High efficiency grit removal to save spills, blockages and hazardous toil

INDEPENDENTLY TESTED grit removal technology that achieves 95 percent efficiency down to 105 microns over 10:1 turndown was introduced to the annual conference of the Queensland branch of the Water Industry Operators Association in Toowoomba last month.

CST Wastewater Solutions installation and service specialist Peter Bambridge introduced WIOA delegates to the Smith & Loveless PISTA VIO grit removal system, for which it is exclusive Australasian distributor.

Smith & Loveless says most grit removal systems are designed only to remove grit in the 200-300 micron range, but typically 40- 80 percent of grit in wastewater is in the 105-200 micron size range. These findings motivated the company to develop a superior grit removal system down to 105 microns.

“With so much of Queensland and Australia’s population living near the coast and in often remote sandy areas, such markedly superior grit removal offers immediate and long-term benefits in helping to prevent common grit problems in municipal and industrial water and wastewater systems,” said Bambridge. ( Watch a video of CST’s capabilities.)

Left unchecked, grit build-ups create troubles throughout the entire wastewater process. They expose plants to wear, blockages, breakdowns, flooding and hazardous recovery operations by public and private wastewater operations staff, who are on the front line of defence against such issues causing downtime and service interruptions in municipal and private industrial applications including food and beverage.

“The Smith & Loveless technology provides clear benefits to municipal and industrial organisations plagued with grit issues. And now we’ve had the system independently tested to confirm its performance, and it reached the 95 percent benchmark it was designed to achieve,” said Bambridge.

The latest PISTA VIO grit removal system features full variability of inlet and outlet channels. It also features a hydraulic vortex grit chamber design that utilises a new baffle system. This type of grit removal system – one of the first of its kind in the industry – provides the ability to design the inlet and outlet channels at any variable angle up to the full 360° of the chamber. Designers can arrange the system to fit existing sites, or maximise space during construction on new sites.