Ladders at Water and Wastewater Plants

Ladders at Water and Wastewater Plants

A water or wastewater plant is a wet concrete campus with chemical rooms, clarifier walls and basin railings, and almost every ladder on site is fiberglass for a reason. Aluminum conducts, corrodes and gets condemned after a few years of washdown.

Why Fiberglass, Not Aluminum

Plant work mixes water, chlorine, caustic, polymer and electrical equipment in the same buildings. Aluminum is a conductor, and even where the work is not electrical, washdown water carries enough dissolved solids to attack an aluminum ladder at every joint.

Our Louisville Type IA fiberglass stepladder at $159.87 in the 6 foot size is the ladder most plant maintenance crews standardize on for chemical rooms and pump rooms.

Fiberglass also does not spark, which matters in a chlorine or methane environment more than the price difference ever will.

Clarifiers and Basin Walls

A clarifier wall is four to six feet of concrete with a railing on top, and the work happens at the weir, the scum trough and the drive. That is a platform job, not a ladder job, because a tech needs both hands at the water line.

A rolling unit on the deck beside the wall works where there is room, and a plank across the wall works where there is not. Set the plank on the concrete, never on the handrail.

For the wall itself, our Louisville fiberglass extension ladder at $332.85 in the 20 foot size reaches basin walls and the top of a digester cover without a metal ladder anywhere near the water.

Two-Man Work on Pumps and Valves

Pump rooms are tight, and pulling a vertical pump often takes two techs on the same valve. A Louisville twin stepladder at $258.85 in the 6 foot size lets both work from the same footprint without stacking two ladders in a doorway.

Keep the fiberglass dry before climbing. A wet fiberglass rung is slicker than a wet aluminum one, so a towel at the bottom of the ladder is part of the routine.

Confined Space Is Not a Ladder Job

Wet wells, digesters and vaults are permit-required confined spaces, and a portable ladder in one is not the same thing as a confined space entry. Those entries need a tripod, a winch and an attendant, which is a separate purchase from anything on a maintenance truck.

The ladders in this article are for working at height above grade. Say so plainly in the JSA and keep the two categories separate.

Outfitting a Plant Crew

Most plants standardize on a 6 foot and an 8 foot fiberglass stepladder, one 20 foot fiberglass extension ladder, a twin stepladder for pump rooms and a short rolling unit for clarifier decks.

Tell us the basin wall height and the chemicals in the room and we will put the list together.

Everything ships from 5030 Dexham Rd. Ste. 103 in Rowlett, TX, and local crews can pick up the same day. Call 972-331-1090 and we will tell you what is on the floor right now.