News releases > News release
26 Feb 2009
New treatment plant benchmark established
What is it that you really need to know when you’re considering installing a new sewage treatment plant?
As a specifier you want to know that the plant will perform to the required pollutant removal standards – even when the power fails. Installers need to know that the plant is well designed and will allow for easy handling and installation.
Reliable performance, through-life costs, odour minimisation and silent operation are probably the most important factors for the end user.
Balmoral Tanks’ third generation sewage treatment plant, the HydroClear, “Delivers class-leading performance across the board”, claims Tim Mackley, the company’s wastewater product manager.
The CE accredited plant provides a performance of 10:13:6mg/l BOD, SS and NH4-N respectively equal to a ground-breaking BOD pollutant removal level of 97%.
An aerated biological system, the HydroClear benefits from a moving bed biological reactor, or MBBR, at its core. A new process in the package wastewater market, MBBR technology embraces the benefits of fixed film media processes without suffering their downfalls.
Key design objectives
Optimising the product design for cost effective handling and installation was one of the key objectives for Mackley and his engineering design colleagues. “It is widely understood that the shipping, storage and installation of sewage treatment plant is an area that needed to be addressed. Traditional plants have remained the same in terms of shape and size for decades.
“We have optimised the shape of the HydroClear to provide clear benefits for the haulage, merchant and installation supply chain. Because of its slim profile the plant can be loaded more efficiently on trucks and occupies less space in the merchant’s yard.
“The product’s shallow depth means that smaller diggers can be used during installation. The 6-pop, for example, can be installed using a 2.5-tonne mini-digger rather than the 7 or 12-tonne machines required for traditional plants. While clearly offering substantial cost savings this also reduces environmental damage to the end-users plot.”
Maintenance savings
According to Mackley the plant requires significantly less maintenance than alternative market offerings. He explained that the HydroClear incorporates a self cleaning treatment chamber which, unlike conventional submerged aerated filter (SAF), rotating biological contactor (RBC) and trickling filter (TF) systems, requires no maintenance.
“Servicing of the plant is only required every 24 months, considerably longer than alternative products by up to 18 months”, he said. “The simple operation can be carried out by the end-user using a Balmoral-supplied kit potentially saving an unprecedented £350 every two years.”
When it comes to desluding, Balmoral claims it can save users further cost by providing a unique sludge gauge which determines when the tank actually requires to be emptied rather than simply having it desludged every year ‘because that’s what we’ve always done’.
Balmoral claims that a number of products on the market say that they should be desludged every 12 months – similar to the HydroClear 6-pop. However, Mackley explained, “The primary settlement capacity of these tanks could be smaller by as much as 66% and unless accounted for by special process design, this can result in desludging being required three times more frequently than the HydroClear.”
Cost calculator
To help end-users appreciate the through-life cost of running a treatment plant, the company has created an operating budget calculator on its balmoralhydroclear.com website. Users simply input their expected annual service and desludge costs and the calculator will work out a 10-year life cycle total.
“This is a first for the industry and gives a clear indication of where the true costs of operating a sewage treatment plant lie. Users want to be better informed regarding ongoing costs over and above the upfront purchase and installation expenditure”, concluded Mackley.
Great benefit to the environment
Satisfied customer, Stewart Morrison, business manager with CSC Crop Protection in Perth, said: “Generally speaking, top of the range products are over-engineered and too complicated but this is not the case with the Balmoral HydroClear.
“The absence of moving parts within the plant means that extended maintenance periods and reduced running costs are a huge step forward.
“Historically, high maintenance and ongoing operating costs have put many people off installing sewage treatment plants but the HydroClear’s easy, low cost installation and two-yearly servicing should mean a greater uptake of contracts.
“This will ultimately be of great benefit to the environment.”
Click on www.balmoralhydroclear.com for further information.
Pic: The HydroClear’s slim, shallow profile means that smaller diggers can be used during installation.
