Drainage Bed: A Natural System for WTP Sludge Dewatering and Drying with Different Coagulant Chemicals in Tropical Countries

Marcelo M. Barroso, Cali L. Achon, Renan F. Reis, João S. Cordeiro

EESC/USP—University of S?o Paulo at S?o Carlos School of Engineering, S?o Carlos, Brazil.
ISITEC—Higher Institute of Innovation and Technology, S?o Paulo, Brazil.
UFSCar—Federal University of S?o Carlos, S?o Carlos, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2014.611097                

Abstract

This study seeks to evaluate the mechanisms for dewatering sludge from Water Treatment Plants (WTP) in a natural system that uses nonwoven polyester geotextile blankets named Drainage Bed (DB). Dewatering mechanisms are divided into two stages: Drainage and Drying Phases. For the Drainage Phase, the results showed that the solids content of the Aluminum Sulfate sludge reached 8.9% to 18.3% and the PACl sludge 1.8% to 6.5%, the volume reduction on this phase exceeding 50% and 74%, respectively. The final solids content, after the Drying Phase, was greater than 28%, reaching 90%. In the Drainage Phase the lower the Surface Application Rate—SAR [kg/m2] is, the greater the drainage flow will be. In the Drying Phase, moisture and insolation were key factors in drying sludge. Thus, the Drying Phase in the DB takes special attention for being virtually nonexistent in dewatering technologies in a closed system (confined) without exposure to solar energy. The use of the DB as a natural system for dewatering WTP sludge in tropical countries proved to be a promising alternative, because of its efficient removal of water from sludge coupled with operational simplicity and low costs, provided there is area available.

Keywords

Sludge, Dewatering, Drying, Drainage Bed (DB), Geotextile Blanket

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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