The research is devoted to improving the working conditions of chamber water intakes of pumping stations (PS) on water supply channels, which is one of the main factors determining the efficiency of operation of pumping units and stations. An analysis of the current state of the operating conditions of chamber water intakes according to field surveys and literary sources shows that the dimensions of the water intake chambers were assigned based on the minimum energy loss in the suction pipeline of the pump, which, in conditions of high turbidity of water, leads to siltation and complicates the operation of pumping stations. When the water intake chambers are silted, its hydraulic resistance increases, air vortex funnels are formed, the water supply of the pump decreases and the likelihood of cavitation phenomena increases. A significant amount of work has been devoted to the issues of improving the hydraulic characteristics of the flow in the fore chamber and water intake chambers. Therefore, without duplicating them, we conducted research to establish the effect of silting of the chambers on the value of the hydraulic resistance of the suction pipeline and to develop measures to improve the hydraulic characteristics of the intake chamber under conditions of operation in a suspension-carrying flow. To solve the problem, a laboratory stand was made that simulates hydraulic processes in natural conditions based on modeling methods, taking into account the preservation of the constancy of the main similarity criteria.
