Category Archives: Fine Bubble Aeration

Spare a thought for your Sewage Treatment Plant this Christmas

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KEE-Van-fleet

Spare a thought for your
Sewage Treatment Plant this Christmas
With the festive season upon us, guests arriving and the celebrations in full swing, please do keep in mind what you and any visitors are pouring or flushing down your drainage system into your Sewage Treatment Plant.

Do’s

  • Follow manufacturers’ recommended doses for your water type when using household cleaning products. Soft water requires far less detergent concentration than hard water.
  • Try to use cleaning products little and often so your treatment plant is not overloaded.
  • Use liquids (not powders) in washing machines and dishwashers. Powders re-coagulate into clumps and can cause blockages.
  • Try to spread your clothes washing throughout the week.
  • Stick to the same washing, dishwasher and other cleaning products as the bacteria will work more efficiently with products it is used to treating.
  • Think before you put anything down the sink, toilet or drains.
  • Desludge your plant when required. Click HERE to view our one page KEE EXPERT guide on proficient desludging and how regularly your unit should be desludged.
  • Ensure only toilet paper is flushed down the toilet and used in normal quantities.
  • Leave your plant switched on while you are away or on holiday. Switching off your plant can cause damage to the motor and moving parts as well as kill the biomass.
  • Compost all your organic food waste or use your local council bio-degradable waste recycling service (where applicable) to dispose of organic waste. Do not flush organic waste down the sink or drain.

Don’ts

  • Don’t put sanitary towels, tampons, cotton wool or cotton wool buds, incontinence pads or any baby, cleaning or facial wipes down the toilet.
  • Don’t flush rubber products or other non-biodegradable products down the toilet.
  • Don’t pour fat, grease or cooking oil down the sink or drains. Fats suffocate the bacteria and inhibit the biological process. Everyday products such as milk, wine or beer increase the organic load and should also not be disposed of through the wastewater system.
  • Don’t use neat disinfectant or bleach. KEE recommends that these products are only used at the minimum concentration possible, as they can restrict the biomass growth within the plant.
  • Don’t tip medicine, mouth wash or any chemicals such as photographic fluid or garden products (e.g. Insecticides, weed killers and fungicides) down the drains as they will damage the biological treatment process.
  • Don’t pour DIY products (e.g. paint, thinners, turpentine and white spirit etc.) or car fluids such as engine oil, anti-freeze, brake fluid etc. down the drains.
  • Don’t allow rainwater, groundwater or large volumes of water (such as those from a swimming pool or Jacuzzi) into the plant. Chlorine kills the bacteria and the excessive water will increase the flow rate through the plant, not allowing sufficient treatment time.
  • Don’t fit a waste disposal unit under your kitchen sink. Disposing of organic matter through the treatment system increases the organic load, creating bacterial overgrowth which will inhibit the treatment process. Only use a waste disposal unit if your plant is specifically designed to accept higher organic loads.

 

Click the image to download the leaflet.

For more information visit our website or call
KEE Services on:
01296 634500

KEE Reminder – It’s All Change in January 2020

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What do the new Septic Tank Regulations mean to you?

Back in November 2017, we wrote a blog advising all our customers of the change in Septic Tank Regulations which come into effect on the 1st January 2020. If you have a Septic Tank at home or at work and it’s discharging into a river, stream or surface water, we recommend that you take action now and review replacing it with a Wastewater Treatment Plant to meet the new EA regulations coming into force on the 1st January 2020.

Discharges from septic tanks directly to surface water will no longer be allowed under the general binding rules.

To help guide you on the new regulations, please read our last blog on the subject here  and the click on the link to the current Gov.UK webpage on the subject here

 

 

 

KEE Process & KEE Services specialise in Wastewater Treatment Plants so if the changes in regulations apply to you then please do give us a call on 01296 634500 as soon as possible so we can help guide you through the process and advise you on the best approach to meet your requirements and EA regulations.

Don’t want to pay for a new treatment plant – why not refurbish your old one?

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KEE Process and KEE Services Limited have been commissioned to refurbish and update countless old and tired treatment plants. The example shown below is of a unit located in a small Welsh Village. The ageing plant was proving unreliable and not performing efficiently so KEE designed and built a KEE NuDisc® to replace and update the old treatment plant. 

