Generally, it contains biosolids removed from liquid sewage. Sludge thickening is important because it is the process used in wastewater treatment centers to increase the solids concentration and decrease the free water. This process is carried out by means of a Thickening Equipment. This step minimizes the load on the downstream processes, such as sludge dewatering and digestion.

Thickening and dewatering - Reduce the amount of waste for disposal by up to 90%

On-site thickening and dewatering of sludge is a fundamental part of all current wastewater treatment options to significantly reduce the sludge volume. This has a huge impact on costs for transportation, effluent disposal, storage and drying. It is also highly relevant for sludge to be used as digester feed for biogas production, thermal processes and composting.

Mechanical thickening of sludge from primary or secondary clarifiers has replaced gravity tanks as the industry norm prior to digestion or dewatering.

There’s more to this process of course, and this article highlights how sludge thickening works and its general impact, as well as effective groundwater treatment solutions.

How Sludge Thickening Works

Gravity thickening involves using specially designed circular tanks that concentrate thin sludges to a more-dense sludge product. The limitation of this form of clarification water treatment is that it works mostly for the excess watery sludge derived from an activated-sludge process. Thickening tanks have slow-moving vertical paddles. Sludge flows into the thickening tank, and eventually, it removes excess water from the solids collecting at the bottom. A gravity thickener has a similar process to the tanks, but it has a sloped design so that solids collect at the base.