Sandfields Pumping Station - pump rods

Image: © Chris Allen Taken: 28 Feb 2020

This Cornish beam engine was the fourth engine on site and built in an 1873 extension. It came out of service in 1924 but remains preserved, currently by the Lichfield Waterworks Trust that is in the building with the permission of Persimmon Homes. This shows the pump rods on the 'outdoor' half of the beam. The rod closest to the camera on the right operated a pump for charging the air vessel with compressed air. This became disused c1905 when it was replaced with a Westinghouse compressor. The rod to its right near the right hand edge operated the boiler feed pump that took condensate from the air-pump's hot-well. In the centre is the air-pump operating rod. On the left is the main pump that incorporates a fluted balance weight box between the pump rod and the pump plunger below. This weight provided the power to pump the water against a head of 355' at a rate of 2 million gallons/day. The Trust has confirmed that the weights had previously been removed from the fluted weight box and that it is now empty.

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