Refurbishment of old BioDisc

KEE’s upgrade solution was – KEE NuDisc® Technology.

Often the structural housing of a wastewater plant can be re-used, meaning the internal components are replaced with brand new factory built KEE systems, incorporating the latest concepts in mechanical, structural and process engineering.

Refurbishments of this kind extend the life of the plant by another 20 years, drastically reducing the overall lifetime cost when compared to installing a brand new plant.

KEE’s Service technicians complete a full refurbishment suitability survey to assess the compatibility of each plant for an upgrade. This is applicable to all manufacturer makes of wastewater treatment plants and not just those designed, and produced by KEE. Water Authority sites have proved popular with refurbishments, reducing Water Authority spending and providing brand new refurbished treatment plants which are fully compliant to the relevant Authority specification.

Refurbishments remove the costly civil work elements associated with complete plant replacement.

Utilising current process equipment can often increase the treatment capabilities of the existing system, therefore making the refurbished plant fit-for-purpose for increased flows and loads, a problem which often occurs with old systems as more influent is added to it over their working life.

Following refurbishment KEE can continue to service, maintain and monitor the condition of the plant to keep it in good working order and performing efficiently.

Why Refurbish?

  • Minimises waste by only replacing the parts of the plant that need replacing.
  • Greatly reduces the volume and complexity of site works.
  • Less noise and general disturbance on site.
  • Minimises plant ‘downtime’. A refurbishment is generally quicker to complete than a new installation.
  • Incorporates the latest process design features and efficiencies such as KEE’s ‘managed flow’ system to protect the environment and meet wastewater consents and legislation.
  • Reduce or eliminate the need to find an alternative location for a new plant.
  • Extends plant lifespan by 20 years, at a fraction of the total cost of a new plant.

For more information on plant upgrades, refurbishments or new wastewater treatment systems, please visit our website or contact us on: 01296 634500

 

Local Service & Maintenance of Wastewater Treatment systems available Nationwide

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KEE Services welcomed the arrival of a new fleet of vans last month, so our Engineers are ready to start this New Year with extra zest!

The unrivalled knowledge, sound mechanical, electrical and process experience plus invaluable application knowledge enables our engineers to identify problems with equipment early on and recommend the best solution. They have been involved in long-term care of over 8000 installations, maintaining all types and makes of wastewater treatment equipment.

KEE Services have over 60 years of knowledge and expertise in servicing wastewater installations and can tailor the service we provide to meet your requirements.

Our nationwide team of directly employed Engineers operate on a local and regional basis ensuring they have all the understanding of the local area conditions and legislation.

To book a service visit or for more information please contact us at http://www.keeservices.com/book-a-service.html

Call +44 (0) 1296 634 500 or visit our KEE Services website.

‘Out with the Old and in with the NuDisc’ at RSPB Headquarters, Bedfordshire

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This month the RSPB have a shiny new KEE Wastewater Treatment Plant installed. This replacement KEE NuDisc® 20HR model and Twin Pump Station replaces their old G7 BioDisc Unit and Pump Station. The old plant was no longer suitable for their headquarters in Sandy due to the increasing staff numbers based on site and visitors attending the nature reserve.

The KEE NuDisc 20HR and Twin Pump Station that replace the old BioDisc

The KEE NuDisc 20HR and Twin Pump Station that replaces the old BioDisc

 

 

The old G7 BioDisc and Pump stations no longer fit for purpose

The old G7 BioDisc that’s no longer fit for purpose

For more information on KEE’s Wastewater Treatment Plants, or potential existing plant refurbishments or upgrades, please visit our KEE Process website or call us on 01296 634500

Specialists in Domestic & Industrial Wastewater Treatment

KEE’s Commitment to Environmentally Sustainable Procurement and Fair Trade

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One of KEE’s core company values focuses around Environmental Sustainability. As a business, we recognise our obligations to consider the environmental impact the materials we source and the products we produce have on the environment and, we aim to reduce the impacts & ensure environmental sustainability.

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions and fair terms of trade. It’s about supporting the development of thriving communities so that they have more control over their futures and protecting the environment in which they live and work.

