Most of the time, industrial-strength pumps do such unglamorous chores as moving sewage or draining water from mines and construction sites.

For the next few weeks, however, these pumps—or "dewatering solutions," as the industry calls them—will play a starring role in drying out basements, transportation tunnels and train stations in New York and surrounding areas engulfed by the superstorm Sandy.

The pumps will need to suck up hundreds of millions of gallons of water before subway trains can resume full service, traffic tunnels can reopen and companies can repair the vital electrical equipment in their basements. New York's transit authority estimated Thursday that 86 million gallons need to be removed from the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel alone. The tunnel is a major artery connecting Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Thirty million gallons flooded into the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, which has also been closed since the storm.

The immense cleanup sets the stage for a matchup of diesel-powered machines made by Xylem Inc. (slogan: "Let's Solve Water") and Gorman-Rupp Co. ("The Pump People"), as well as a host of smaller rivals, including Franklin Electric Co. 's majority-owned Pioneer Pump unit and Andrews Sykes Group PLC of Britain.