Solution for Plugging Problems in Wisconsin, USA

Chief Operator Phil Dulmes: „This is the best thing we ever did. We no longer have to manually clean out rags and other debris“
Vertical screenings transport tube of the RoK 4
Lower section of the RoK 4 with screen basket and IRGA for screenings washing

The Village of Oostburg, WI was experiencing clogging problems througout their wastewater treatment plant. The clogging was due to a malfunctioning comminutor of their influent pump station in their headworks structure. The existing grinder was often out of service and repairs were very costly. It was the desire of the City to upgrade the plant by installation of a fine screen.

While the solution seemed simple their design and equipment selection proved to be a challenge. The building is narrow, the inlet channel very short and in the middle of the channel is the comminutor pit. The channel is located twenty feet below the operating floor.  The screenings need to be lifted up to the operating floor for disposal. A staircase further reduced the amount of available space in which to install a screen.

Their consulting engineer of Crispell-Synder considered many types of screens including step screens, band screens, climber screens and in channel drum screens.  None of those screens would fit in the building without major modifications to the structure that would have made the project cost-prohibitive.

HUBER TECHNOLOGY, offering the widest range of screening technologies worldwide, had the solution to solve this problem. The RoK 4 vertical drum screen could be installed in the very short channel and could lift the screenings to the desired height without any need to modify the building. It was the consultant’s idea to place the screen basket in the same location as the grinder and lift the screenings vertically to the upper floor for disposal. The RoK 4 does not only screen the wastewater but also washes, transports, dewater, compacts and deposits the screenings into an endless plastic bag. All this is accomplished on one square meter of floor space.

We modified the standard machine’s piped inlet to match the inlet-channel’s rectangular cross section. We accomplished this by removing the pipe inlet and modifying the inlet box with angles that could be attached to the channel. The design team working with HUBER engineers came up with a clean, safe and cost effective solution. The plant has not experienced any clogging problems since the screen was brought online. The Village of Oostburg is very satisfied with the performance of the new screen.

This RoK 4 screen was the first of its type of this screen in the State of Wisconsin. In a little over a year our local representatives, Energenecs Inc., have provided similar RoK 4 screening solutions for eight other communities in Wisconsin.

By Gary Wesselschmidt, US Sales Manager Mid-Western Region, Huber Technology Inc.

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