SOP for Faecal Sludge Dewatering using

TenCate Geotube® System

CONTENTS
1.0. INTRODUCTION
2.0. COMPONENTS OF DEWATERING PROCESS
3.0. ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
4.0. SLUDGE CAPACITY ACCEPTANCE
5.0. OPERATION OF VALVES
6.0. OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE
1.0. INTRODUCTION
TenCate Geotube® Dewatering system is an adaptive technology which
provides reduction in contaminated sludge volume and to render the sediments into
solid form and separate sludge from effluent. Geotube ® Dewatering units are large
permeable containers that are designed to efficiently retain solids and allow effluent
fluid to pass through it and are suitable for wide variety of sludge types of large to
small volumes.

TenCate Geotube® are fabricated from specially engineered fabric

manufactured with high strengths and efficiency seam for a strong and durable
fabric for optimum solid retention and high permeability to ensure the rapid
discharge of high-quality effluent.

2.0. COMPONENTS OF GEOTUBE® DEWATERING SYSTEM

1. Sludge Screening Tank (Tank 1)
2. Bio Digestor (Tank 2)
3. Polymer Mixing Tank
4. Polymer Storage Tank
5. Pumping Units
6. Static Mixture
7. Sampling Port
8. Dewatering Platform
9. Geotube® Dewatering Unit
10. Effluent Storage Tank

1. Sludge screening tank – Screening and removal of Dirt/ Plastics and

Rubbish from the sludge using a Steel screen and a Plastic net/mesh
structure and shall allow the sludge to flow to Anaerobic Digestor.

2. Anaerobic digestor – Separation of organic matter into CO 2, Methane and

water, where an Electric operated pump is connected to pump the sludge
from the Tank 2 which shall allow the sludge for Recirculation or into static
mixer.
3. Polymer mixing tank – A 1m3 volume capacity of tank shall be arranged
where the polymer powder is feed ed into Fresh water in the tank to prepare
a 0.2% concentration solution* by mixing using a Rotor connected on to the
tank which shall have two blades.

4. Polymer Storage tank – A 1m3 volume capacity of tank shall be arranged

to store the 0.2% concentration polymer solution from the mixing tank. An
Electric operated pump shall be connected to the tank for pumping the
polymer solution at a required dosage.

Fig:1 Flow chart showing the operational process of Dewatering system

5. Pumping Units – i) Pump for Sludge – An electric operated pump of capacity

3HP shall be arranged to pump the sludge at 12m3/hr to 30m3/hr of pressure.
ii) Pump for Polymer solution – An electric operated pump shall be arranged
to pump the 0.2% polymer solution at a pressure within a range of 0.6m 3/hr
to 0.8m3/hr through the pipe connected to the static mixer.

6. Static Mixer – The S – shaped stepped pipe arrangement shall be arranged

to mix the polymer solution with the Sludge to allow the Flocculation process
to occur which allows the solid to form into a Floc (big particle).

Note: *0.2% concentration solution is prepared by mixing 2kg of Polymer powder into 1000
litres of Fresh water or 1kg of polymer powder in 500 litres of Fresh water.
 7. Sampling Port - The Sampling port is the key component where the
flocculated sludge shall be collected to check the flocculation and allows the
operator to decide to pump into the Geotube® unit or still recirculate the
sludge for one more cycle or increase the polymer dosage.

8. Dewatering Platform - A Stiff bed is constructed which accommodates the

Geotube® unit on a flat ground, size of the bed shall be depending upon the
capacity of the FSTP. A side drain shall be provided around the periphery of
the bed to drain the effluent water to the Effluent storage tank.

9. Geotube® Dewatering Units – Geotube® Dewatering unit is made of 100%

Polypropylene (PP) specially engineered fabric manufactured with high
strengths and efficiency seam to capture the solids and allow the effluent
water to pass through.

10. Effluent Storage Tank – Effluent water is collected and stored for further
treatment or can be reused for Domestic purpose.

3.0. ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

Head Office

Plant Operator / Supervisor

Technician - 1 Technician - 2

4.0. SLUDGE CAPACITY ACCEPTANCE

1. An Anaerobic Digestor (Tank 2) capacity of 15m3 with a free a board of 3m 3

where we allow to store 12m3 of sludge every day, three trucks of sludge per
day of having a capacity of 4m 3.

