Local pumps manufacturer Werner Pumps completed a project in September for a mine using its Impi Combination Unit, which is mounted on a Toyota Hino 500 2836 6 × 4 Chassis.

The project was completed within deadline and entailed sucking sludge from a sludge dam.

The company is readying itself to service municipalities’ stormwater pipelines using the unit for the expected rains in summer, adds Werner Pumps MD Sebastian Werner.

Additionally, the company introduced the Impi Combination Unit as a rental fleet to help with clean-up operations following the KwaZulu-Natal floods earlier this year.

“We had great success with our unit in KwaZulu-Natal. Our Impi Combination Unit outperformed our competitor’s unit, which is evident in our having received an order to manufacture another unit for one of our clients shortly after it was introduced in KwaZulu-Natal,” Werner enthuses.

The unit offers a tilting 12 500 ℓ, 304 stainless steel tank, with a hydraulically-driven high-pressure pump capacity of 295 ℓ/min at 135 bar, and a vacuum pump with 1 700 m3/h suction capability.

The high-pressure pump is fitted with a pneumatically operated regulating valve, making infinite pressure adjustment possible, thus increasing the safety of the operator during use.

Despite the company being based in Springs, Gauteng, Werner says the successful delivery of the rental unit to KwaZulu-Natal can be attributed to the company’s having worked with the client in advance on strategic planning and scheduling.

Werner Pumps has also used its Impi Combination Unit rental fleet for a sewer and stormwater line project, as well as for other projects requiring vacuuming and jetting.

Werner describes the performance of the Impi Combination Unit rental fleet on site as “exceptionally good”, as it has led to more orders, with more units being manufactured.

“We want to maintain our position in the market, where we are regarded as one of the leaders in the industry and one of the preferred suppliers for rentals and manufacturing.”

Further, Werner Pumps launched its Mammoth Megavac suction truck in March for the suctioning of dry bulk material, such as ash or cement, or for wet slurry with high-density iron-ore and platinum slag at mines.

“It has a vastly superior filtration system, with filter socks to make the suctioning of these products more efficient and quicker with its 3 900 m3/h at 90% vacuum capability. “The unit is also fitted with a fully remote control and a 360°, six-inch suction boom, which helps to place the suction hose in an easily accessible place.”

The remote control helps the operator to be present at the site of suctioning work, which enables the operator to see what is being done. This makes it safer than operating the machine from a distance, as operators can be up to 120 m away from the machine.

Werner concludes that Ekurhuleni Fire Department has acquired the Mammoth Megavac Suction Truck for use in accidental spillages and suctioning of sand should there be excavation of miners or people that have accidentally been buried, with Werner Pumps including the operator training on the units.