What’s in the Tank?

What’s in the Tank?

February 17, 2015
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U.S. Submergent Technologies boasts its ability to remove sand and grit while the plant remains in full operation, and our equipment has a proven success track to back this claim. But what if we aren’t talking about sand and grit? Let’s take a look at what other materials can be settled at the bottom of the tank and how the GritGone Process® can handle them.

The types of material found at the bottom of the tank varies depending on which stage it is in the wastewater treatment process. For example, in the anaerobic zone, the accumulated material may not be only sand, but it could also be biosolids, depending on the process and how much time has passed since the last cleaning.

The GritGone Process® can remove material that has specific gravity values greater than water. The specific gravity of biosolids is less than water, but sand, grit and other accumulated materials have a specific gravity greater than water.

Can the GritGone Process® Remove Biosolids too?

The GritGone Process® removes nearly all accumulated material at the bottom of a structure using our proprietary downhole system. Through our process, pressure separates the material with a specific gravity greater than water from the water and the accumulated material less than water. The accumulated material with a specific gravity less than water, or suspended solids, are returned to the treatment system for proper treatment and disposal. This type of flushing can still provide benefits, however the “hauled off” quantities are not as high.

How Much Material Should We Expect to Haul Off?

It depends on the amount of material in the tank that has a specific gravity greater than water. If what is accumulated is 100% sand, then usually 50-60% of the “saturated” volume is removed and is typically “paint-filter dry” sand that is ready to be taken to a landfill.

Decayed biosolids on the other hand, may yield less than 10% of their “saturated” volume.

Our process pumps at 2500 gallons per minute or greater, so it allows the removal of all of the accumulated solids using the ambient water. The water, or decant is returned to the structure, along with the suspended solids that are lighter than water.

The amount of solids removed depends on the percent of material with a specific gravity greater than water in the structure.

Example:

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What are the benefits of using GritGone Process® if the material is mostly biosolids?

Even though not as much material is hauled to the landfill, the GritGone Process® still restores capacity of the accumulated material and all water bound up in the accumulated material. Other benefits of the GritGone Process® include:

  • Removal of accumulated material for proper treatment and disposal
  • Removal of septic pockets bound in the accumulated material
  • Optimize available treatment volume
  • Reduced energy required to keep accumulated suspended
  • Flushing of bio-solids for proper treatment and disposal

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