2. Additional capacities of sludge can be accepted subjected to following

conditions:
A) There shall be free capacity of 6m3 storing in Tank 2
B) The intake shall not exceed one truck load (4m3).
5.0. OPERATION OF VALVES

Fig:2 Showing the Valve arrangement in the Dewatering Process

At the start of the Operation all the valves should be closed, Operate the valves as mentioned
below:

ACTION
OUTCOME / RESULT
OPEN CLOSE

V1 & V 2 V6 / V4 / V3 Allows Recirculation of Sludge

Allows the Sludge to pass through the Static

V3 V2
mixer line and Recirculation stops.
Allows the Polymer solution to pass through the
V4 & V 5 V6
static mixer.

V6 V5 Allows the Sludge into the Geotube

V6 / V4 / V3 / End of day work close all the valves and pump

-
V2 /V 1 clear water to Clean all the Pipes.
6.0. OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE:

1. Collect the sludge from Tanker, the raw sludge passes through the steel
screening unit and a plastic wire mesh arranged in the Tank-1.

2. All the plastics, debris shall be screened, and if any plastic content stuck in
the steel unit needs to be removed manually or by jet spraying the water.

3. From the Screening Tank (Tank-1) the sludge passes to the Anaerobic
Digestor. Before operating ensure all the valves are closed.

4. Open Valve V 1 and V2 to allow the pump P 1 to pump the sludge for
Recirculation up to 10 to 15 min or shall be decided upon the solid content.

5. Close V2 to stop Recirculation and Open V3, V5, to allow the sludge to pass
through the Static mixer pipe line.

6. Now open the V4, and switch on the Polymer pump P2 to start the polymer
dosing into the Sludge passing through the static mixer.

7. Collect 1 or 2 buckets of flocculated sludge to check the Flocculation process.

Fig:3 Showing the Valve arrangement in the Dewatering Process

8. Based upon the Floc size need to decide either to pump or Close all the
valves and recirculate the sludge to idealize the Solid content in the Sludge.

9. Repeat the same process at the Sampling port, until proper the size of the
Floc is observed.
10. If Floc size is as per the requirement increase the Dosage of the Polymer or
need to recirculate the sludge to form the right size of the Floc.

11. After assuring the right floc is formed, Close the valve V5 and Open V6 to
allow the Sludge to pass into the Geotube® Unit.

12. After every 15 min of pumping, try to close V 6 and open V 5 to check the Floc
size, to ensure the good size of the Floc.

13. Collect the Effluent water coming out of the Geotube ® unit for each tube, to
measure the TSS, pH, BOD and COD levels, if required further treatment of
the effluent can be arranged.
GEOTUBE® DEWATERING SYSTEM DO’S AND DON’TS

1. Do grade the platform for the Geotube® Unit with a slope 00 side to side and end
to end, of the location of each Geotube® Unit.

2. Do make sure the polymer feed pump is correctly sized to feed the necessary
dosage. If making the polymer down into the solution in-line, make sure the
water pressure is adequate to supply enough of water.

3. Do confirm what the actual solids are in situ or in the flow – don’t take guess
estimate.

4. Do use a recirculation line during start up.

5. Always have a sample tap prior to using the Geotube ® Unit.

6. At the end of the day, do clean out the polymer lines – particularly if the weather
is cold.

7. If dewatering stops due to poor conditioning, do try the following:

a. Use a stiff broom to clean Geotube® unit surface.
b. Power wash the tube with a high velocity stream of water.
c. Pump the sludge out into a clean Geotube® unit with correct conditioning.

8. Do not tie the tube down using handling straps.

9. Do not try to pump a lagoon by dropping in a submersible pump. Use a lagoon

pump or a dredge or pump the material to a frac tank for mixing.

10. Do not fill the tube beyond recommended fill height stenciled on the Geotube ®
unit.

11. Do not stand on the Geotube® unit during filling. Also, do not walk on, walk
besides, or walk at the ends of the Geotube® unit during filling.

12. During deployment of Geotube® unit, do not drag it across rocks or sharp
objects.