Parkson Delivering Headworks Sluice to Better Manage Screenings

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (April 21, 2014) - Parkson is redesigning the headworks at a municipal treatment plant to implement a sluiced screenings system that will improve the operator’s ability to manage wet weather conditions and reduce maintenance concerns. The new design is for the Omaha, Nebraska, Missouri River WWTP CSO improvements and is built around two of Parkson’s most robust headworks’ technologies; the Aqua Guard® Model S screen and Aqua WashPress™ washer compactor.

From the screens, the sluice system will transfer screenings more than 40 feet to the Aqua WashPress™ units, where the solids can be deposited at a more convenient location for disposal workers. “We are seeing a trend to more frequent use of sluice systems in wastewater treatment,” said Dave Mitchell, the commercial director for Headworks at Parkson. “We’ve been using sluices with some of our other systems for years, and it makes sense to build them into a headworks design as we did here.”

For Omaha, sluicing was a logical choice over mechanical conveying, which offers less flexibility for design and is more likely to experience increased operations and maintenance costs (compared to sluicing). Another crucial component in the design is the splitter box, which has an integrated control system to transfer the screenings to one of three washer compactor units for disposal.

“This design is intended to have a certain amount of water in the solids flow, primarily to keep the sluice moving,” said Steve Paternel, a product manager for Parkson. “As a result, we knew the only real option was to use Parkson’s new Aqua WashPress™, which is really built for heavy-duty applications like this.”

The new AWP17 WashPress has been selected as the ideal equipment for the job, because it has a larger opening to accommodate the incoming flow and it provides multiple wash zones to optimize the process. For plant operators, the design at Omaha provides two key benefits. The sluice system requires minimal attention or maintenance, and the flexible design gives them greater control over where to locate the press and disposal equipment. In addition, the process of keeping water in the screenings flow may contribute to reduced odors and improved fecal reduction in the process.

The motivation to develop this system at Omaha with Parkson grew out of the operator’s prior experience with the Aqua Guard® screens. Operators knew what equipment they wanted for this new facility and made sure they got them. With the collaboration of the operator, the Parkson project has resulted in an innovative new design that can be applied at other similar facilities.

“We are proud to have so many long-term partners like this around the world,” said Dave Mitchell. “Parkson really looks forward to cooperating with them to develop new innovations and deploy them at facilities to make things better for all of us.”

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