Roads: Sludge treatment of water basin

Challenge:
At an industrial site, the roads were constantly polluted with dust, sand and metal particles. To maintain good housekeeping and limited environmental impact, sweeper trucks were continuously cleaning the roads and dumping the sludge in onsite pits for dewatering. The customer was seeking an alternative solution to dewater the road pollution because dumping into these onsite deep pits caused unsafe situations. Since the dumping pits were open, rainfall made it difficult to properly dewater the sludge, resulting in higher disposal costs.   

Solution: 
United Rentals supplied a solution to overcome both disadvantages by installing a Dewatering Box at the dump site. Firstly, due to the design of the Dewatering Box, the sludge dewatered more easily than in the onsite pits. The box could handle three loads (24 m³) per day. While the filtrate could run into the sewer system, the dewatered sludge would be disposed of to a dedicated site. Secondly the unsafe situation of the pits was overcome because of the unique safety features of the Dewatering Box as well as the multiple filling options.  

Customer benefit: 
Thanks to the United Rentals solution, the customer cut their treatment costs because the removal of water from the sludge meant lower weight and therefore reduced transport and disposal costs. The dewatering resulted in a 50% reduction in volume and 40% lower weight. Furthermore, it enhanced safety and reduced environmental impact due to the saving in transport movements and fewer loading and unloading activities.