KEE Process Ltd & KEE Services Ltd aim to ensure that we will play our part in reducing risks:

  • Use fewer resources and less energy through continuous improvement and the use of innovative solutions.
  • Procure all timber and timber products from legal and sustainable sources, and procure with a preference other construction materials from recognised responsible sourcing schemes.
  • Specify and procure materials and products that strike a responsible balance between social, economic and environmental factors and generate benefits to society and the economy.
  • Use resource-efficient products and give due consideration to end-of-life uses.
  • Influence, specify and source increasing amounts of materials which can be reused, and consider future deconstruction and recovery of resources to embrace the circular economy to leave a sustainable legacy across the built environment.
  • Where possible, provide opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) increase the use of social enterprises, support local employment, diversity and training and work collaboratively with the voluntary sector, especially those near to our offices and operations.
  • Ensure that fair contract prices and terms are applied and respected, and that ethical, human rights and labour standards are met, in line with the United Nations Global Compact principles.
  • Source goods, works and services that embody our environmental policy, health & safety policy and support the delivery of our Sustainable Development Strategy.

We believe our commitment to these values is one of a number of ways in which KEE, everyone within the company, and all our customers can demonstrate social, environmental and economic responsibility. Our business like all others changes and evolves over time, but our core values remain the same.

For more information, please call 01296 634500 or visit our website.

 

 

 

 

Benefits of a Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) approach to managing your Wastewater Treatment Equipment.

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“ A maintenance strategy is necessary to ensure the smooth running of business operations. As well as giving a business better control over its asset and maintenance costs, a clear maintenance strategy helps to ensure statutory compliance and adherence to company policies. ”
Ian Short. KEE Services Business Development Manager.

An unplanned, reactive maintenance approach may lead to lower maintenance costs up front and less time spent on planning and performing maintenance in the short term, but that’s about where the benefits end. The cost of replacing failed components, equipment and emergency call out work at short notice and/or outside of normal operating hours costs much more when the situation arises. Therefore not proactively planning your maintenance tends to be more costly in the longer term and causes much more disruption to your business fixing the problem once it has occurred.

Why maintain your equipment?

There are a number of key reasons a business should take the time to consider the maintenance needs of their Wastewater Treatment equipment:

  • Regulatory compliance
  • Environmental surroundings
  • Ensuring a pleasant
  • Health and Safety obligations
  • Budget management
  • Reliability of equipment
  • Optimising asset use
  • Energy management
  • Business need

Proactive maintenance keeps you one step ahead of your equipment needs. In the same way that you would take your car for regular servicing rather than waiting for it to break down and incurring a large repair bill, it’s strongly advisable to maintain your equipment on a systematic basis.

PPM Strategy

PPM involves setting a maintenance schedule based on either calendar time or asset hours. This should also take into account factors specific to your business usage such as the environment in which it is operated and any legal waste consent requirements applicable.

A maintenance strategy takes the business’s maintenance aims and translates them into actions to support the company’s obligations, requirements and intentions. The strategy should include the following elements:

  • Setting of an appropriate budget
  • Carrying out risk assessments of equipment and processes
  • Establishing detailed regulatory, health and safety needs
  • Designing a resource and efficiency management strategy
  • Ensuring adherence to waste permit limits set by Environmental Agency.
  • Assessing the age of the equipment and whether any plants require refurbishment to extend plant longevity and minimise reactive maintenance.
  • Ensuring all maintenance work is completed by certified, registered companies appropriately insured and trained to complete the work.

PPM Programme

PPM is usually carried out with the support of a certified partner specialising in asset maintenance such as ourselves. Using our experience, we can provide a better insight into the condition of your assets. As a result, you can adopt a proactive maintenance programme designed specifically for your business and equipment thereby reducing the need for reactive maintenance.

Reactive maintenance may sometimes still be required, but a PPM plan will reduce the likelihood of this happening and will assist you in managing the maintenance budget with fewer surprises. Additionally, if a reactive engineer call out is required, KEE can check when the next planned Service Visit is due at your site and, where appropriate, arrange for the engineer to complete the ‘PPM Service’ on the plant at the same time, therefore minimising call out charges and site visits costs.

