Waste water processing plants are something that no city, or large industrial facility like power station, pulp and paper factory or steel plant, can go without. If one went out of function, it would catch everyone’s attention very quickly and most likely lead to significant losses in downtime, penalties or health and safety issues.

One of the main materials that make parts of a waste water utility plant is concrete. Concrete is seen by most people as a very durable material, and that’s fundamentally true, but it’s far from being absolutely resistant to damages. Most usual kinds of damages that can occur on concrete are mechanical and chemical.

Waste water facilities are made of concrete and metal almost in their entirety. Both materials are prone to wear, while metal is additionally threatened by corrosion. The wear damage is caused by abrasive particles flowing through the plant or chemicals used in the pre-treatment and exploitation processes, and can happen in different parts of the facility. From influent structures through grit chambers – which are especially exposed to highly abrasive grit that can damage the pumps – to centrifuges which are the heart of any such facility.

Replacement of some of these parts is certainly an option, but nowadays there are very efficient ways not only to rebuild and repair damaged parts, but also to protect them (whether as new or after repair) and minimize the effects of future wear, increasing reliability,  extending their service life and decreasing the capital and operational expenditures.

Several waste water facilities in Hungary and Bulgaria already gave these benefits a try and were quite pleased with the results. In Hungarian case, the concrete clarifier shoulders was rebuilt and repaired using Loctite PC 7257. The processes took in average 2 days, but the facilities kept running during the repair undisturbed.

In case of the facility in Sofia, clarifier shoulders were protected from chemical damages using the product Loctite PC 7277.

Another high priority challenge of the modern waste water and water supply facilities in achieving high effectiveness, is energy consumption and equipment efficiency. Million cubic meters of water per day are transported by different types and sizes of pumps. Having in mind the total cost of pump ownership, the energy consumption in such a plant can be significant.

Using Loctite Polymer Composites for rebuilding, renewing and protecting parts subjected to wear, chemicals or weather conditions, some companies from the industry were able to achieve major equipment efficiency and energy saving improvements. Naturally, the products from this range can be used beyond the waste water processing.

For more about solutions for Waste water facilities, feel free to  browse.