Water companies, blue chip industrial companies, utilities suppliers, civil engineers, local authorities, mining and quarrying companies (and the contractors that support them), all commonly hire pump equipment and bespoke pumping solutions from pump specialists.

All of these organisations rent pumps and pumping equipment from pump specialists for a variety of reasons; and the range of pump applications can be as interesting as it can be diverse:

● Ground de-watering, fluid movement, and nuisance water removal

● Over-pumping chambers during pump station maintenance

● Clean water, sludge and slurry pumping

● Reservoir draining (e.g., as part of reservoir excavation and rebuilds)

● Emergency back-up in the event of a pumping station failure

● The pumping out of huge digester tanks during sewage works redevelopment

● Pumping during repairs and upgrades to treatment works

Which pumps are used and how many, can differ greatly depending upon the required application, with pump hire companies providing services for everything from one-off pump hire, to the design, installation and on-site management of complex schemes.

So why hire rather than buy?

An established pump hire company with the capacity to handle any type of pumping job will offer a fast, friendly and highly responsive service that includes: proven expertise in environmental issues; genuine 24/7 availability for planned and emergency support; fast surveys and advice from expert engineers with utilities experience.

Hire companies are also experienced in putting together suitable contingency plans. They will usually do a site survey and agree actions to safeguard an organisation from the consequences of a pumping system failure. What is more, as well as being the ideal emergency back-up option, rented pumps can be hired on a short contract basis, and then returned.

With most sites (treatment works, sewage works, and reservoirs, etc.,) only requiring maintenance, upgrades and draining during certain months of year, this makes hiring pumps a cost-effective alternative to purchased pumps.

Some industries (such as the water industry in particular) are dragging their heels when it comes to setting terms and conditions to accommodate pump hire. But as the benefits of hire clearly outweigh the option to buy in some instances, it is a real shame that these company’s procurement departments do not make adjustments to their contracts.