Project Description
Toonagh (WTW) is a small rural plant in County Clare, Ireland. The original process treatment took raw water and added alum for coagulation, chlorine for disinfection and sulphuric acid/caustic for pH correction. The water was then passed through a lamella separator and a sand filter with the sludge being stored in a tank and removed from site by tanker every 1 to 2 days.
The cost of emptying the sludge tank so frequently and transporting it offsite was proving to be prohibitively expensive. The client was looking for a simple and easy solution to install and maintain to cut these costs.
| Project Name: | Toonagh (WTW) |
| Client: | County Clare |
| Capacity: | 2000m3. |
| Project Scope: | Design, supply & commission |
Project Highlights
• Off-site manufacture
• Post installation processing 2000m³.
• Rapid installation and commissioning
Solution
The FilterClear® plant’s ability to take the backwash water from the sand filter and concentrate this water has vastly reduced sludge production rate and the frequency of sludge disposal.
FilterClear® filtrate is sent back to the head of the works and the backwash water from the FilterClear® plant is sent to the sludge tank.
Performance
The FilterClear® plant was initially hired for 6 months in August 2008, but after running the system and experiencing the performance benefits the period was extended until August 2009, at which point the client purchased the unit.
Before installing FilterClear® the site was able to process circa 100m³ before the need to tanker the sludge away.
With the FilterClear® unit installed that figure is now close to 2000m³. The frequency of tanker removal has gone from every 1-2 days to 1 per month, providing massive cost savings.
A knock-on effect from concentrating the sludge solids is that the recovered water is recycled back to the head of the works, which substantially reduced the amount of water extracted.
“For such a simple and inexpensive system, FilterClear® has surprised us with its performance and footprint. The savings on site tankering charges has been dramatic and we wouldn’t hesitate in recommending FilterClear®.”
