Sump Pump Analysis of Provo City Center Temple

Running Head: SUMP PUMP ANALYSIS 1
Sump Pump Analysis of the Provo City Center Temple
Michael Trauntvein
Brigham Young University

SUMP PUMP ANALYSIS 2
Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 3
Issue to be Resolved........................................................................................................................ 4
Scope of Project.............................................................................................................................. 5
Methodology................................................................................................................................... 5
Research ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Things to Look For...................................................................................................................... 6
Excel Spreadsheet ....................................................................................................................... 7
Findings........................................................................................................................................... 9
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 12
References..................................................................................................................................... 14

Sump Pump Analysis of the Provo City Center Temple
Introduction
I carried out my internship as a member of the Provo City Center Temple facilities
engineering team for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The Provo
City Center Temple is a building of 85,084 square feet, and it serves as a center of worship for
29 LDS stakes (upwards of 80,000 members) in the areas of Provo and Springville, Utah
(ldschurchtemples.com). My internship began April 28, 2016 and will continue to October 28,
2016. My duties as an intern include 1) learning about mechanical systems and facilities
management from the other facilities engineers, 2) contributing to the service and management
of the building, and 3) planning and carrying out special projects assigned to me by the Temple
Engineer.
The members of the facilities engineering teams that operate within LDS temples seek to
“[provide] an environment where patrons may have a positive and uplifting experience each time
they come to the temple [and maintain] temples at standards established by the First Presidency”
of the Church (Assistant Building Engineer, 2016). To accomplish this goal, Temple Engineers
develop maintenance plans for all of the facility’s main systems, which are designed to keep the
facility running at optimal conditions for the safety, security, and comfort of its patrons. As the
Provo City Center Temple is still in its first year of operation, much of the maintenance being
done on the building is preventative, though occasionally corrective maintenance is required.
Ensuring that the hot/cold water and air systems are functioning properly is one of the
engineering team’s highest priorities. Outside of these systems, we also maintain the building’s
electrical and audiovisual networks, baptismal font, outdoor fountain, and sump pumps. The
development of a maintenance plan for the sump pumps, in particular, became the focus of my
main project this summer.

Issue to be Resolved
The Provo City Center Temple is a marvel of engineering. Due to the limited size of the
above-ground portion of the temple, the designers had to expand some of its facilities downward
in order for them to fit. With the majority of its square footage located 20 to 40 feet
underground, and with Utah Lake less than 4 miles away, ground water became a major concern
during the building’s construction. The temple’s underground facilities were given a waterproof
envelope to prevent groundwater infiltration. Then, to further protect against groundwater, an
array of 15 sump pits and 3 sewage ejection pits (each equipped with two individual pump units)
was installed in the foundation. Each of these pumps covers an area of the foundation in
collecting groundwater and/or sewage and pumping it away from the building. Most of this
wastewater is ejected into the city sewer.
If any of these sump pumps were to fail or go out of commission, the result could be
disastrous for the building. Flooding, foundation cracks, and the development of mold and
mildew are all potential side effects of a failed sump pump and can cost thousands of dollars to
repair. Bearing this hazard in mind, the LDS Church’s temple department has a high interest in
the operation patterns and condition of the various pumps, which is where I came in. I started
my internship at a convenient time – one month after the temple’s dedication and opening to the
public, and just under one year after the sump pumps had been installed. The temple had
recently been having trouble with a couple pumps that were beginning to fail; therefore, the
temple department asked that the entire array be checked and a report be made outlining each of
the 38 pumps’ activity over the period of several months. This task was handed to me by the
head engineer.

