Good use of grinder?
Good use of grinder?
(OP)
Our client wants to remove a mechanical bar screen & install a grinder in one of their pump stations. The station has two GR T-10 pumps. The FM exiting the station is 12", the gravity line intering the station is 18". I sales rep I work with quite a bit said he doesnt think a grinder is such a great idea because of the large materials that could come through the 18" line, i.e. bricks. I guess it would be better for a brick to chew up some grinder teeth than a pump impeller though.
Any thoughts? Leave the bar screen, install the grinder, or remove the bar screen with out a grinder?
Thanks,
Mike
Any thoughts? Leave the bar screen, install the grinder, or remove the bar screen with out a grinder?
Thanks,
Mike





RE: Good use of grinder?
RE: Good use of grinder?
Mike
RE: Good use of grinder?
RE: Good use of grinder?
I have also seen the muffin monster installed upstream of prison lift stations. Inmates intentionally flush anything they can down the toilets to cause as much of a headache for the warden as possible: shoes, bedsheets, etc. We tossed several golf balls into one of them at once and it chewed them up like a hot knife through butter. Bricks however....I would contact muffin monster and check with them.
RE: Good use of grinder?
Mike
RE: Good use of grinder?
Steve Wagner
RE: Good use of grinder?
RE: Good use of grinder?
You would be better off with a mechanical screen that would remove the stuff rather than just chopping it up.
Don't think that the grinder is the "easy button" that your clients are looking for. Leave the bar screen, or think about installing a mechanical screen. Forget the grinder.
RE: Good use of grinder?
If not, why did they tell you to not look at other options?
RE: Good use of grinder?
Mike
RE: Good use of grinder?
RE: Good use of grinder?
We originally had only grinders (comminutors) in the influent stream, and had terrible problems with debris clogging downstream equipment. The barscreens have done us a great service in that respect.
Our grinders are Muffin Monsters; there is a relatively small rock trap upstream of the grinders which in our case seems to take care of some of the geological problems others have mentioned. (Rocks do show up there, and sometimes they're pretty big!)
Heavy grease loads can partially blind the muffin monster-style grinders, though. In some sewage systems -- ours included -- grease "bergs" build up in wetwells or lines and break loose during high flow periods. These bergs get chewed into grease-butter by the grinders; the teeth become packed with the stuff, and then the remaining bergs won't go through and form a dam upstream of the grinders.
Odor is a terrible problem with screenings, though, especially if your pump station is in or near a residential neighborhood. Rats love 'em as well; they're a vermin magnet.
One further thought -- depending on the hydraulic flushing of the wetwell it could be that ground rags and sticks could agglomerate into wads or mats and cause ugly pump problems periodically.
Good luck --