Biosolids Load Out Screw Conveyor Oakmont Water Authority in Allegheny County, PA

General Description

Allegheny Country, Pennsylvania contains the capital city of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, and is named after the river that runs through it. Home to over 1.2 million people, the county has been growing due to the expansion of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Due to flooding of the various rivers that run through the county there is a need for added wastewater processing.

The Oakmont Water Authority is located 20 minutes northeast of Pittsburgh, PA and sits right on the Allegheny River. Due to its relatively high elevation, the location of the Oakmont WWTP has made it a prime provider for many of the county residents since it is usually unaffected by flooding. Although the plant was not in need of upgrades, the Oakmont Water Authority wanted to add additional equipment to their system in order to allow for easier residual load out. The existing conveying equipment discharged the dewatered biosolids into a dumpster and then had to be manually leveled.

KWS Environmental provided a screw conveyor to an existing dewatered biosolids load out system that eliminated the need to level the biosolids manually. The shafted screw conveyor provided by KWS Environmental was very cost effective, simple and designed to keep operation costs low by reducing labor and overhead.

Design Parameters

1. Product Type – Dewatered Biosolids
2. Material Density – 65 Lbs. per Cubic Foot
3. Capacity – 9 Cubic Feet per Hour
4. Duty – 4 Days per Week, 8 Hours per Day

KWS Advantages

KWS Environmental designed, manufactured and delivered a shafted screw conveyor with a manually operated slide gate that was designed specifically to fit into the existing load out system. Engineers from KWS Environmental worked closely with both Southwood Building Systems and Oakmont Water Authority to make sure that the existing and new equipment properly connected and allowed for proper flow of the dewatered biosolids. The dewatered biosolids fed into the center inlet on the new KWS screw conveyor and then was directed to either end of the conveyor due to the reversibility of the design.

Special Features

KWS Environmental provided a reversible ribbon screw conveyor, rack and pinion slide gate and three discharge locations. The rack and pinion slide gate was located on the center discharge and was a simple, cost effective method of evenly distributing the biosolids in the dumpster. The three discharge locations allowed the operators to choose where the dewatered biosolids could be discharged. The entire load out system was constructed of carbon steel and utilized CEMA standard components. By providing a simple design, KWS Environmental reduced both operations and maintenance costs.