Less Grit for a Longer Life
When grit is not sufficiently removed from influent wastewater, it significantly impacts a wastewater treatment plant.
Grit wears down equipment faster, reduces treatment capacity by depositing in basins, and necessitates more frequent maintenance.
The City of Houston has long struggled with grit at its plants because its wastewater contains “sugar sand” grit, which is smaller than 150 microns — and too fine for traditional technologies to remove.
For the Sims Bayou South Wastewater Treatment Plant, where the original aerated grit chambers had been out of operation for 10 years, Freese and Nichols developed an innovative approach.
Our team retrofitted a high-efficiency HeadCell® grit removal system inside the plant’s existing infrastructure, which eliminated the need to build a new structure and saved significant time and construction costs for the City.
With this design, 90 percent of the grit in the wastewater is now removed, increasing the plant’s efficiency, reducing maintenance and ultimately extending its life.