I have known about ACTIFLO since I was a teenager and even did a science report on the system and how it worked for my chemistry class in high school. I got an A on the report by the way. I now know that not everyone is aware of ACTIFLO and what it can do. That is why I wanted to give another report or brief insight into how it works and what it can do.
The ACTIFLO has been in operation in the US since the early 90’s and can be used in both a Water Treatment plant and in a Wastewater treatment plant using the same concept just removing different constituents. To keep it simple the ACTIFLO System is a clarifier but it is not that simple.
The sand is reused within the system via pumping it to a hydrocyclone where it separates the sand and sludge. When I say “High-Rate Clarification” I mean that there is no other technology that can even come close to the design overflow rates of the ACTIFLO. In water treatment the overflow rate starts at 32gpm/sf and in wastewater treatment it can go up to 60gpm/sf.
Stage one is the coagulation step where a coagulant is added to a mix tank with a high mixing velocity where the formation of pinfloc begins and just after a few minutes it enters another mix tank (lower mixing velocity) where the sand and polymer are added. Within this maturation tank the pinfloc, polymer and sand create a larger floc particle and about 6 minutes later overflows to a settling tank with a scraper to collect the sand/sludge and pumps to a hydrocyclone where the sand is re-injected to the maturation tank and the sludge is removed. Within the settling tank the clean water flows upwards and over weirs/troughs to a common launder and to the next treatment process. Within 20 minutes the clarification step is complete unlike in a typical clarification that takes hours.
The combination of sand and polymer help the ACTIFLO System absorb any fluctuations in influent conditions to have a consistent effluent.
Clarifiers have been used in water treatment for a very long time and are still used today but they take up a lot of space and are not as efficient. When space is tight, have a low limit or if there is too much storm water flow to handle ACTIFLO should be evaluated. Kruger has been piloting the system since the 90’s growing its knowledge and pushing the envelope of what the system can do and what they can achieve from 0.05mg/L Phosphorus to organics to below 1.5mg/L. Kruger guarantees all of its ACTIFLO systems and are proud to show you what they can do.
For over 15 years, I have been a technical guru for the water and wastewater industry, and now I would love to share with you a bit of Industry knowledge. I’ll share with you new tech, water treatment info, Webinars and Events.
