<\/p>\n
Alabama\u2019s rich mining tradition\u2014a history that dates back nearly two centuries\u2014and the economic lift it provides (a direct and indirect value of about $5 billion, according to a recent economic census), have not been without their downside. Scars left by once highly productive strip mines dot the countryside, providing harsh contrast to the natural beauty for which the state is known. Efforts to reclaim these sites have been ongoing for some time now, but are really getting a boost of late thanks to the efforts of Jefferson County\u2019s Village Creek WWTP. The Birmingham plant, which once simply landfilled biosolids from its operation, now converts it to a Class \u2018A\u2019 material and uses it to effect area strip mine reclamations. Aided by a pair of KSP 50 sludge pumps from Schwing Bioset (Somerset, WI) which effectively move sludge during one of the fi nal steps in the treatment process, making it ready for shipment, the result has been a win-win for all involved. Land that was once an eyesore, is once again vibrant and pristine, and a material which, in the past, was viewed as\u00a0literally nothing more than a waste product, is helping making that rebirth happen.<\/p>\n
Whole New Approach<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The Village Creek WWTP is no slouch when it comes to a history of its own.\u00a0 First built in the early 1900s, it has undergone a series of modifications and expansions over the years, the last of which took place in 2001, essentially reshaping the face of wastewater treatment in the area, according to Terry Lane, the facility\u2019s Plant Manager.<\/p>\n \u201cTo bring the plant into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act, we added another full plant to operate alongside the existing one.\u00a0 In addition to that, we constructed a series of 20 surge basins to aid in times of peak volume. Doing all this took the plant from a rated capacity of 60 million gallons per day (mgd) to about 420 mgd.\u201d\u00a0 While the basins have a static capacity of 90 million gallons collectively, Lane says that, during those peak times (torrential rains during hurricane season is not uncommon), they can process a huge volume through the newly- configured plant.<\/p>\n \u201cIt only has a rated capacity of 60 mgd, but we\u2019ve pushed 100 mgd through it with no problem.\u00a0 That\u2019s allowed us to stay ahead of downpours that were associated with hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, and Rita, and that\u2019s saying something.\u201d<\/p>\n Separate But Equal<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Processing of wastewater at Village Creek is fairly straightforward: sewage is first run past bar screens to remove coarse debris, then pumped into a grit removal system, then on to a primary settling tank.\u00a0 At that point, primary sludge is sent to anaerobic digesters then on for dewatering and biosolids treatment.\u00a0 The balance of the liquid stream heads for secondary aeration, additional filtering and either chlorine or UV disinfection.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that we actually have two separate plants here, both working at the same time, so when the volume of water comes in, it is split,\u201d says Rob Brown, the facility\u2019s maintenance supervisor.\u00a0 \u201cNot surprisingly, we also have two different types of disinfection at this facility: chlorine on the old side of the plant and ultraviolet on the new side.\u00a0 Because both plants are active, if the chlorine treatment process should go down for some reason, the effluent can be sent here to be treated using the UV.\u201d<\/p>\n Sludge from the digesters is sent to a series of centrifuges for dewatering, then, at a dewatered rate of between 27% and 29% solids, sent via short collection screw conveyors to a Schwing Bioset 10-foot diameter, 940 ft3 sliding frame silo.\u00a0 \u201cThe silo serves as a metering device of sorts,\u201d says Brown. \u201cUsing it in that way allows sludge to be more evenly fed, again via screw feeders, into the Schwing sludge pumps.\u201d<\/p>\n Short Distance Runaround<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy boss at the time was involved in that decision,\u201d says Terry Lane, \u201cand his rationale was simple: he said we had some very dry solids that we had to push a fairly long way\u2014material that would more than likely dry out even more in the lines as it moved.\u00a0 If a pump like that could move concrete, they felt, it could move the dewatered sludge.\u201d<\/p>\n To alleviate the issue of dryness, they chose to include Schwing\u2019s pipeline lubrication system to the pipeline.\u00a0 Unlike other systems that inject polymer as the lubricating medium at great expense, Schwing\u2019s system lubricates the pipeline by simply injecting a thin fi lm of water 360 degrees around an annular groove.\u00a0 This system imparts pressure reductions of greater than 50% in the pipeline. \u201cBut it was the power of the pumps, more than anything, that won them over,\u201d says Lane.