Permanent Groundwater Dewatering at Santa Clara University

The original open-bottom sump was replaced with a solid sump and sump pumps to discharge storm water to the sanitary sewer. The wells use off-the-shelf variable-speed pumps and controllers. The controllers communicate over standard power cable to variable frequency drives that are contained in the submersible pump motors. Together with pressure transducers, the controllers maintain constant groundwater levels just below the bottom of the storm-water sump. Groundwater is discharged under permit to the storm drain.