Mine Site Wastewater Treatment Project
Project Summary
Remote Mining Camp Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Application: Remote Arctic Camp
- Year of Completion: 2003
- System Type: Mobile Wastewater Treatment Plant
The Problem:
The mining company operating a camp in the Northwest Territories had a requirement for a wastewater treatment plant. The governmental authorities apply very strict environmental standards in northern Canada and it was critical to have a system that would ensure that a high wastewater effluent standard could be consistently maintained. The plant would also have to operate under extremely cold arctic weather conditions. Temperatures are often well below -60°C.
Due to the extreme remoteness of the facility, the wastewater treatment plant would have to be transported by aircraft to the site. Only a single airlift was acceptable using a Hercules transport aircraft. Only a completely assembled, factory ready treatment plant would be acceptable. The plant had to be ready for operation within hours of arriving at the site.
The Seprotech Solution:
The mining company is a repeat customer that already had two of Seprotech's systems operating at the mining site. Since the performance of these systems has been very reliable in the past, the company had a high level of confidence in Seprotech to supply an additional system.
The solution in this case is Seprotech's ROTORDISK® system. The Full Steel ROTORDISK® is a complete self-contained wastewater treatment plant. Everything required to treat the effluent is in this single system. Built for extreme heavy-duty operating and transportation conditions, the Full Steel ROTORDISK® is designed to be shipped by air, truck, ship and rail using standard ISO container handling facilities.
The treatment process is summarized as follows:
- Wastewater is pumped from the mining camp directly into the primary clarifier contained within the ROTORDISK® container.
- The wastewater flows by gravity to the Rotorzone of the ROTORDISK®.
- The Rotorzone is designed to treat the wastewater in four stages.
- Following treatment, the wastewater flows to a final clarifier that is also contained in the unit.
- Before being discharged to surface, an Ultra-Violet disinfection system, also in the unit, ensures that there are no remaining bacteria in the discharge effluent.
- An on-board control panel monitors the process.
- The system is designed to be pumped out only every six to twelve weeks subject to solids loading.
The ROTORDISK® is an extremely compact wastewater treatment plant that solves the wastewater problems of remote camps and facilities. As a completely self-contained and extremely rugged system, the ROTORDISK® can be easily transported virtually anywhere in the world. In this case, the mining camp required a system that could meet stringent discharge standards reliably but would not require constant operator interference. Less than three hours a week of operator time is required to run the plant. The ROTORDISK® is a standard Seprotech product available off the shelf.
