Ahead of next week’s European BioSolids & Bioresources Conference & Exhibition in Manchester on 19-20 November 2024, Dale Foster, Business Development Manager at HUBER Technology explains why the company expects to see growing demand for its innovative HUBER S-DISC containerised sludge thickener treatment solution in AMP8.

Dale Foster: This year we will be highlighting a range of HUBER’s sludge treatment solutions at the conference – including screening, thickening, dewatering and drying. But for this article I’d like to focus on one solution in particular – our S-DISC containerised sludge thickener solution.

During the COVID pandemic HUBER GB developed our S-DISC sludge thickening plant skid mounted solution into a fully containerised package which is fully WIMES compliant. We achieved our first sale in 2022 since when we’ve gone from strength to strength. Initially available as the size 1 with a capacity of up to 18 cu.m/hr, we are now offering our size 2 unit with a capacity of 38 cu.m/hr.

With a specific focus on reducing transportation costs to sludge treatment centres, we’re seeing growing interest from UK water companies in the benefits this innovative packaged thickening solution offers them.

A brief run-through of what these include:

• The simplest, most robust and compact thickener on the market
• Lowest physical and carbon footprint
• Significant savings in terms of costs and carbon - up to 40% lower capital costs and 25% lower operating costs
• Low energy, chemical & wash water demand = lowest Whole Life Cost
• Plug & Play solution - reduced installation time, reduced manpower on site with a corresponding reduction in health and safety risks
• Fully assembled and tested in our works to reduce site commissioning phase, optimisation and handover time
• Low operation and maintenance time
• Rapid deployment as a temporary solution for short/long term hire

In particular, the containerised S-DISC thickening plant offers a standout saving in terms of tankering costs – cutting 10 tanker movements to 1 tanker delivers a 90% reduction in tankering costs.

AMP8 is set to put further pressure on the wastewater sector to meet challenges from increased sludge production and potential challenges coming down the line with regard to disposal to land of sludge.

We currently have several units in manufacture and references in Anglian Water, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Scottish Water, Severn Trent Water and Thames Water – and we expect demand for our containerised solution to increase further.

I’ll be speaking about our solutions during the course of the conference – and I’ll also be on our stand where we will have a scale working model of some of our sludge thickening and dewatering products. Please come along for a chat and I’ll be happy to talk through how this solution can help you meet your AMP8 requirements.

Further pressure for the water companies in the form of challenges for the disposal to land of sludge, together with the increased production of sludge in AMP8 as a result of the WINEP programme, means that sludge treatment has now become a key focus for the water industry.