Down and dirty
WHEN the world of science is allowed to work with a clean sheet of paper in any industry, the usual result is new technology, cost savings and an environmentally sustainable system.
This is exactly the case with two separate but interlinked technologies in use in the mining industry today by Downs Wash Downs (DWD), based in the Darling Downs region of Queensland.
Modular magic
The first of these exciting products was developed for the US military, oil companies and mining companies and is essentially a portable washdown bay that not only captures all the solids and grease washed from even the hugest machine, but also cleans and recycles the water for re-use.
By huge, we mean huge - from M1 Abrams tanks to haul trucks, excavators and dozers.
The Hydropad, as it is known, has been crush-tested to withstand more than 70-tonnes per axle.
Just because the pad can wash the biggest of the big, that doesn’t mean it has to, because it can be designed and custom built to suit any machine – down to a golf cart – as required.
DWD has its own portable Hydrosite that fits onto two trucks and can be transported anywhere in the country.
It was recently used in the middle of the desert in South Australia to wash military equipment for the Army during manoeuvres.
The pad’s sections are modular and the whole system can be set up in about half a day. The recycling system is fully automated and only requires water and a genset to operate.
Once mud, dirt and grease are cleaned from the dirty equipment, the watery slurry falls into a gutter in the lower section of the Hydropad before falling into a sump.
From there the dirty water is settles over two weirs, and then is pumped and filtered back to the main recycle tank for re-use.
The mud and captured debris collected in the sump and can then be removed.
With its modular design, the Hydropad can be transported on a truck or in a container and assembled at even the most remote location. Just add power and water and it is good to go.
In addition to having its own portable Hydropad, DWD is the Australasian agent for Hydro Engineering, which is based in the United States.
DWD designs, sells and installs these portable wash pads for use in the mining and construction industries.
These can be assembled in a fixed location and used just like a regular concrete wash bay, or they can just as easily be demounted and loaded onto a skid or into a shipping container and moved to another part of the site or wherever required.
Biodigesters
DWD is also the agents for a remarkable product that could just be the Don Bradman of environmentally responsible waste water management.
Hydrokleen is a bioreactor that can be used in conjunction with the Hydropad’s water processing system.
Hydrokleen uses biodigestive bacteria, enzymes, nutrients and dissolved oxygen to reduce organic contaminants such as grease, oil, fuel, coolants, soap and plant wastes.
The bio-bacteria literally consumes these pollutants and is as effective as a heavy-based chlorine but without the environmental hazard.
The principle is similar to the operation of a septic tank, where the freeze-dried or liquid forms of bacteria are added to water, with suitable food, to start cleaning the water of all contaminants.
From there, the biodigesters will start to turn waste water into good re-usable water. According to DWD, the process is so effective that it will completely consume an oil skim on surface water, out-compete all nasty bacteria and algae and even eliminate bad odours.
Developed in the US as an alternative to chlorine for military applications, this totally environmentally friendly treatment of waste water not only does the right thing by the planet, but also removes the risk and associated penalties of spilling untreated wash bay water onto the ground. Once processed through the Hydrokleen system, the wash water is suitable for reuse or sewer discharge.
These remarkable bacteria can live in suspended animation for up to 12 months in their container as there is food inside for them to consume while in hibernation.
They can also be safely transported around Australia or the world to any site and it only takes a cup a day to keep a system in perfect health.
This is the perfect solution to the environmentally-conscious eradication of toxic washdown water. Biodigesters are the way of the future.
DWD’s core business is washing and inspecting machinery for biosecurity reasons.
The company conducts washdown inspections throughout Australasia.
Clients include oil and gas companies, mining companies, the agricultural sector and the Defence Department.
This vital work prevents the spread of noxious weeds, which are affecting water ways, pastoral land, stock routes and cost the government billions of dollars every year in Australia.