West Wastewater Treatment Plant
Challenge – Dewatered sludge exposed to the elements
Solution – Hercules Truss Arch Building
Size – 77′ wide x 96′ long
Application – Covered sludge bed
In the past ten years the population of the Village of Huntley (Ill.) has increased from approximately 6,000 residents to more than 23,000, according to Chief Wastewater Operator Adrian Pino. Serving this growing population, the sanitation department recognizes the importance of effective and cost-saving methods of treating the village’s wastewater.
The village utilizes two activated sludge wastewater treatment plants, where sludge from the wastewater is processed and dewatered. Without any covered storage space, the sludge was stored in beds that were exposed to the elements. “We get charged by the cubic yard for sludge disposal,” said Utilities Superintendent Steve Zonta. “By storing it without cover, it would get rained on and grow in mass. The sludge was becoming expensive to dispose of.”
To reduce costs, the department began to look into possible solutions for covering the sludge beds. “I saw a ClearSpan catalog, spoke to a Truss Arch Sales Specialist and realized that a fabric structure would be a cost-effective way to
solve our problem,” stated Pino. “We already had a wood structure with a metal roof at the East Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the ClearSpan structure we chose came in at less than a third of what the other structure cost.”With a 77′ wide by 96′ long Hercules Truss Arch Building, they can now store up to 13,000 cubic yards of sludge under cover.
The durability of the ClearSpan structure was a major deciding factor, according to Zonta. “The warranty and the fact that the building could be engineered to specific snow and wind loads were important. It proved that this wasn’t going to be just a temporary solution. Working with ClearSpan was a smooth process with good communication and customer service.”
“We told our Truss Arch Sales Specialist what we wanted and that’s what we got. It’s a well-made, high-quality product and exactly what we were looking for,” Pino added. For more information on the Village of Huntley and their ClearSpan structure, contact Adrian Pino at 847.515.5292.
