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| The Village of Addison installed JWC's Screenings Washer Monster in the Spring of 2003. |
Addison, IL - On any given day at the Village of Addison’s South Wastewater Plant operators have no idea what’s coming down the influent pipe. With a combined storm system and sanitary sewer lines, the 20” inlet pipe can go from a trickle to raging water full with just a few hours of rain.
“We always get bigger than usual equipment installed here because we have to be ready for the bigger flows. (The plant) can go from 1.5 MGD to 20 in a heartbeat,” said Doug Armstrong, the plant’s Chief Operator.
When it appeared strict landfill regulations were coming down the legislative pipeline, the city started investigating new technologies to clean up the tons of wastewater screenings they were sending to a local transfer station each year. The city, located in the suburbs of Chicago, carefully plans frequent upgrades at its two wastewater plants so it can maintain high environmental standards.
In early 2003 they decided to stay ahead of legislative requirements and install an innovative washer-compactor called the Screenings Washer Monster®, built by JWC Environmental of Costa Mesa, CA. The positive results have astounded the South Plant’s staff and received rave reviews from the local garbage operators.
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| Chief Operator Doug Armstrong looks into the Screening Washer Monster’s hopper where the six stage grinding, cleaning, washing and compacting process begins. |
“I would say the SWM has exceeded my expectations,” said Armstrong. “I cannot believe how well it washes and removes fecal material, and the reduction of the waste stream is amazing. Cleaner, more compact screenings have an overall effect on the plant, it reduces the time and work people must put into handling and cleaning up the wet, sloppy screenings material.”
Wastewater facilities and transfer stations across the nation are struggling with the rising load of fecal laden sewage screenings. Handling the wet, sloppy, malodorous and hazardous screenings is a costly and time consuming endeavor. In part the problem stems from regulatory pressures pushing in opposite directions – wastewater plants want more solids removed at the headworks to protect sensitive treatment equipment, like membranes, and landfill operators need to reduce or ban completely the amount of hazardous materials dumped at their sites.
“We see the legislative handwriting on the wall across the country – fecal material has got to come out of wastewater screenings sent to landfills,” said Fritz Egger, JWC’s Director of Marketing. “Fortunately our Muffin Monster grinder and patent pending Screenings Washer Monster technology help break-up material so the spray jets can more effectively wash off the fecal material. Our grinder is the real secret weapon inside this machine.”
Stationed next to the Addison plant’s two inlet screens, the SWM model 4018 accepts screenings pulled from the wastewater channel and puts them through a six-stage process (wash, grind, wash, screen, compact, dewater) before discharging them. When screenings first fall into the SWM’s hopper they are flushed into a central Muffin Monster® grinder which breaks up clumps, exposes surface area for efficient washing and helps manage the flow of material. Next, spray jets wash solids clean and flush fecal material through a screen and back into the plant, while an Auger compresses the inorganic solid material. Finally, the screenings are further compressed and dewatered as the material moves up and out of a long discharge chute.
“The SWM is proceeded by two inlet screens with 15mm openings, now I wish I had window screening on there pulling everything out because this SWM could handle it,” said Armstrong, referring to the trend towards fine screens with 3 or 6mm openings. “The discharge is clean, compact and virtually without odor.”
The local refuse contractor is also thrilled with the cleaner screenings results, according to Armstrong. Raw wastewater screenings from several nearby communities are hauled to a local transfer station where “the fecal material is just sitting around on the tipping floor,” said Armstrong. “With the visual fecal material absent (from Addison’s screenings) he just loves it.”
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| The clean discharged screenings make their way up a discharge chute where further dewatering and compaction takes place. The SWM helped Addison reduce the volume of screenings by 90%. |
The grinding and washing action of the SWM gets screenings cleaner, and it also helps compact and reduce the cubic volume of material. After 13 months of operation, Armstrong estimates the SWM has helped cut the volume of material headed to the landfill by approximately 90%.
Before the SWM the plant was having 1 to 4 cubic yards of material hauled away each week and in wet weather that could go to 3 to 6 yards per day. Now with the SWM the amount of material is “maybe 10-15 yards of debris for the entire year,” said Armstrong. That’s an average discharge rate of just 1 cubic yard per month.
JWC representatives helped with the start-up of the unit, but noticed something unusual at first. “The compaction was so great, it took over eight weeks for material to even fill the chute,” said Dean Wiebenga, a principle with Peterson & Matz, JWC’s local representative. “I have seen a great difference in the plant’s operation… Addison has reduced the volume hauled to the landfill greatly.”
Armstrong reports that the SWM is also built tough, true to JWC’s reputation for quality craftsmanship and reliability. One night an operator left the SWM turned off, letting screenings accumulate in the hopper and up into the discharge chute for 16 hours. However, instead of a big mess the next morning, Armstrong said he simply flipped the SWM on, watched it chew all the material up in a matter of minutes and process it cleanly.
The Village of Addison is so pleased with the results they are considering a second SWM at their North Plant. “The Village is very cost payback conscious,” said Wiebenga, JWC’s rep. With the Screenings Washer Monster’s clean and compacted discharge it looks like everyone benefits and the Village did indeed get the return on investment they were looking for.
JWC’s Screenings Washer Monster is installed at wastewater and industrial facilities around the world. In 2001 it won the prestigious Innovative Technology Award from the Water Environment Federation. For more information contact Fritz Egger at JWC Environmental at (800) 311-2277 or visit their website at www.jwce.com
On-site, installed demonstrations are available.
© Copyright 1998 - 2008 Water and Wastewater.com
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