Primary Clarifiers
After the wet wells the flow normally goes to the primary clarifiers. The flow
can be diverted to a surge lagoon or can
bypass the primary clarifiers all together and go to the aeration tank. The
primary treatment involves four primary clarifiers each 60 feet long, 15 feet
wide, and about 10 feet deep. The four tanks have cleaning mechanisms that
remove the floatables and the settleables (i.e grease and oils). These
mechanisms consist of wooden beams on a tracking system which slowly moves
about the bottom and top of the tank. This cleaning pushes the floatables to one end of the tank and the
settleables to the other. The floatables run into a collection basin and are
sent to a sludge holding tank for the primary sludge. The primary sludge is
similarly collected at the other end of the tank and sent to the same holding
tank. Before Mr. Edwards was running the plant, the plant was using only two
of the primary clarifiers at any time. He has since instituted using all
four clarifiers because primary sludge is easier to dewater and it involves
no energy inputs because the sludge settles due to gravity.
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