Enhancement of settling tank capacity using a new type of tube settler

The effectiveness of a newly developed lamellar settler was confirmed by onsite experiments. The device had inclined parallel plates arranged in a vertical direction in a settling tank. This vertical arrangement method enables many more plates to be set compared to the conventional horizontal arrangement. As an original and distinctive innovation, both the right and left edges of the plates were closed, for removing the clear water between the plates, The tube settler modules were installed in a final settling tank of a sewage treatment plant. Tests conducted over a 9 months period showed that the system operated successfully and under normal operation conditions, the new device could treat almost the same flow rate as that treated by a conventional tank, 5,000 m(3)/day. For storm water, the new tube settler was demonstrated to enhance the settling tank capacity by up to 3 times.