<\/p>\n If laid in a straight line, the distance from the pumps to a pug mill\u2014in which lime is added to the cake before transport\u2014is relatively short: about 50 feet or so.\u00a0 However, that path was straight through a heavily trafficked area which would put workers at risk.\u00a0 To avoid that, the line was instead made to follow the contours of the building.<\/p>\n \u201cBy doing that we had to take it up some 20-30 feet, have it make a 90\u00b0 turn, snake around and over some storage bins, then route it to the lime machine,\u201d adds Lane.\u00a0 \u201cSo now we are dealing with about 150 feet of pipe rather than 50, and the power of those pumps becomes even more important.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s Alive!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe original design was intended to be completely thermophilic, which we felt would kill all the bugs, giving us the Class \u2018A\u2019 sludge we needed.\u00a0 At that point we hoped to store it in live-bottom hoppers, drop it directly into the trucks, and haul it out for land application at the mines.\u00a0 Unfortunately, we were one of several plants nationwide that began seeing fecal regrowth.\u00a0 When our sludge went into the thermofluid digesters, the heat was causing the bugs to encapsulate themselves.\u00a0 Generally, once they build that shell, they never come out again.\u00a0 However, after being impacted by a 2700 rpm centrifuge, many of the bugs were coming alive\u2014and doing so in a food-rich environment, which obviously caused them to multiply.\u00a0 So we now add lime which kills any remaining bugs and makes the product ready for transport.\u201d<\/p>\n New Lease on Life<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese locations have become revegetated to such a degree that we are able to grow hay at one of them and use the hay throughout our county departments,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cThis is a recycling program in every sense of the word.\u00a0 We are taking a product that was previously being sent to a landfill, finding a new use for it, growing a new product from it and using that new product\u2014the hay\u2014for road projects, erosion control, fill and so on.\u00a0 In the process we have taken a strip mine that was once a blight on the landscape, and made it a beautiful, vegetated, forested area; it is a superb application for it.\u00a0 And, given the number of mills and mines in this area, we can probably continue to do this for a long, long time. I\u2019d say that\u2019s a pretty good deal for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Visite nuestro sitio web<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to read more about our products and solutions, then\u00a0Cont\u00e1ctenos<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\u00a0para obtener m\u00e1s informaci\u00f3n sobre este proyecto o descubrir c\u00f3mo podemos ayudar tambi\u00e9n a su planta.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nDescargue nuestros folletos e informes de aplicaciones<\/a>\nSubscribe to Start Receiving Schwing Bioset eNews<\/a>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Schwing Bioset, Inc. has been your source for complete biosolids treatment and handlings systems for over thirty years. Growing from a biosolids handling supplier, we now offer process systems as well, including nutrient management, screw press dewatering, piston pumps, screw conveyors, Class A alkaline stabilization and drying technologies, sliding frames, live bottoms, conveyors, and more. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"![](\"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Burmingham-Pump-Cropped.jpg\")
<\/strong>The type of unit at work at Village Creek, Schwing\u2019s KSP 50V(HD)L model, is a piston-style pump that was originally designed for use in concrete pumping projects.\u00a0 It is that demanding application, in fact, that initially drew plant management to select the Schwing pumps to move the dewatered sludge.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Burmingham-Hopper-Cropped.jpg\")
That final step in the process\u2014adding lime to the biosolids\u2014raises pH levels in order to decrease biological activity and reduce pathogen levels. Initially, Village Creek had not planned on needing alkaline stabilization.\u00a0 Lane says nature had other plans.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/CakeTruck-A-cropped.jpg\")
