As much as it doesn't seem like it, Spring is around the corner. Many people anticipate the melting snow and sunshine that comes with Spring, but in the wastewater industry the new season poses some complexity for local municipalities and wastewater biosolids management.
Over the Fall and Winter months, municipalities may opt to store excess biosolids. Storage can pose many problems - cost, proper logistics, and the trained staff required to accomplish this task. Once the temperature starts to warm up as we draw closer to Spring, municipal wastewater facilities will prepare to land apply their biosolids and may encounter issues with properly disposing of those biosolids (such as appropriate disposal methods, land availability, and navigating land regulations for biosolid spreading).
We often listen to wastewater plant operators voice concerns regarding tightening regulations pertaining to land application of biosolids, weather issues pertaining to preventing land application and land availability and cost. The storage of biosolids in their current state also poses an issue. Where do you find enough storage space? How do you stay within budget and keep costs down for taxpayers?
To help address these questions and concerns, ICS Group has partnered with wastewater technology providers who specialize in thickening, pressing and drying of biosolids. Below is an explanation of each of technologies to solve your biosolid storage, processing and disposal issues.
PWTech VT Sludge Thickener
"The VT thickener is perfect for automated sludge wasting from biological processes prior to storage, digestion, additional dewatering, or transport (giving a biosolid output range of 3% to 12%). The unit can be fully automated, uses little power, and can be run over 30,000 hours between overhauls." Thickening of biosolids will help wastewater treatment plants maximize sludge storage capacity and reduce trucking while still allowing the sludge to be pumpable.
To learn how biosolids thickening works, the process, and design criteria - please visit PWtech's website.
PWTech ES Sludge Press
" The ES dewatering press offers many advantages over conventional sludge dewatering systems. The key to the process is the unique dewatering drum which provides both thickening and pressing (dewatering) of the sludge in a single, compact operation. The ES press can take sludge as dilute as 0.1% solids, directly from a biological process (such as an oxidation ditch) and produce a cake of over 25% solids. The ES press offers very low horsepower, low water consumption and low cost of operation"
To learn how the Dewatering Press works, the process, and design criteria - please visit PWtech's website.
Source: https://www.environmental-expert.com/products/pwtech-model-es353-volute-dewatering-press-44098
Shincci USA Sludge Dehumidifier
"The SHS sludge dehumidifier offers significant advantages over other sludge dryers such as very low energy usage, compact footprint, no need for air scrubbing or dust suppression, and no risk of dryer fires. The dehumidifier runs at a temperature below 80C and uses a patented heat pump system to recover heat from the process resulting in very low energy usage, typically between 1.2 and 1.4 kwh per gallon of water removed. The system can produce dried sludge >90% dry and meet EPA 503 Class A requirements.”
To learn how the Drying process works, please visit Shincci's website.
Municipalities who face budget concerns, or storage, transportation, and disposal issues surrounding biosolids management can benefit from implementing our innovative biosolids thickening, dewatering, and drying technologies. To learn if this is a good fit for your facility, schedule a quick meeting with our team to learn more.