Introducing the Wonder Wheel
June 22nd, 2023
Field Operations Manager Reginald Gardner started calling it the "Wonder Wheel" and the term stuck.
But what's a "wonder wheel?" To get there, we'll need to take a step back and detail Loureiro's overall approach to problem solving. Call it challenging traditional industry models. Call it putting our heads together to reach unexpected solutions. Whatever you call it, it's all in the name of ingenuity - developing a better, faster, and easier approach to a project that exceeds client expectations and allows our employees to complete their work safely and efficiently. It's a process Loureiro likes to call "innovation in action."
This is a story about Loureiro's St. Louis, Missouri based team.
One of the toughest parts of Senior Technician Jim Hughes and Senior Engineer Stefan Kubian's work comes through a labor intensive task: removing pumps from wells in order to clean and re-install them.
"Lifting out the pumps is something that usually happens about twice a week at various sites," says Gardner.
The frequency of the task is necessitated by the manganese buildup on the pumps. When it's time to lift them out, Jim and Stefan were often hauling them from 80+ feet below ground.
"These wells are usually surrounded by rocks and laid out between treatment fields and roadways," Gardner says.
Standing over the edge of a well on top of a bunch of rocks while hoisting up a pump presented safety concerns and could be time consuming. On a good day, Jim and Stefan could pull a pump in about 15 minutes - but dealt with the potentially hazardous conditions, fatigue, and time constraints. Searching for a way to get these projects done safely and efficiently, Jim and Stefan put their engineering and plumbing backgrounds to use to develop a better solution.
Enter what Gardner calls the "Wonder Wheel." The device is made up of a welded tube pipe and a used tire that has been slit and fabricated to run lengths of piping down into the well. Now, instead of two people standing on the edge of a well pulling up a pump, one person pulls while the other guides the pump out of the well. This ingenious invention is a time saver, cutting the time to pull a pump out of a well down from 15 to 5 minutes with little to no effort involved.
"Jim and Stefan stepped up and delivered an innovative solution that allowed them to reduce the time required and make the job a lot safer," says Sean Crowell, Senior Vice President at Loureiro. "These guys exemplify why our clients come to us and what Loureiro is all about.”
