Tank Cleaning Time Halved with Hire of Rag Tolerant Pump
Project Overview
Tank Cleaning Time Halved with Hire of Rag Tolerant Pump
This sewage treatment works faced recurring challenges cleansing their inlet reception chamber, which sit upstream of the site’s primary screens.
The cleaning process involved isolating the balancing tanks and transferring their contents to the screening unit before the sludge clearing could begin.
Speeding up this part of the process resulted in significant savings and efficiency gains.
Challenge
The inlet tank accumulates significant quantities of grit, rag, and sludge, requiring daily inflow disruptions for 10 days in a row, every 4 months.
The time-consuming process was costly, as the vac tank had to repeatedly load and offload water before the sludge could be accessed.
With a maximum three-hour downtime window per day, operators spent much of this limited time using the vacuum truck to remove surface water from the inlet tank to the grit screens. Submersible pumps had been tried, but these would take up sludge and get blocked frequently.
As a result, the job typically took 10 days, with vac truck hire costs extended, and downtime and diversions taking their toll.
Hiring an LSM pump alongside the vac truck enables each to perform at their best.
Mark McCreadie, Atlantic Pumps
Solution
Atlantic Pumps supplied a hire pump specifically designed to handle primary sewage containing rag and grit, maintaining reliable flow without clogging.
This LSM pump was used to transfer water and floating debris from the tanks three times faster than the vac truck could, freeing up more of the daily maintenance window for the actual sludge removal.
The LSM itself can pass a high amount of rag and solids, negating the use of high-wearing, energy consuming macerator pumps – or submersible pumps that are prone to time-consuming blockages.
The pump’s flow-rate can be matched to the system and operational needs via model selection or VFD controller.
By emptying the inlet’s balancing tanks in a third of the time, this WwTW has doubled their cleaning capacity, resulting in less interruptions to inflow, and a large saving in time and money.
Results
By deploying the rag-tolerant hire pump, this STW:
- Reduced cleaning times by 50%
- Reduced overall costs by 25%
- Improved operational efficiency within existing maintenance windows
- Increased resilience, improved processed control, and lower risk and pressure on maintenance staff.
- Achieved these benefit and savings with a pump hire cost roughly equal to one day of vac truck use.
The revised operational approach adopted at this WwTP has delivered immediate operational savings and established a proven, AMP8-aligned methodology for managing future tank cleans more efficiently and sustainably.
This enhanced process supports proactive maintenance planning, optimises flow capacity, and strengthens long-term asset resilience.
To discuss this case study or a similar application, please contact Mark McCreadie, Water Lead at Atlantic Pumps.