PPM also gives much greater control over the impact maintenance has on business operations because you can schedule when you wish maintenance to be completed based on when it will cause minimum disruption. For example, you can arrange a maintenance visit for a specific day when employees are available to provide access etc. Seasonal requirements can also be taken into account to ensure your Wastewater Treatment equipment is serviced and in full working order when needed most.

Following a maintenance program and documenting all work carried out also supports your legal compliance and provides evidence thereof (should it be required) in the event of system failure leading to harm or environmental damage.

KEE Services maintain all types and makes of Wastewater Treatment equipment. Please contact us on +44 (0) 1296 634 500 or visit our KEE Services website for more information on designing a PPM programme to suit your requirements.

Over the years, KEE Process Limited has produced and delivered numerous Wastewater Treatment Plant projects in Northern Ireland and Ireland, using local M & E contractors.

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In the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland many of KEE’s projects have been using local M & E contractors who offer total supply and installation packages to clients, with fully comprehensive after sales support. Some of these projects include plant built for the following sites:

1.   Large Hotel, Co. Wicklow.

The hotel already had a wastewater treatment plant but they decided to build a new 40-bedroom lodge on site and therefore needed a plant to treat all the existing flows plus the flow from the planned expansion. The main requirements of the client were:

The final effluent required Total Nitrogen and Phosphorus reduction and needed to consistently comply with the onerous discharge license of BOD < 20 mg/l, SS < 30 mg/l, COD < 80 mg/l, NH4-N < 20 mg/l, NO3-N (Nitrate Nitrogen) < 5 mg/l, Phosphate as PO4 < 12 mg/l, FOG (fat, oil and grease) < 20 mg/l and Detergent (MSAS) < 1 mg/l.

The plant was to have low operational and maintenance costs.

The plant supplier was to be able to provide complete service to include planned preventative and emergency maintenance, process and operation maintenance and effluent sampling.

The KEE’s proposal included supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of a 60m3 primary settlement tank, Module DC16 Rotating Biological Contactor and ST6 hopper bottom GRP final settlement tank. All this equipment was factory built and delivered to site ready for installation on concrete slabs.

This plant was installed and commissioned in 2003. It has operated extremely well mechanically and has delivered excellent process performance since start-up. The total electricity costs for the plant is less than EUR1,000 per annum.

2.   Golf Club, Co. Cork

This was a design and build turnkey contract and KEE who were process partners in the project. The discharge license was direct to the watercourse and specified a BOD < 20 mg/l, SS < 30 mg/l, NH4-N < 20 mg/l & Phosphate as P < 2 mg/l.

KEE supplied their compact single piece NuDisc® Model 1200.

3.   Golf Club, Co. Dublin

During the refurbishment of the clubhouse, on-site sewage treatment plant and disposal systems were required. The discharge license specified a BOD < 20 mg/l, SS < 30 mg/l & NH4-N < 10 mg/l, NO3-N (Nitrate Nitrogen) < 15 mg/l, Phosphate as PO4 < 5 mg/l and FOG (fat, oil and grease) < 10 mg/l.

KEE Process Ltd designed the process and supplied and installed a single-piece compact packaged plant NuDisc® F13N with inbuilt de-nitrification stage and phosphate removal stage.

This contract also included the design and installation of an inlet pumping station and a sub-surface percolation area.

4.   County Council, Ireland

This was an installation for a municipal treatment works for a Southern Ireland County Council for 1000 PE. The flow to the works are combined with surface water and municipal wastewater with a discharge license for BOD < 20 mg/l and SS < 30 mg/l.

KEE supplied their packaged modular treatment system and the contractor led the contract for installation and commissioning.

For more information on our Wastewater Treatment Technologies, please phone on 01296 634500 or visit our KEE Process Website.Specialists in Domestic & Industrial Wastewater Treatment

 

Private Residential Golfing Community in New York State Selects KEE Process Managed Flow® Wastewater Treatment Process

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Bristol Harbour is a private residential golfing community in the Western Finger Lakes of New York State, USA.

Having experienced ongoing problems with their existing wastewater treatment plant, the community approached KEE Process Limited’s North American partner, Waste Water Solutions International Inc., for help.

After suffering regular mechanical failures, deviations in effluent performance and high operating costs, the community recognised the need to upgrade their aeration plant. The new system would also need to cope with the planned expansion of the development and meet the State Law’s stringent treatment requirements.