<\/strong>With the biosolid stabilized, it is loaded into dump trucks and hauled to one of several local mines with which the county has contracted to do reclamation.\u00a0 There it is dumped and applied using specialized spreaders.\u00a0 The program has been in place for about ten years now and in that time Village Creek has been sending a steady stream of about a half million pounds of biosolids per week.\u00a0 The results, says Lane, have been impressive.<\/p>\nSchwing Bioset, Inc. has been your source for complete biosolids treatment and handlings systems for over thirty years. Growing from a biosolids handling supplier, we now offer process systems as well, including nutrient management, screw press dewatering, piston pumps, screw conveyors, Class A alkaline stabilization and drying technologies, sliding frames, live bottoms, conveyors, and more. Check out this throw-back article to discover more about how a Schwing Bioset system can help solve your plant\u2019s most challenging issues.<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\nAlabama\u2019s rich mining tradition\u2014a history that dates back nearly two centuries\u2014and the economic lift it provides (a direct and indirect value of about $5 billion, according to a recent economic census), have not been without their downside. Scars left by once highly productive strip mines dot the countryside, providing harsh contrast to the natural beauty for which the state is known. Efforts to reclaim these sites have been ongoing for some time now, but are really getting a boost of late thanks to the efforts of Jefferson County\u2019s Village Creek WWTP. The Birmingham plant, which once simply landfilled biosolids from its operation, now converts it to a Class \u2018A\u2019 material and uses it to effect area strip mine reclamations. Aided by a pair of KSP 50 sludge pumps from Schwing Bioset (Somerset, WI) which effectively move sludge during one of the fi nal steps in the treatment process, making it ready for shipment, the result has been a win-win for all involved. Land that was once an eyesore, is once again vibrant and pristine, and a material which, in the past, was viewed as\u00a0literally nothing more than a waste product, is helping making that rebirth happen.\r\n\r\nWhole New Approach<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nThe Village Creek WWTP is no slouch when it comes to a history of its own.\u00a0 First built in the early 1900s, it has undergone a series of modifications and expansions over the years, the last of which took place in 2001, essentially reshaping the face of wastewater treatment in the area, according to Terry Lane, the facility\u2019s Plant Manager.\r\n\r\n\u201cTo bring the plant into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act, we added another full plant to operate alongside the existing one.\u00a0 In addition to that, we constructed a series of 20 surge basins to aid in times of peak volume. Doing all this took the plant from a rated capacity of 60 million gallons per day (mgd) to about 420 mgd.\u201d\u00a0 While the basins have a static capacity of 90 million gallons collectively, Lane says that, during those peak times (torrential rains during hurricane season is not uncommon), they can process a huge volume through the newly- configured plant.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt only has a rated capacity of 60 mgd, but we\u2019ve pushed 100 mgd through it with no problem.\u00a0 That\u2019s allowed us to stay ahead of downpours that were associated with hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, and Rita, and that\u2019s saying something.\u201d\r\n\r\nSeparate But Equal<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nProcessing of wastewater at Village Creek is fairly straightforward: sewage is first run past bar screens to remove coarse debris, then pumped into a grit removal system, then on to a primary settling tank.\u00a0 At that point, primary sludge is sent to anaerobic digesters then on for dewatering and biosolids treatment.\u00a0 The balance of the liquid stream heads for secondary aeration, additional filtering and either chlorine or UV disinfection.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that we actually have two separate plants here, both working at the same time, so when the volume of water comes in, it is split,\u201d says Rob Brown, the facility\u2019s maintenance supervisor.\u00a0 \u201cNot surprisingly, we also have two different types of disinfection at this facility: chlorine on the old side of the plant and ultraviolet on the new side.\u00a0 Because both plants are active, if the chlorine treatment process should go down for some reason, the effluent can be sent here to be treated using the UV.\u201d\r\n\r\nSludge from the digesters is sent to a series of centrifuges for dewatering, then, at a dewatered rate of between 27% and 29% solids, sent via short collection screw conveyors to a Schwing Bioset 10-foot diameter, 940 ft3 sliding frame silo.\u00a0 \u201cThe silo serves as a metering device of sorts,\u201d says Brown. \u201cUsing it in that way allows sludge to be more evenly fed, again via screw feeders, into the Schwing sludge pumps.\u201d\r\n\r\nShort Distance Runaround<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\n
