Product News   |  All News

 Print
Northumbrian Water: How solids measurements improved output and reduced costs

Northumbrian Water: How solids measurements improved output and reduced costs

April 22, 2022

Monitoring and controlling the sludge recirculation flow rate helped Wear Valley improve output and reduce costs

In a recent project with Northumbrian Water Ltd, a Hach Solitax sc solids measurement probe was used to monitor and control the sludge recirculation flow rate to maintain a solids setpoint via SCADA on two Lamella clarifiers.

The site, Wear Valley WTW, suffered from flow restrictions during peak demand periods due to clarifier performance even with large increases in coagulant use. Recently the site has seen the raw water quality deteriorate due to extreme weather events, which has resulted in increasing chemical consumption and reducing output.

After creating a calculator using the Solitax sc data and flow data, sludge was recirculated to maintain a constant solids dose by manually altering the pump speed.

Key improvements include:
  • Expected £40,000/year reduction in production costs as the site can now maintain almost maximum flows during poor raw water periods
  • A ferric cost reduction of £15-20,000 per annum as a result of a ferric dose reduction of 15% during high colour raw water conditions
  • Sludge draw-off from the clarifiers is more constant thus improving press and centifuge performance
  • Less risk of emergency tankering and other associated costs due to the reduction in sludge volume

    Read the full story HERE
    (published in the Institute of Water Magazine spring 2022 edition)

Past News Articles

View All