What a lift station is
A lift station is a sump and a pump at the end of a tile system. Tile water drains into the sump. When the water rises, the pump lifts it up to an outlet that sits higher than the tile. Without the pump, the water would have nowhere to go by gravity alone.
Lift stations are part of the drainage design when the field needs one. They are not an add-on after the fact if the outlet problem was known at the survey stage.
When a field needs a lift station
Most tile systems empty by gravity into a lower ditch or watercourse. On flat land, or where the only available outlet sits higher than the tile grade, gravity is not enough. A lift station is how that water still gets out of the field.
Whether a field needs one depends on the elevations from the survey, where a legal outlet can be, and how deep the tile has to sit. That decision is made during design, before installation.
What an outlet control structure is
An outlet control structure sits on the main or at the outlet. Inside it, stop logs or boards can be put in or taken out to hold water back in the tile system or let it run out. Raising the boards holds water. Lowering or removing them releases it.
For registered Class B tile projects in Manitoba, every outlet must have a control device that can control or stop flow out of the tile. See drainage licensing in Manitoba.
Why you would use a control structure
With the boards in, you can hold the water table higher into the growing season instead of draining the soil as far as free flow would. Before field work or harvest, you take the boards out so the field can dry. That is the basic idea behind controlled drainage: manage when water leaves, not only that it leaves.
How often you move the boards, and to what height, is up to you and the season. The structure is what makes that choice possible.
Planned as part of the design
Lift stations and control structures are sized and placed with the rest of the system: the outlet location, the mains, the laterals and the grades. We talk through whether a gravity outlet will work, whether a lift station is needed, and where the control structure sits, during the field survey and design. See tile drainage for field crops and where we work.
Getting started
Call 204 362 1129 or email ed@agritiling.com. Bring questions about your outlet and wet areas to the free field survey.
Working with Innovative Agri Tiling
- The whole job, start to finish: field survey, design, drainage permits and licensing, installation and the outlet. You deal with one point of contact throughout.
- An owner-operated company, founded in 2010. Every job runs under the management of the business owner.
- A small, steady crew: our main employee has been with the company since it started.
- A field survey and a written estimate before you commit.
- Drainage design for each field: outlet, pipe sizing and lateral spacing, matched to the soil and the crop.
- Lift stations and outlet control structures when the design calls for them. See lift stations and control structures.
- GPS-controlled installation machinery.
- We take care of the drainage permits and licensing for you: the provincial registration or licence application. See drainage licensing in Manitoba.
- Irrigation line installation as well. See irrigation line installation.