Lift Station Repair and Service in Palm Beach County

What a lift station is and who has one

A lift station is a tank with a pump inside. It moves sewage or septic effluent to a place gravity can't take it. At a house you usually see a lid in the yard and a control box with an alarm light nearby. In the Loxahatchee River District's standard layout, the pump sits in a 3-foot-diameter fiberglass wet well and the control panel carries a red alarm light.

Several kinds of property in northern Palm Beach County rely on one. Seacoast Utility Authority and the Loxahatchee River District both run low-pressure sewer systems where each home has its own grinder pump station. Seacoast's service area covers Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach, Lake Park, Juno Beach and parts of unincorporated Palm Beach County.

• Grinder pump stations on Seacoast Utility Authority low-pressure sewer systems, plus owner-side piping on Loxahatchee River District systems
• Septic pump tanks that dose a mound or pressure drainfield
• Lift dosing tanks, used when the septic tank sits too low to drain to the drainfield by gravity
• Sewage ejector pits for fixtures that can't drain by gravity
• Private lift stations serving HOAs, condo communities and commercial properties

Warning signs your pump system needs service

The high-water alarm is the obvious one. Florida's septic rules require an audible and visible high-water alarm on pump tanks, mounted where the people using the system can see it. A float near the top of the tank trips the alarm when the water reaches it.

Most problems show up before the alarm does. Pump manuals tie these symptoms to their usual causes:

• Pump runs often in short bursts: a float switch set wrong, a check valve that is missing, stuck open or leaking, or (on pressure sewer hookups) a faulty curb-stop check valve
• Pump runs but moves water slowly: a partly closed or clogged gate valve, or a blocked line
• Pump won't start: a tripped breaker or blown fuse, a blocked or failed float switch, a jammed impeller, loose wiring or a tripped thermal overload
• Alarm that keeps coming and going: heavy water use can trip it briefly, but repeated alarms mean a part could be wearing out or not working properly. Have it checked before the alarm stays on.
• Sewage odor near the tank, or slow, gurgling drains in the house: the tank may be running high or a line may be partly blocked. Grease and debris are common causes, and they also shorten pump life.
• Uneven run times between pumps on a multi-pump station: a bad pump, float or control

What to do when the high-water alarm goes off

The alarm means the water in the tank is higher than it should be. Florida's 1981 low-pressure sewer design guidelines assume about 50 gallons of reserve between the alarm float and the overflow in a home grinder unit. Yours may hold more or less. Every gallon you send down a drain uses up that margin.

When the power is out, a grinder pump can't run, so the reserve space in the tank is all you have. The Loxahatchee River District asks low-pressure sewer customers who lose power for an extended time to let no water go down drains, and to call the District at (561) 747-5708 to schedule a pump-out once the weather improves.

• Stop using water. No showers, laundry, dishwasher or flushing.
• Press the silence button if your panel has one. That quiets the horn but does not fix the problem.
• Look in your main house electrical panel for a tripped breaker labeled for the pump or alarm. If one is tripped, reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off and call. Keep the outdoor pump control panel closed. Don't touch it, or any breaker, if the panel, the ground around it or your hands are wet.
• Give it about 15 minutes. If the alarm hasn't cleared, call for service: Loxahatchee River District customers call the District at (561) 747-5708 (it maintains District pump stations at no additional charge), and everyone else calls LCI at (561) 970-9282. Don't wait if sewage is coming up in a drain or out of the tank lid. Call right away.
• Do not open the wet well lid, reach into the tank or climb in. The sewage gases inside, including hydrogen sulfide, are toxic.

What LCI does on a lift station call

LCI Plumbing & Septic is a Florida Certified Plumbing Contractor (CFC1427175). We own our vacuum pump trucks, hydro-jetters, drain cameras and excavators. That means we can pump down a full wet well, clean it, look inside the lines and dig to a buried problem without waiting on another company.

We test floats, alarms and controls, and we replace failed pumps, floats, check valves and alarms. EPA's pressure sewer fact sheet notes that most service calls on these systems trace to electrical control problems or pump blockages.

Sewage ejector pits have their own code requirements. The 2023 Florida Building Code, Plumbing calls for a check valve and a full-open valve on the discharge, both accessible, plus a gas-tight removable cover and a vent on the pit.

• Station inspections: pumps, floats, check valves, alarm and control panel
• Grinder, effluent and sewage ejector pump replacement. On guide-rail stations, the pump lifts out without disconnecting the discharge piping.
• Float switch cleaning, testing and replacement
• Check valve, curb-stop check valve and gate valve repair
• High-water alarm and control troubleshooting
• Wet well and pump tank pump-outs with our own vacuum trucks, including grease and debris removal
• Hydro-jetting and camera inspection of the gravity sewer line from the building into the station
• Excavation for buried tanks, pump chambers and pipe
• Live 24/7 dispatch at (561) 970-9282

Residential pump stations vs. HOA and commercial lift stations

At a house, who maintains the station depends on the utility. Under Seacoast Utility Authority's low-pressure sewer agreement, the homeowner owns the grinder station and is solely responsible for its operation, maintenance, repair and replacement. Seacoast also requires you to keep a maintenance and service agreement at all times with a firm that is experienced with wastewater pumping and acceptable to Seacoast. The agreement must cover regular maintenance and 24-hour emergency response and give a 24-hour toll-free contact number, and Seacoast asks for proof every year. Without one, you risk water and sewer disconnection. Seacoast's low-pressure sewer agreement runs with the title, so you have to tell buyers about it.

