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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
MAY
2016
DAMS AND RESERVOIRS
Designed and developed by KSB
Pumps and Valves, the Ama DS
allows treatment of waste water to
be undertaken further from treat-
ment plants and makes it viable to collect
waste water from larger collection areas for
treatment at centralised plants.
According to Hendrik Enslin, KSB waste
water projects and applications manager,
the Ama DS system enables wider and more
cost effective collection of waste water and
paves the way for the development of sani-
tation systems in rural areas or areas where
sanitation was not deemed possible due to
unsuitable geographical location or where
gravitational systems were not possible.
Large area coverage
“The genius of the system is the ability to
immediately remove solids from the system
and separate it from the water. This enables
pumps with smaller free passages to be used
and as a result allows the system to pump
the water over much longer distances than
previously possible.
“In addition, with the solids removed,
there is nothing to impede or block the impel-
lers etc. and this allows for a far more reliable
system and cleaner more hygienic pumps for
ease of serviceability. Once solids build-up to
a pre-determined level some of the processed
waste water is then used to bypass the pumps
and flush the solids to the treatment plant.
“This effectively frees municipalities or
communities to pump waste to more distant
treatment plants or to establish centralised
plants that can be shared by many different
communities in a region. We are hoping that
this will play a significant role in bringing sani-
tation to all parts of the country,” says Hendrik.
Technological solution
In typical KSB fashion the company has used
technology to overcome an age-old problem
and provide configurable solutions that can
be tailor-made to suit applications. Using
smart level meters and trending technology
the entire system can be managed to ensure
the system is able to cope with varying
demands throughout daily, weekly and even
seasonal fluctuations.
Both water and solids levels are constantly
monitored and purged as and when required.
Inflow and outlet pumps are only operational
when required and as a result the system uses
less energy which is an important consider-
ation in far-flung areas. In addition, the Ama
DS system is also well suited for applications
in municipal and industrial waste water
transport, drainage of hotels, hospitals,
campgrounds, low density housing projects
etc. Systems are available to handle anything
from 6-200 cubic metres per hour.
Besides the obvious benefit of providing
sanitation in far flung and rural areas, the
system also provides a solution that is more
efficient than traditional pumping systems,
is more reliable as a result of solids being
removed before entering the pumps, less
downtime as a result of less wear and
blockages, cleaner and safer operation and
less maintenance.
How it works
Hendrik explains that the patented solids
separation system removes solids and tempo-
rarily stores it in separators. Only pre-treated
waste water not containing coarse solids
flows through the pumps. The pre-treated
waste water is pumped through the solids
separators in the opposite direction and
VIABLE SOLUTION
to replace bucket system
A pumping system designed to separate solids and
pump waste water over longer distances holds
the key to providing acceptable sanitation to rural
villages and sparsely inhabited areas where, until
recently, the bucket system and pit latrines were
the only alternative.
carries the solids out of the separators and
into the discharge line. Through this process
the solids separators and pumps are cleaned
and ready for the next inflow phase.
“During the design stages our experts
also paid great attention to maximising
operating reliability in order to keep future
maintenance to a minimum, thus reducing
the overall costs. Necessary servicing work
can also be carried out while the equipment
is in operation and service personnel work in
hygienic working conditions. Maintenance to
the externally installed solids separators can
be conducted very easily, quickly and without
shutting down the system.
>
Hendrik Enslin of KSB Pumps and Valves.
A typical rural collection system.
Ama DS pumping system developed to separate
solids and pump liquids over longer distances.