Scope of Project
My assignment was to be carried out over the course of my six-month internship, and
would be instrumental to the temple department’s analysis of the sump pump array’s efficiency.
In carrying out my assignment I should accomplish the following criteria:
 Perform an analysis at least once per week, or more as the situation warrants
 Count the number of hours logged by each pump at its individual station
 Create an Excel file in which to log the hours of each pump from the beginning to the end of
the project
 Determine the increase in hours by each pump from one reading to the next and log the result
in the Excel worksheet
 Turn in a copy of the updated Excel file to the head engineer at the end of each analysis
Any considerations other than the accomplishment of the above criteria, such as the design of the
spreadsheet and when to carry out the analyses, were left up to my discretion. If I had any
questions regarding the project, I could refer to my supervisor.
Methodology
Research
Before beginning the project in earnest, I had to conduct research on the following items:
 What exactly does a sump pump do and how does it work?
 Where are the sump pumps located in the building?
 What is considered “normal” for each sump pump in terms of runtime?
To answer the question of what a sump pump is and how it works, I turned to the IMC
(International Mechanical Code). Chapter 2 of the 2015 IPC defines a sump as “a tank or pit that
receives sewage or liquid waste, located below the normal grade of the gravity system and that

must be emptied by mechanical means.” The mechanical means by which the pit is emptied is a
sump pump, which is defined in the same chapter as “an automatic water pump powered by an
electric motor for the removal of drainage, except raw sewage, from a sump, pit, or low point.”
In other words, the sump pumps are supposed to work automatically to drain waste water from
where it is collected in the sump. The 2015 IPC also lists sumps and sump pumps as appropriate
means of handling both sanitary and storm drainage in chapters 7 and 11, respectively.
To find out where the sump pumps are located within the temple, I turned to the building
plans. With the help of my supervisor I was able to acquire a copy of the building’s foundation
plan on which the sump pump locations were highlighted in red. He then took me to the location
of each sump pump station. Each station consisted of a box on the wall which detailed the
number of hours each pump had run and whether it was currently running any alarms. He
showed me that each box was connected to a set of pumps which was located under a nearby
grate in the floor. My supervisor also explained that because of the building envelope and other
drainage systems, the majority of the sump pumps are not supposed to run often or at all.
However, the three sewage ejection pumps are supposed to run up to a few hours a day,
depending on temple attendance. These larger pumps are meant to handle wastewater as it
leaves the building. In addition, all of the sump pumps are theoretically subject to operation in
the event of high water levels or a heavy rainstorm.
With preliminary research completed, I could begin to design a spreadsheet that would
make a functional report that could be passed on to the temple department.
Things to Look For
In designing the report, I had to consider which items of interest were most important to
pass on to the temple department. Each sump pump’s cumulative runtime was the temple

department’s major concern; but in order to find and rectify any issues, more in-depth analysis
would have to be done. Other items I would have to look for during the analysis included any
alarms that might be going off (indicating that the automated system has detected a problem) and
the overall physical condition of the pumps. These items would also be included in the weekly
report so the Temple Engineer, working in conjunction with the temple department, could enact
the warranty to get them repaired or replaced.
In addition to the above items, I also looked for trends in how often the sump pumps ran.
Based on the number of hours a sump pump ran each week I could determine how much it ran on
average, such that I could easily tell whether it was running more or less than average each week.
If a sump pump ran more or less than average, it could mean that there was something wrong
with the pump; therefore, I included the statistic as an item of measurement.
Excel Spreadsheet
After determining which statistics the weekly report would include, I began working on
the Excel spreadsheet that would convey the requested information to the Temple Engineer.
This proved to be the most difficult and time-consuming part of the project, as the spreadsheet
required the use of several complex functions to determine the running average of hours for each
pump, and conditional formatting for outlying numbers.
The finalized form of the spreadsheet consists of one main page (Fig. 1 on next page)
depicting a summary of the location and runtime of each sump pump (labeled SMP) and sewage
ejection pump (labeled SEP), with conditional formatting to alert the viewer to any values that lie
outside the norm. By clicking the name of each unit, the viewer is brought to another page
containing detailed information about that specific unit (Fig. 2 on next page). Each detail sheet
(there are 18 in total) contains information on every time the sump pump was checked, how