<\/strong>The type of unit at work at Village Creek, Schwing\u2019s KSP 50V(HD)L model, is a piston-style pump that was originally designed for use in concrete pumping projects.\u00a0 It is that demanding application, in fact, that initially drew plant management to select the Schwing pumps to move the dewatered sludge.\r\n\r\n\u201cMy boss at the time was involved in that decision,\u201d says Terry Lane, \u201cand his rationale was simple: he said we had some very dry solids that we had to push a fairly long way\u2014material that would more than likely dry out even more in the lines as it moved.\u00a0 If a pump like that could move concrete, they felt, it could move the dewatered sludge.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo alleviate the issue of dryness, they chose to include Schwing\u2019s pipeline lubrication system to the pipeline.\u00a0 Unlike other systems that inject polymer as the lubricating medium at great expense, Schwing\u2019s system lubricates the pipeline by simply injecting a thin fi lm of water 360 degrees around an annular groove.\u00a0 This system imparts pressure reductions of greater than 50% in the pipeline. \u201cBut it was the power of the pumps, more than anything, that won them over,\u201d says Lane.\r\n\r\nIf laid in a straight line, the distance from the pumps to a pug mill\u2014in which lime is added to the cake before transport\u2014is relatively short: about 50 feet or so.\u00a0 However, that path was straight through a heavily trafficked area which would put workers at risk.\u00a0 To avoid that, the line was instead made to follow the contours of the building.\r\n\r\n\u201cBy doing that we had to take it up some 20-30 feet, have it make a 90\u00b0 turn, snake around and over some storage bins, then route it to the lime machine,\u201d adds Lane.\u00a0 \u201cSo now we are dealing with about 150 feet of pipe rather than 50, and the power of those pumps becomes even more important.\u201d\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s Alive!<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nThat final step in the process\u2014adding lime to the biosolids\u2014raises pH levels in order to decrease biological activity and reduce pathogen levels. Initially, Village Creek had not planned on needing alkaline stabilization.\u00a0 Lane says nature had other plans.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe original design was intended to be completely thermophilic, which we felt would kill all the bugs, giving us the Class \u2018A\u2019 sludge we needed.\u00a0 At that point we hoped to store it in live-bottom hoppers, drop it directly into the trucks, and haul it out for land application at the mines.\u00a0 Unfortunately, we were one of several plants nationwide that began seeing fecal regrowth.\u00a0 When our sludge went into the thermofluid digesters, the heat was causing the bugs to encapsulate themselves.\u00a0 Generally, once they build that shell, they never come out again.\u00a0 However, after being impacted by a 2700 rpm centrifuge, many of the bugs were coming alive\u2014and doing so in a food-rich environment, which obviously caused them to multiply.\u00a0 So we now add lime which kills any remaining bugs and makes the product ready for transport.\u201d\r\n\r\nNew Lease on Life<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/strong>With the biosolid stabilized, it is loaded into dump trucks and hauled to one of several local mines with which the county has contracted to do reclamation.\u00a0 There it is dumped and applied using specialized spreaders.\u00a0 The program has been in place for about ten years now and in that time Village Creek has been sending a steady stream of about a half million pounds of biosolids per week.\u00a0 The results, says Lane, have been impressive.\r\n\r\n\u201cThese locations have become revegetated to such a degree that we are able to grow hay at one of them and use the hay throughout our county departments,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cThis is a recycling program in every sense of the word.\u00a0 We are taking a product that was previously being sent to a landfill, finding a new use for it, growing a new product from it and using that new product\u2014the hay\u2014for road projects, erosion control, fill and so on.\u00a0 In the process we have taken a strip mine that was once a blight on the landscape, and made it a beautiful, vegetated, forested area; it is a superb application for it.\u00a0 And, given the number of mills and mines in this area, we can probably continue to do this for a long, long time. I\u2019d say that\u2019s a pretty good deal for everyone.\u201d\r\n\r\nVisit our website<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to read more about our products and solutions, then\u00a0contact us<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\u00a0to learn more about this project or find out how we can help your plant too.\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n[button link=\"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/downloads\/\" color=\"silver\" newwindow=\"yes\"] Download Our Brochures and Application Reports[\/button]\r\n\r\n[button link=\"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/news\/\" color=\"silver\" newwindow=\"yes\"] Read More Blog Articles from Schwing Bioset[\/button]","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,286,279],"tags":[173,181,272,220],"class_list":["post-3540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-municipal","category-pump","tag-biosolids","tag-piston-pumps","tag-reclamation","tag-sludge-pumps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schwingbioset.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}