Water & Wastewater

Overview

Municipal wastewater plants run a sludge-handling line — thickening → digestion → dewatering → disposal — where inline density is the bottleneck for energy and polymer optimisation. Thickener underflow (2-6%), digester recirc (3-8%), centrifuge / belt-press inlet (4-10%) are the canonical measurement points. Drinking-water plants also monitor floc concentration in settling basins and MLSS in activated sludge tanks.

Process challenges

• Sludge carries fibres, hair and plastic shards that clog intrusive sensors
• Digester gas (methane) interferes with differential-pressure measurement
• Plant environments are humid and corrosive — IP65+ enclosure mandatory
• Cs-137 gauge phase-out is accelerating across municipal plants
• Highly variable composition (rain events, industrial slugs) demands adaptive sensors

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