Reducing the Sludge Quantity Produced from Used Water Purification – A Source of Profit

Abstract

This paper has its origins in the analysis of a real situation met in the Water Purification Plant from Cluj-Napoca city. The produced dehydrated sludge is about 70 - 80 tonnes / 24 hours, with a density that allows for an equivalence of 1 tonne to 1 m³, 80,000 Kg or 80 m³, i.e. a huge amount and an impressive volume of material. This paper does not propose solutions to valorise or store the huge quantity of sludge, though the present solutions are quite inefficient. The stress is placed upon the sludge production sources, its transportation to the purification plants, the collection of the sludge in the purification plants and the dehydration methods that can be used. The analysis of these stages aims at identifying several measures that could lead to diminishing the amount of sludge produced after the purification of used and dehydrated water in the purification plants without affecting the quality of purified water. The measures identified are to be presented as measures that can be applied in the spirit of sustainable and efficient development. The business feature is given by the savings brought by the mitigation of the sludge amount to be stored and paid for in the ecological storage places in remote areas.

Keywords

• sludge
• dehydration
• reduction of amount
• thickening
• purification
• expenses