The Grand Rapids Wastewater Treatment Facility is located in west-central Michigan. It serves approximately 265,000 people and treats on average 61.5 million gallons per day of wastewater prior to entering the city’s namesake and most precious resource, the Grand River.
Its headworks consisted of four antiquated aerated grit treatment basins with chain and flight grit collector systems. Maintenance and operating costs were high and labor intensive, and they knew more advanced technologies were available that could capture even finer particles that aerated tanks could not.
Although vortex systems were considered as a replacement, cost estimates for the equipment and construction of new tanks was concerning. Thinking outside the box, the consultant presented a plate settling, horizontal flow technology that would:
- Allow the reuse of existing basins
- Improve the efficiency of the units
- Increase hydraulic capacity
- Significantly reduce project costs
That technology was the HUBER GritWolf advanced grit removal system.
Through a collaborative effort between the city’s consulting engineer, Hubbell, Roth and Clark, and HUBER, final designs addressed challenges such as raising the tank floor, sloping the side walls, auger and trough embedment into the floor, adding baffles to narrow the tanks and more.
The GritWolf is designed to provide the highest removal of fine grit from wastewater flows with the smallest footprint and minimal depth required of any technology.
Download the case study to find out more about the solution with GritWolf
Download Case Study
