beneficial use of alum sludge

[mungerUEI]

Does anyone have experience with using alum sludge for beneficial purposes? The specific application I am working on is a plant upgrade -- 4.0 MGD design capacity with DAF for clarification. Thanks, Mike

 

[redbridge]

I worked for an entity that land farmed all of their alum sludge. This was an area with a lot of farms and hay fields. They had a 4.0 mgd conventional wtp. You could always haul it to a landfill.

 

[mungerUEI]

Interesting,... things I have read say that alum sludge can be problematic because it binds phosphorus, so extra fertilizer is required.
Yes, landfilling is an option, but we were hoping we could put it to better use (and possibly get some money).
Thanks for the reply.

 

[justanoperator]

I ran a plant in middle Tennessee. The state had to approve each site to be sure it wouldn't get back into streams. We would stock pile it at the plant and give it to anyone that would haul it away. We had no problem getting people to come to get it. It may have taken more fertilize but it made some great green grass for yards.

 

[semo]

It depends upon the needs of the soil. If the pH is high, aluminum sulfate or sulfur can be used to lower the pH. It requires a lot more aluminum sulfate to do the same job as the sulfur; but, if it is free who cares.

 

[bimr]

Maybe this link will help:

http://www.genchemcorp.com/markets/water/reuse.shtml

 

[mungerUEI]

Thank you all for your input. These are good ideas.

 

[sewerratt]

If you have a wastewater plant nearby, consider pumping the alum sludge to it before dewatering or at least before its dewatered to a thicker sludge. The alum residual helps with settling in the primaries and secondary clarifiers. Just have to make sure you wont be exceeding the aluminum limits on your discharge permit. We pump all our backwash water to a nearby force main heading to a treatment plant. Some issues with addl solids, but the WW guys have a good handle on it.