Dewatering Pump Part Compatibility, Quality & Service

PumpEng has supplied dewatering pumps and parts to this WA gold mine over several years. In this site report, we speak about that experience and why some parts that may appear the same, can perform very differently in the field. We also speak with a Pump Fitter about the work environment and pump back-up service.

Underground Gold Mine

We’re a gold mine in Western Australia, an underground operation. We provide all of the underground mining services for the mine.

Preferred Pump Parts

Primarily we’ve got all of the parts set up with PumpEng, but every now and then our inventory team will review what we’ve got catalogued. They might select something different on the basis of cost. I don’t really get too much of a say in what we get to stock and what we don’t. But I can tell you that our pump crew definitely prefer the PumpEng parts.

We find that it’s always best to use the parts from PumpEng because they’re compatible and last longer.  We’ve actually had our pump crew ask us to stop buying from other companies because they prefer to use the PumpEng parts. They’re definitely a favourite with the crew.

No Compatibility Issues

Sometimes other suppliers will give us parts that are technically compatible with the kind of pump we use. We find that there are slight differences between the quality of PumpEng parts over those supplied by their competitors. Even though they appear to be only small differences, they end up being important ones.

Better Mechanical Seal Quality

I can give you an example relating to the 8-kilowatt or 20-kilowatt pump repair kits we buy from PumpEng. The mechanical seals in them are much better. They’re much easier to apply. They last a lot longer. This is why the pump crew always specifically request PumpEng parts when they’re putting orders through to us.

Better Customer Service

As a company, they are always looking at how to make the process a little bit easier for us.

PumpEng Have Our Back

I’d absolutely recommend PumpEng. We’ve been with them for several years, and I think that there’s a good reason for that. There are a lot of different suppliers out there on the market. I get lots of visits from them. They’re all coming in and trying to give me the old pitch and tell me their parts are cheaper, and their service is better. We stick with PumpEng because of the quality of pump parts and standard of service. If anything goes pear-shaped, we know that they’ve got our back.

It’s All To Do With Backup

This is an interview we talk with a recent Pump Fitter at this site. This discussion covers the pumps on-site, the pumping environment and his experience with backup and support for those pumps.

Dewatering

I’ve been working as a pump fitter. In that role, I was responsible for all the underground pumping equipment. We were running the 8 and 20-kilowatt pumps. PumpEng supplies the majority of the pumps on this site. There was other machinery or tooling that needed to be done for them in the underground work environment, like cable tensioners and diaphragm pumps.

Salty Water

It’s a tough environment for pumps because the water is very salty on the site. It is seven times saltier than seawater. The pumps are also sucking up mud or small rock particles with that water.

Pump Customer Service

I found the PumpEng customer service really good. Our PumpEng guy helped a lot.

Backup

If you are thinking of switching over to PumpEng I’d say, “It’s all to do with the backup. I think PumpEng supplied a good backup service. In general, everything is available, and they do their utmost to get parts to you when you need them. We have had a good experience working with them.”

Read more:

• PumpEng Dewatering Pumps