An improved self-priming, centrifugal pump arrangement for mixed-media flow includes a volute housing having a suction and a discharge, a volute scroll disposed within the volute housing, an impeller disposed within the volute scroll, a suction hopper and a discharge hopper within volute housing, a back cover and a wear plate attached to the volute housing. In order to improve the sensitivity during writing it is proposed according to the present invention that the recording layers include a thermochromic material having temperature-dependent optical characteristics for selectively improving the sensitivity of the addressed recording layer during recording andor read-out. Each conductor plate advantageously includes one or more non-conductive regions that provide directionality to the currents flowing through the plates, resulting in a capacitor structure with greatly reduced inductance. The control units include a heatercooler device, a user input device, and a processor connected to receive input from various sensors around the body and the system.