The Loxahatchee River District splits it differently. Under its maintenance license, the District inspects, operates, maintains and replaces the pump station as necessary, and provides maintenance service on it at no additional charge. The owner is responsible for the pipe and electrical on the property, and pays to replace the station if it is damaged through the owner's fault.

Private stations at HOAs and commercial sites fall under DEP's Chapter 62-604, which applies to public and private collection systems alike. Owners must keep an operation and maintenance manual with an emergency response plan for hurricanes and severe storms, update that plan every year, and run the system to prevent sewer overflows. Rule 62-604.500 also requires every pump station, old or new, to be operated and maintained with the emergency pumping, lightning and surge protection, and fencing and signage features set out in Rule 62-604.400. Other 62-604.400 standards, such as flood protection, are design rules for new stations.

• Emergency pumping capability. Most stations can meet it with a generator connection, portable pumping equipment or two independent utility substations. Stations that take force-main flow from other stations, or discharge through pipe 12 inches or larger, need an in-place emergency generator.
• A force-main riser with rapid-connect fittings and valving for portable pumps
• Lightning and surge protection, phase protection, and a fence or other features that keep out people and animals, plus a weather-resistant sign with an emergency contact phone number
• For new stations, and for replacements that need a permit: electrical and mechanical equipment protected from physical damage by the 100-year flood, with the station designed to stay fully operational and accessible in a 25-year flood (local conditions may allow less, but never below a 10-year flood).
• Spill reporting: spills over 1,000 gallons, or any spill that may endanger health or the environment, go to the State Watch Office at (800) 320-0519 within 24 hours, plus a public notice to DEP. Smaller spills are reported to DEP within 24 hours. A written report follows within five days.
• Before replacing a station: under Rule 62-604.600(2)(a), even a same-capacity replacement at the same location needs a DEP permit if the station doesn't meet the design requirements in 62-604.400(2)(a)-(e): emergency pumping, surge protection, odor and noise control, fencing and signage, and flood protection.

Septic pump tanks and dosing for mound and pressure drainfields

In inland septic communities like Jupiter Farms, The Acreage, Loxahatchee, Wellington and Palm Beach Country Estates, not every system drains by gravity. DEP's Septic System Owner's Guide notes that some systems need extra tanks and pumps to move partially treated sewage to the drainfield.

Florida rule 62-6.014 requires low-pressure dosing from an automatic dosing device when the required drainfield area is more than 1,000 square feet or when the system is designed for low-pressure dosing. A drainfield of 1,000 to 2,000 square feet can instead be split into two equal halves that are lift-dosed alternately. Low-pressure dosing feeds a network of 2-inch or smaller PVC with holes 1/2 inch or smaller, and those rules apply to beds and trenches, including mound and filled systems. When the septic tank sits too low for gravity flow, the rule calls for lift dosing: a pump tank lifts effluent to a header pipe or distribution box.

Pump tanks have their own construction rules under 62-6.013. The pump sits in a separate compartment or tank, and pump levels are set low enough to leave reserve space in case the pump fails. These rules used to be the Department of Health's Chapter 64E-6; Florida's septic program moved to DEP on July 1, 2021, and county health department staff still handle permits and inspections under DEP direction.

• Effluent pump and float replacement
• Alarm testing. An outdoor alarm must be waterproof and rated by the manufacturer for outdoor use.
• Pump chamber pump-outs with our own vacuum trucks
• Jetting and camera inspection of the lines between the tank, pump chamber and drainfield
• Two-pump commercial dosing systems (required over 500 gallons per day of sewage flow): checks on both pumps

How often to service a lift station or grinder pump

EPA's 2002 pressure sewer fact sheet says annual preventive maintenance is typical for grinder pumps, and estimates 4 to 10 years between unplanned repair calls for a quality installation. The schedule below comes from EPA guidance, DEP's owner guide and pump manufacturer manuals.

Don't flush wipes of any kind (including "flushable" ones), diapers, sanitary products, kitty litter or seafood shells, and don't pour grease or cooking oil down drains. Keep the station clear: Seacoast allows no trees or shrubs within 6 feet of the pump station or service line, and the Loxahatchee River District requires a 36-inch clear zone free of fencing and landscaping.

• Home grinder station: a preventive check once a year
• HOA or commercial station with two or more pumps: quarterly checks of pump wear and corrosion, float movement, check valves, run-time balance and the control panel for moisture or loose connections
• Commercial station basin: inspect and clean once a year
• Septic tank with a pump chamber: inspect and pump every 3 to 5 years
• STEP (septic tank effluent pump) systems: pump the septic tank every 2 to 3 years
• Any station: clear grease and debris as needed, before it fouls the floats