Dewatering is used in many industries for waste minimization and to convert liquid waste into solid waste for disposal. Our customers have realized significant cost savings by utilizing geotextile bags/tubes over alternative methods such as expensive dewatering box rentals, mechanical presses, sludge lagoons, wet hauling or sand drying beds.
PacTec manufactures many sizes of geotextile tubes/bags from permeable, high strength fabrics designed to contain solids and allow liquids to escape. They work with any hydraulically transported waste stream and utilize pressure to dewater at a faster rate of speed than alternative methods. In addition to significant cost savings, there are many other advantages to be realized.
1. Efficiencies of Speed: Since dewatering tubes utilize the force created by pumping in addition to gravity, the process is exponentially faster than other methods. Plus, depending on the size of the tube for your project, multiple fill spouts and pumps can be utilized, further speeding up the process. Additionally, by utilizing a dewatering tube within a roll-off, the solids are already fully encapsulated within the tube, so the waste is ready for immediate disposal transport. Other dewatering methods would require machinery to load the solid waste into packaging or containers.
2. Smaller Footprint: Geotextile dewatering solutions can be custom manufactured to fit into any footprint available. For those with expansive laydown areas, tubes can be made very large with multiple fill spouts. Tubes can also be manufactured small enough to fit individual pallets or configured for stacking to utilize vertical space. We also manufacture tubes designed to fit perfectly into a standard roll-off box, that once dewatered, is already in a package within a container for immediate disposal.
3. Easy to Use: Geotextile systems are simple to operate: simply attach your pump to the fill spouts, begin filling the bag/tube with slurry and allow pressure and gravity to dewater your waste. Our high strength, permeable fabrics retain the solids and allow the water to escape. Once pumping begins, clear water will drain from the tube through the openings in the fabric. Often this water can be returned to natural waterways, reused or captured and returned creating a closed-loop system. They also require less ongoing maintenance and a lower degree of supervision common with alternative solutions like centrifuges and belt presses.
4. Waste Containment: Perhaps the best feature of many geotextile dewatering solutions (in this case the roll-off size) is that once the dewatering is complete, the solids are already captured in packaging ready for disposal. No additional cleanup is required (unless the tube is oversized and cannot be lifted safely). This is not the case with other solutions, where the solids have been deposited onto the ground and need to be moved into a waste container.
5. Low Environmental Impact: Unlike centrifuge and belt press dewatering systems, geotextile bags/tubes have a low impact on the environment in several ways. They do not require a large power input in order to function well, which saves energy. They also do not require any additional water other than the moisture already in the sludge/waste being pumped, which saves on potable water. Plus, they don’t require a great deal of heavy gas-powered machinery so there is little impact on the air quality. Finally, the decanted water can often be discharged directly into local water streams or storm drains.
6. Versatile: Because PacTec offers so many sizes to meet custom specifications, they really are a versatile dewatering option. There has been a recent surge in demand for roll-off container sizes, likely due to their ease of use and elimination of dewatering equipment. Since most sites already have access to standard roll-off containers, it’s most cost-effective to use those for various purposes. Plus, since they totally encapsulate the solids dewatered from the sludge within a package in a container ready for disposal, labor costs are reduced.
If you have a dewatering question or wish to get information on how PacTec’s GeoPac® dewatering tubes can be used for your project, give a knowledgeable PacTec, Inc. sales professional a call today at 800.272.2832 or click here for more information.
