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The pump version of hare versus tortoise: Tortoise convincing winner.

Slow-running, high performance Wangen pumps offer outstanding, dedicated wastewater management solutions thanks to low life-cycle costs and some of the most advanced engineering in the world.

These pumps could provide some much-needed answers for the increasing number of under-pressure New Zealand cities whose ageing wastewater infrastructures are now reaching the end of their lives. Already deployed very successfully in one major city, Wangen delivers a much more cost-effective and enduring solution compared to the all-too-common, and ultimately very expensive, fallbacks of short-term repairs or the relatively short-life options of competing pump brands.

Sourced from Germany by innovative New Zealand company Prime Pump, hard-wearing Wangen progressive cavity pumps are already very well-established in Europe. But far-sighted locals are also catching on. That’s according to Ben Petrie, Prime Pump key account manager. “Once clients have tried Wangen, they’ll never go back.”
His view is backed-up by users in other industries such as the agricultural effluent sector.

One key client says almost as soon as Prime Pump brought Wangen into New Zealand, he thought it was worth a look. And it’s more than rewarded his confidence. In two years, his company has seen some “fairly catastrophic” failings with other pumps of the same age, but none with German-engineered Wangen.

“The whole Wangen design is better,” He says highlighting the durable Cardan universal joint, in particular.

“They’re a really nice pump. And being slower running is a real advantage. It’s quiet, performs very well and it’s just logical that anything running slower will last longer.”

There is a very solid history behind Wangen’s success. Wangen Pumpen, which manufactures the pumps in the historic German city of the same name, located on the Bodensee, was founded in 1969. The region has a legacy of manufacturing that goes back to the Middle Ages and Wangen, as a company, has continued that venerable tradition. At the same time, it’s driven by a desire for continual improvement, extreme precision, resilience, and a dedication to ensuring long life in all its products.

Prime Pump are committed to travelling the world to find the best quality pumps, designed and manufactured to suit New Zealand conditions, and they back them up with guarantees and service. They say Wangen has more than met their expectations, not least because of its extreme hardiness. (There are well-documented examples of pumps running intervention-free for over three decades. One Wangen pump owned by an Austrian client, Mr Maier, has run for 35 years, without the need for repairs.)

The extended life of Wangen pumps comes from some significant design advantages over and above others in the market.

One of those keys to the Wangen pumps’ performance is the Cardan joint; a critical design feature. This universal joint-like system is superior to the conventional pin joint. The pin joint wears, often rapidly, resulting in characteristic “sloppiness” and ultimately the need for regular replacement. In contrast, the Cardan joint operates smoothly and seamlessly, lasting the lifetime of the pump. The design, which has the same diameter as the rotor ahead also avoids constraint in the flow, and the problem of settling, which effectively removes the issues related to fibres becoming wrapped around the shaft.

A one-piece cartridge mechanical seal, filled with oil, rather than a traditional two-piece mechanical seal, is also far easier and quicker to fit while the oil, again, helps extend the life of the seal.

An extra bearing housing between the gearbox and pump adds additional rigour to the structure and supports reliable performance.

The system also enables councils to customise to meet individual requirements thanks to the pumps' ingenious modular construction and a wide range of standardised components. Available for all Wangen series pumps, this makes customising pumps to meet individual needs and environments, if not straight forward - entirely possible.