Submersible Dewatering Pump Control in Underground Mining

This month, we're focusing on safer electrical work in underground mining.

The issue we're seeing:

Pacific Automation have been supplying electrical safety products to underground mining operations across Australia for many years, from gold mines in Western Australia and New South Wales, to copper mines in Queensland.

As all electrical engineers and electricians know, electrical safety is essential and live electrical work is prohibited across Australia.

As an example of this, take pump control for underground dewatering applications.

Dewatering pump controllers prevalent throughout the industry often don't have external set buttons.

This means settings such as snore timings can't be adjusted without opening up the switchboard and working directly on the live pump starters.

Our goal is to help operators modernise their safe working practices for underground dewatering pump control.

Intelligent dewatering pump control for electric submersible pumps

We've seen some operators bolt on current relays and timer switches to their setup in an attempt to circumvent the requirement for a dedicated pump controller.

While this can work, it's the long way around, and it's not very efficient.

The main solution we're championing to underground dewatering operators is the SC10 - an intelligent pump controller from 2iB.

Designed and built in Australia by industrial electronics company 2iB, the SC10 is ideal for controlling underground submersible dewatering pumps.

The SC10 is our product of the month for November/December. We're highlighting the many features and benefits through a series of videos, blogs, datasheets, and product demonstrations.Two main features make it one of the safest solutions available.

Firstly, the SC10 has inputs for an external set button.


This negates the requirement for operators to open a live electrical panel to run the pump, or to adjust settings such as the snore/stop current.

We highly recommend that you fit a padlock cover over these external set buttons after initial set-up.

 With a robust lockout/tagout procedure in place, this can help to eliminate the common issue where an operator manually runs a pump to remove water, then gets distracted and walks away, leaving the pump on to burn out.

The second main safety feature comes from the intentional absence of any manual bypass. Operators cannot run the pump dry.

Combined with self-adaptive snore timing, it'll cut down on both your operating and maintenance costs.

If your operations are a little more complex, you can utilise the RS485 port on the SC10.

It uses MODBUS RTU, which'll let you set up remote operation and supervision via HMI, SCADA or PLC. This way you can monitor parameters, including current percentage or run time, and benefit from predictive maintenance.

Improving safety around underground dewatering

If your team is still working directly on the pump starter to adjust pump settings, we encourage you to stop, and to do some research into alternatives.

A great place to start is with our SC10 product demonstration. Our Product Manager for Mining, Richard de Jong, shows off a demo unit featuring the SC10 in a mock dewatering set up.


We've successfully replaced competing pump controllers with the SC10 many times over now. You can find a technical guide on retrofitting the SC10 available for download on the product page.

What value could intelligent pump control bring to your operations?

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The SC10 controller is in stock now on our website and available to purchase online, with free shipping across Australia.

We've got all the expertise in-house to help you swap over to this safer solution.

Get in touch with our team today and we'll give you a hand. We're here to help.

More information:
https://pacificautomation.com.au/solutions/industrial-automation/dewatering-pump-control
Shop online now:
https://pacificautomation.com.au/2ib-sc10-pump-controller-1028301
Video resources:
Product of the Month - 2iB SC10 Pump Controller - Product Overview
Product of the Month - 2iB SC10 Pump Controller - Product Demonstration