Yatsushiro-Chuo Drainage Pump Station

Location: Gunchiku, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture
Drainage capacity: 26 m³/s
Number of units: 4
Type: Model-HZGM horizontal mixed flow pump

The Gunchiku area has grown into one of Japan’s leading agricultural production areas, with complex commercial management consisting of rush grass and paddy-field rice cultivation, greenhouse horticulture of melons and tomatoes, and outdoor cultivation of vegetables such as cabbage. However, in recent years, due to increased rainfall caused by climate change and the aging of nearby drainage pump stations, flooding had occurred almost every year since 2008, destabilizing the management of agricultural businesses. The Yatsushiro-Chuo Pump Station is expected to play a major role in reducing flooding damage and restabilizing commercial agricultural management.

Yatsushiro-Chuo Pump Station is located on low and flat reclaimed land. Rainfall into the 1,899-hectare catchment area and the 311.1 hectares of land benefiting from the project is drained into the Yatsushiro Sea. The facility is ordinarily operated with commercial power sources, but in the unlikely event of a power failure, a private power generator will supply electricity to the main two pumps to discharge water.