Facility Remained in Full Operation For more than 5 years, the Avon Park WWTP has been accumulating unwanted sand and grit, a problem that often leads to increased energy costs and reduces plant efficiency. USST’s reliable crew was able to safely and efficiently remove 90-tons of sand and grit from Avon Parks’s headworks and two digesters. With an ADF (average daily flow) of about 850,000 gallons per day and a permitted capacity of 1.5 MGD (millions of gallons per day), this facility sought to restore the capacity of their facility as a preventative maintenance measure. Using our GritGone Process®, the facility was cleaned while all structures remained in full operation and the removed material was paint-filter dry upon disposal. Because of the capabilities of our patented Combination3® technology, the headworks did not require confined space entry, reducing liabilities for both ourselves and the client. USST’s technology also utilizes an interchangeable system of both vacuum and downhole pumping methods, a crucial factor when cleaning structures such as headworks, lift stations, and pump stations. Our vacuum removes matted FOGs from the top of the structure while our downhole pumping system removes debris from the bottom of the structure, all while the facility remains … Read More
Lift Station Maintenance Made Easy
REDUCE THE RISK OF SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW IN WET WELLS Wet well and lift station maintenance are a frequent source of concern for most wastewater collection systems. Performing regular maintenance can be difficult due to access challenges, costs associated with shutting down pumps, and confined space entry permitting and safety issues. Wastewater systems rely on lift or pump stations to transport collected wastewater to a treatment plant. Lift or pump stations typically include two to three pumps for redundancy — all of which require periodic inspection and maintenance. More often than not, a wastewater facility may only have one operable pump. Additionally, the water elevation in a wet well cannot be lowered in high-flow conditions such as heavy rain periods or during tourist seasons. With one operating pump, traditional maintenance can seem nearly impossible. However, in order to reduce pump run time, reduce energy costs, and prevent debris from accumulating and creating new issues downstream, lift station maintenance is critical. Performing regular lift station maintenance reduces the risk of sanitary sewer overflow (SSO), a scenario where untreated wastewater is discharged from a sewer into the environment before reaching a wastewater treatment facility. SSO can have extremely negative consequences for the … Read More
88.5 Cubic Yards Removed From WWTF
That’s More Than 17,000 Thanksgiving Turkeys! The City of Winter Springs, Florida utilizes two wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF) to serve its population of more than 35,000 people. 136-miles of sewer mains transport all the city’s wastewater to the city’s East or West WWTF. These two facilities combined are permitted to treat nearly 4.1 million gallons of wastewater per day. The City of Winter Springs, Florida utilizes two wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF) to serve its population of more than 35,000 people. 136-miles of sewer mains transport all the city’s wastewater to the city’s East or West WWTF. These two facilities combined are permitted to treat nearly 4.1 million gallons of wastewater per day. USST restored the capacity of both the East and West WWTF utilizing our GritGone Process®, and both facilities were cleaned while remaining in full operation. Our Combination3® truck removed approximately 88.5-CY of sand and grit and cleaned a total of 12 structures between both facilities. Amongst those structures were aeration tanks, digesters and grit chambers. One of the grit chambers was filled with about 10-feet of sand and grit! Although accessing the structures was difficult, our Combination3® trucks are equipped with a 49-foot telescoping dripless tube system … Read More
Facility Remains in Full Operation While Cleaned
Capacity Restored in Charlotte County The Burnt Store Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) treats wastewater from more than 1,200 sewer connections in a southeastern portion of Charlotte County. Acquired by Charlotte County in 2003, the former 0.25 millions of gallons per day (MGD) facility underwent several upgrades, including doubling its treatment capacity to 0.5 MGD, as well as enabling the facility to simultaneously dispose of reject water and excess effluent produced by the plant. USST removed 21-cubic yards of sand and grit from three structures at Charlotte County’s Burnt Store WRF. Thanks to our GritGone Process®, the facility remained in full operation while the debris was removed. John Thompson Jr., Chief Plant Operator at the Burnt Store WRF says, “The project that U.S. Submergent did for us was wonderful. They not only helped with our grant application, but their crews were very accommodating and […] professional.” Accessing particularly tall tanks, like Burnt Store’s 30(+)-foot EQ tank, can be challenging. Luckily, our Combination3® trucks are equipped with a 49-foot knuckle boom crane with telescoping tubes. This eliminated the need for additional equipment on the jobsite, saving the facility valuable time and money. Got hard-to-reach places that need cleaning? Interested in learning … Read More
2,000+ Tons On Its Way Out
Hard at Work in Daytona Beach That’s the weight of nearly 1,000 Ford F-150s! USST is working hard to restore the capacity of the City of Daytona’s Bethune Point 13 MGD water reclamation facility. Over 2,000 tons of material – primarily sand and grit – are estimated to be removed from the facility upon completion of this project. After being offline for approximately two years, this facility is progressing towards being fully operational once we complete our work. Sand and grit aren’t the only materials USST can remove from a facility. We also have the ability to remove rags, vegetation and more from pipes, ditches and tanks. Here in Daytona, our dependable crew removed vegetation up to eight-foot tall before working to restore the capacity of three large aeration ditches and one large aeration tank. No job is too large for USST. If you have questions about our capabilities or equipment, reach out to us at 407-809-5556 or email info@ussubmergent.com. We love a challenge!
Debris Removed, Diffusers Unharmed
What Debris Does to Your Facility
The Problem With Debris Debris gets into your facility through joints, seams, gaps and cracks that happen as the infrastructure (such as gravity systems and pipes) ages and shifts over time. Let’s focus on the problematic effects debris can have on your infrastructure. It can: • Wreak havoc on the treatment process. • Increase costs and reduce overall efficiencies throughout the system. • Cause abnormal wear and tear on system components, including pumps and other mechanical components. Generally speaking, debris can greatly impact efficiencies of mechanical and biological systems. Mechanically speaking, it can affect operational aspects of the collection and treatment system, including full or partial plugging of outlets and pump suctions. When accumulated sand and grit cover air bubble diffusers on the bottom of aeration basins, the consequence is a harsh increase in energy required to deliver the air to the wastewater for aeration. This increases energy costs. The longer debris remains in the structure, the more challenging it can be. Luckily, USST has the equipment and experience to resolve accumulated debris issues in wet infrastructure.
USST: Safer, Quicker, Cheaper, Stronger
USST: Safer, Quicker, Cheaper, Stronger This week, U.S. Submergent Technologies is performing sand and grit removal from a wastewater treatment plant in Orlando, FL, which requires confined space entry. The USST crew is removing material from two clarifiers at the plant. Both are 120 feet in diameter and 16 feet deep. Approximately 120 tons of sand and grit has been removed from Clarifier 1. “We performed a confined space entry, which includes constant air quality monitoring,” said Paul Del Favero. “Fall protection is being used as well while on the catwalk inside the tank.” The crew began work on Clarifier 2 this week, running the Model 949 and Model 934 simultaneously during the project. “We have been using our proprietary equipment for the cleaning of this tank,” Del Favero said. “It’s been a real team effort. USST expects to complete the cleaning of clarifier 2 this week.
Keeping Power Flowing to the People
Photo by Paul Del Favero U.S. Submergent Technologies recently completed a job at a power plant in northeast FL. Paul Stephenson, Kyle Manchester, Michael Kisling, Marcus Purvis and Paul Del Favero of Florida Service Group removed approximately 160 yards of a fine-grained, powdery particulate material from a settling basin in submerged conditions.
Deforestation at its Finest
Florida Service Group is cleaning a wastewater treatment plant in Nassau Beach, FL.
