Lamella Clarifier Installed At A Livestock Auction Market

Installation of a Lamella Clarifier to enhance an existing Groundhog separator at a livestock auction

Project Details

The livestock auction at Market Drayton breached the suspended solids discharge consent levels that the local water company had set. This was partly due to changes in bedding regimes for livestock over the past few years and an increase in volumes of effluent.

To deal with the effluent’s gross solids, a Groundhog Separator was installed in 2007. However, the Separator performs amazing that is not designed to deal with fine particles. The existing below-ground settlement tanks were used to settle the finer particles after separation but before discharge to the effluent sewer.

Due to the volumes now being treated and a lot finer particles in the separated effluent, there was not enough settlement time in the tanks. This was causing more suspended solids to enter the sewer system.

Pollution Control recommended the installation of a Lamella Clarifier to settle out the finer particles once the effluent has passed through the Separator. This technology was chosen as the settling area in this type of system is reduced by 90% compared to settlement tanks, saving substantial civil cost and installation space.

The installation was completed in 2016 and has not only allowed the Auction to now keep well below their suspended solids discharge consent levels but also a substantial reduction in the COD levels where further savings on their utility bill were made.

We also installed a Lamella Clarifier in 2008 at Penrith auction mart (which also has had a Groundhog Separator since 1994). This enabled them to achieve considerable cost reductions in their effluent charges.