many running hours it had at the time, the increase in hours from the last check, and the average
and actual rates of increase for each unit.
Fig. 1 Summary Sheet
Fig. 2 Sewage Ejection Pump 1 Detail Sheet
In order to create the necessary functions to find the actual rate at which the sump pumps
were running, I looked online at forum posts and tutorials from other professionals who were
working on similar projects. Some of the forums I browsed include Microsoft Support, Tech
Republic, Excel Tips, and Exceljet. After reading up on the forums, I used their advice and

example functions to construct a set of functions that would work for this particular spreadsheet.
An example of the finalized Actual Rate of Increase function can be seen below.
Fig. 3 Actual Rate of Increase Function
Additionally, I used a modified form of the same function on the Summary Sheet to highlight
abnormal values, alerting the viewer to potential issues. Any value outside the precalculated
normal range for each pump would appear with red text and a yellow background.
Fig. 4 Conditional Formatting Function
Findings
Results began to return almost immediately upon implementation of the Sump Pump
Analysis on May 10, 2016. By June 15, we had found that a total of 7 out of the 38 sump pumps
and sewage ejection pumps were returning abnormal readings, the details of which are listed
below.
 SMP-18-1 – On May 14, just four days into the project, this pump, located just inside the
west foundation wall, returned an 84-hour increase since the last reading at the start of the
project, averaging to about 21 hours per day. This was a pump that normally should not run
at all. Upon closer inspection, the sump pit did have water in it. In talking with the Temple
Engineer, we recalled that it had rained heavily a few days earlier, so we reset the unit and

monitored it over the next few days. On May 20, the pump had only run for another 24
hours, and by May 24, it was no longer running at all. The unit has not run since that time,
nor has it rained heavily again; therefore, we attribute the anomaly to the heavy rain.
 SMP-17-2 – Between the dates of May 24 and May 27, this pump ran for 45 hours (or about
15 hours per day). Because of the earlier anomaly with SMP-18-1, we decided to monitor
this pump for a few days to see if the issue would resolve itself. However, by June 1, five
days later, the pump had run another 120 hours (or 24 hours per day). Upon inspection, we
found the pit empty and the unit stuck in the “on” position. When we reset the unit, it
remained in the “on” position, although the pit was empty of water. The Temple Engineer
declared the unit broken and ordered a new one. The new unit was installed the following
day, and has not run since.
 SEP2-2 – On May 24, the primary sewage ejection pump for the main building began
reporting a seal-leak on its second unit. We were lucky to have been carrying out the Sump
Pump Analysis because the alarm never came through on the automated Building
Maintenance System, and we likely would not have caught it so soon otherwise. The Temple
Engineer immediately ordered a new unit, which was replaced on June 6 when the temple
was shut down for the day. To date, pump 2 remains in lag position, but it appears to be
functioning properly.
 SMP 15-1&2 – Starting on June 13, we began to receive “high water level” alarms on these
pumps multiple times a week (see Fig. 5 on next page). As it turns out, there was nothing
wrong with these pumps; rather the problem was the cooling tower, which was located in the
same room. The cooling tower had a defective flow restrictor valve, which caused it to
periodically overfill with water and drain for hour after hour into the nearby sump pump. We

were already aware of the issue, but did not realize the magnitude until we started seeing the
readings on the sump pumps, which had been running multiple hours per day. By July 9, we
were able to get a replacement valve for the cooling tower, which resolved the problem, and
the sump pumps have not run since.
Fig. 5 SMP-15 Cooling Tower Detail Sheet
 SMP 14-1&2 – SMP-14, located just northwest of the main building, is the main sump unit,
which collects groundwater from the entire north side of the temple and dumps it into the city
sewer. As a result, it is designed to run quite often. Incidentally, it is also the unit with
which we have had the most trouble. From the start of the project on May 10, until June 15,
pump 1 ran almost 24 hours per day. As its runtime had never been measured before, we all
assumed that, because of the groundwater seepage, it was normal for this unit to run so often.
However, on June 15 we opened the sump pit and found it completely dry. The pump had
been stuck in the “on” position the whole time. We immediately reset the unit, and it began
working normally. At about the same time, pump 1 reached a preset number of hours and
automatically switched to the lag position, with pump 2 in the lead position. By June 24,

