Cutter technology on grinder pumps continues to advance
Recently, pme interviewed Randy Waldron, vice president of sales and marketing at Liberty Pumps, about issues facing the plumbing industry. Waldron began his career with Liberty Pumps in Bergen, N.Y., in 1982 with a job in the machine shop. Although he took the job as an as an interim position, he stayed with Liberty Pumps and went on to earn a degree in marketing from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He con-tinued to work his way into several different positions throughout the company. Waldron became the national sales manager in 1990 and in 2008 he was named the vice president of sales and marketing.
pme: What innovations in pump technology excite you the most? RW: The whole grinder technology in pumps has taken a big leap forward in the industry in general over the past few years. Traditionally, sewage pumps have been solids handling. They pass the waste and the solids through in whole form. Grinders actually do what the word says; they grind and chop everything into a fine slurry. Eight years ago, we introduced our V-Slice cutter technology, which we’ve patented. It’s been extremely popular, and the cutter technology has advanced. It does a much better job of cutting. Grinder technology has been a big growth area for our company, and many of our competitors have brought grinder pumps to the market. The reason that grinders are becoming more popular is that more difficult material is entering the sewer system or being flushed down the toilet. Baby wipes and floor cleaning pads can get flushed down the toilet and can easily jam a traditional solids-handling sewage pump. A grinder pump, on the other hand, grinds all that stuff up into a slurry and pumps it through without jamming.