Case Study: Greasy “Air-Craft Carriers” Destroyed By Taskmaster®

The Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Water Works Authority in Levittown, Pennsylvania is an activated sludge primary treatment plant. The facility is responsible for thirteen lift stations in the district and processes 10 million gallons of wastewater per day.

One of the stations had chronic problems because it had no catch basin for rags, debris or grease. To make matters worse, it was located directly in the path of two major shopping centers that disgorged massive quantities of all these waste products into the wastewater. “The pieces of grease were so big, we called them aircraft carriers”, said Lift Station Mechanic, Ken Balcom. ” They’d come in and, without a catch basin, would block up the pumps and corrode the valves. We would be down for 8-12 hours of operation because we’d have to clean the pumps.”

These rag-laden grease mounds would float downstream and present a menace to the entire system. That was until they installed a TASKMASTER® grinder. Purchasing the TASKMASTER TM8516, a powerful grinding unit, employing counter-rotating banks of intermeshing cutters, made all the difference.

The unit was installed right over the influent pipe, negating the need for a bar screen or a catch basin. When the debris entered the station, it passed directly through the grinder where it was ground up into small particles. As a bonus, the “aircraft carriers were completely destroyed and the grease was dispersed. Thereafter, it smoothly and easily passed through the pumps with no difficulties.

“We’re very pleased with the unit,” said Mr. Balcom. “It has improved system operations, cut down on maintenance and is very reliable. We maintain it according to the specs and we’ve had no trouble whatsoever.”

The TASKMASTER is a rugged workhorse of a grinder. The unit’s twin shaft mechanism is especially rugged due to the use of the CUTTER CARTRIDGE®, instead of standard individual cutter and spacer disks. This design gives it the extra strength needed to successful process these tough rags and grease.

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