Sewage Infrastructure

The build-up of FOGS creates significant blockages in the sewage system and the main methods for their elimination are destructive and corrosive.

Overview

Fats, oils and greases and saponification (FOGS) create major blockages, floods and pollution problems within the national sewage infrastructure, causing water companies to spend more than £100m per year on removal processes. Governments and industry are under increasing financial, regulatory and stakeholder pressure to deal with wastewater in a safe, environmentally responsible and cost effective way.

Water companies have been using bacteria to digest waste at Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) for over 100 years, but FOGS still build up in the system, in extreme cases forming concrete-like fatbergs up to 250m long. This build-up must be removed manually in an expensive and dangerous procedure that uses high-pressure jetting and corrosive chemicals and can cause significant damage to sewers, some of which are a century old. Over the last five years, water companies in England and Wales have spent £44bn on infrastructure repairs.

How it works

SLUDGEZAP 2 improves the efficiency of bacterial waste digestion through the inclusion of strains that have been identified as being particularly effective in specific applications. One of the keys is a built-in effervescence, which releases ‘active oxygen’ and dramatically boosts the FOGS-eliminating bacteria, maximising flow rates and minimising sediments.

Benefits

The product’s strength is in its versatility, allowing it to be applied without the footprint needed by a WWTP. Its sludge digestion technology can help clean the entire sewage system, including within the lift and pump wells, as well as surface FOGS. It reduces sludge, increases flow-rates, eliminates odours, reduces corrosive gases, extends equipment life and lowers operational costs, maintenance and downtime.