The KEE Process Managed Flow® Process was selected because of its ability to continually produce high quality effluent and its low operator costs and maintenance. The system was also ideal for the site’s limited space and environmentally sensitive location.

To provide flexibility two streams were installed. The technology chosen included:

  • A balancing tank
  • KEE Process Managed Flow Rotating Biological Contactor (RBC) – Model DN-19-S
  • KEE Process Final Settlement Tank (Model ST9) with automatic pump assisted sludge return system and gravity sand filter with backwash capability.

This technology was designed and specified to provide for the current and future expansion of the community.

The KEE Process Managed Flow RBC Model DN-19-S and a KEE Process Final Settlement Tank Model ST9 with automatic pump assisted sludge return system and gravity sand filter with backwash capability installed at the Bristol Harbour private residential golfing community in the Western Finger Lakes of New York State, USA.

The KEE Process Managed Flow RBC Model DN-19-S and a KEE Process Final Settlement Tank Model ST9 with automatic pump assisted sludge return system and gravity sand filter with backwash capability installed at the Bristol Harbour private residential golfing community in the Western Finger Lakes of New York State, USA.

For more information on our Wastewater Treatment Technologies, please phone on 01296 634500 or visit our KEE Process Website.

Looking after your Sewage Treatment Plant this Christmas

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With the festive season upon us, guests arriving and the celebrations in full swing, please do keep in mind what you and any visitors are pouring or flushing down your drainage system into your Sewage Treatment Plant

Do’s

  • Follow manufacturers’ recommended doses for your water type when using household cleaning products. Soft water requires far less detergent concentration than hard water.
  • Try to use cleaning products little and often so your treatment plant is not overloaded.
  • Use liquids (not powders) in washing machines and dishwashers. Powders re-coagulate into clumps and can cause blockages.
  • Try to spread your clothes washing throughout the week.
  • Stick to the same washing, dishwasher and other cleaning products as the bacteria will work more efficiently with products it is used to treating.
  • Think before you put anything down the sink, toilet or drains.
  • Desludge your plant when required.

Click HERE to view our one-page KEE EXPERT guide on proficient desludging and how regularly your unit should be desludged.

  • Ensure only toilet paper is flushed down the toilet and used in normal quantities.
  • Leave your plant switched on while you are away or on holiday. Switching off your plant can cause damage to the motor and moving parts as well as kill the biomass.
  • Compost all your organic food waste or use your local council bio–degradable waste recycling service (where applicable) to dispose of organic waste. Do not flush organic waste down the sink or drain.

Don’ts

  • Don’t put sanitary towels, tampons, cotton wool or cotton wool buds, incontinence pads or any baby, cleaning or facial wipes down the toilet.
  • Don’t flush rubber products or other non-biodegradable products down the toilet.
  • Don’t pour fat, grease or cooking oil down the sink or drains. Fats suffocate the bacteria and inhibit the biological process. Everyday products such as milk, wine or beer increase the organic load and should also not be disposed of through the wastewater system.
  • Don’t use neat disinfectant or bleach. KEE recommends that these products are only used at the minimum concentration possible, as they can restrict the biomass growth within the plant.
  • Don’t tip medicine, mouth wash or any chemicals such as photographic fluid or garden products (e.g. Insecticides, weed killers and fungicides) down the drains as they will damage the biological treatment process.
  • Don’t pour DIY products (e.g. paint, thinners, turpentine and white spirit etc.) or car fluids such as engine oil, anti-freeze, brake fluid etc. down the drains.
  • Don’t allow rainwater, groundwater or large volumes of water (such as those from a swimming pool or Jacuzzi) into the plant. Chlorine kills the bacteria and the excessive water will increase the flow rate through the plant, not allowing sufficient treatment time.
  • Don’t fit a waste disposal unit under your kitchen sink. Disposing of organic matter through the treatment system increases the organic load, creating bacterial overgrowth which will inhibit the treatment process. Only use a waste disposal unit if your plant is specifically designed to accept higher organic loads.

For more information or to arrange a tankering visit, please call our KEE Services team on 01296 634500 or visit our KEE Services website.