however, pump 2 had not been running. When we opened the pit again, we found that the
float on the pump had broken, such that it could not run automatically. We therefore, had to
run it by hand for an hour or so per day until the replacement unit was able to be installed on
July 14. Pump 2 is still in the lead position, and will be until it runs for another 600 hours or
so. Pump 1 is still providing problems, but as it is currently in lag and pump 2 has been
recently repaired, the issue is not as urgent as before.
Conclusion
Based on the above findings, I conclude that the Sump Pump Analysis should be an
ongoing project at the Provo City Center Temple in order to attain maximum efficiency of the
sump pump array. In the three short months that this program has been in place, defects and
issues have been found and rectified in nearly 20% of the building’s pumps. The analysis is a
simple program that, when carried out just once each week, will do much to improve and sustain
the quality of temple facilities over the long term. In addition to improving the quality of the
facility, this program will also create a healthier, safer environment for patrons, volunteers, and
employees alike by reducing the risk of flooding, water damage, and harmful mold and mildew.
By checking the sump pumps weekly, the temple will also save on energy and equipment costs
should any pumps be stuck in the “on” position and need to be reset, as we found during the
course of the project.
Furthermore, the Building Maintenance System (BMS), while an effective, automated
tool that streamlines the process of facilities management and altogether lessens the workload for
facilities managers, is not a perfect tool. We found multiple times during this project that the
BMS failed to alert us to potential hazards with SMP-14, SMP-17, and SEP2. It is useful for
monitoring complex hot water, chilled water, and air conditioning systems, to name a few; but

ironically less useful for monitoring more simple systems such as waste water removal and the
baptismal font, which is why we perform in-person analyses of the font daily. The same should
also go for the sump pump array.
The goal of facilities management is to create an optimal environment in which people
and facilities operate in harmony, safety, comfort, security, and sustainability. The Provo City
Center Temple is already well on its way to achieving that goal; but in order to continue, must
consider implementing a program to monitor and maintain its sump pump array, similar to the
project described in this report.

References
Bruns, Dave. (2016). Get Value of Last Non-empty Cell. Retrieved July 2016, from
https://exceljet.net/formula/get-value-of-last-non-empty-cell
Chapter 2 Definitions. (2015). In 2015 International Plumbing Code. Retrieved June 2016, from
http://codes.iccsafe.org/app/book/content/2015-I-
Codes/2015%20IPC%20HTML/Chapter%202.html
Chapter 7 Sanitary Drainage. (2015). In 2015 International Plumbing Code. Retrieved June
2016, from http://codes.iccsafe.org/app/book/content/2015-I-
Chapter 11 Storm Drainage. (2015). In 2015 International Plumbing Code. Retrieved June 2016,
from http://codes.iccsafe.org/app/book/content/2015-I-
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The. (2016). Assistant Building Engineer [Job
description]. Print.
Harkins, Susan. (2008, August 6). Return the Last Item in an Excel Column. Retrieved July
2016, from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/microsoft-office/return-the-last-item-in-
an-excel-column/
Satterfield, Rick. (2016, July). Provo City Center Temple. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/provocitycenter/
Using OFFSET, MATCH, and MAX to Return Last Value in Range. (2015, December 4).
Retrieved July 2016, from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/152407
Wyatt, Allen. (2014, November 1). Retrieving the Last Value in a Column. Retrieved July 2016,
from http://excel.tips.net/T002512_Retrieving_the_Last_Value_in_a_Column.html

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