this 10 MGD RO plant in St. Augustine, FL. So many PID's were involved that watching it start up and work is just awesome to me. (It is also the largest contributor of waste water in that county!)

 

I have been on 3 RO water plants now, Oxnard CA, Goodyear AZ and Quintero AZ, very big to pretty small. They sure do have a lot of air actuator valves and make a lot of noise when in operation! My favorite was actually a more traditional plant that uses ozone for preliminary oxidation and biologically active deep bed mono-media granular activated carbon final filters. More conventional but innovative at the same time, it was the first plant in AZ to use either process.

 

Any decent overflow should handle a Mag 9.5 if not simply put the valve just about the pump to the tank thats all there is to it then if the overflow can not deal with it then cut the valve back like a faucet to decrease the volume . Any single 1" pipe overflow I ever built would never be over ran with a may 9 unless it was a hose pipe and lots of loops on the way to sump.