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Important equipment installed at Grand Island WWTP

December 2014

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DECEMBER 2014 — Wastewater isn’t a pretty topic, but it’s crucial to every person, home, business, and to the environment. New equipment was installed Wednesday morning to help Grand Island, Nebraska, effectively dispose of wastewater. Two new bar screens, each weighing 16,000 pounds and 37 feet long, will help Grand Island properly dispose of wastewater.

“Garney lowered a mechanically cleaned bar screen into the Headworks facility,” said Marvin Strong, Plant Engineer at the Grand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The wastewater treatment plant removes at least 90% of contaminants from the water, which eventually flows into the Platte River. How does it work?

Strong said, “Almost anything and everything comes down the sanitary sewer at the sewage treatment plant. And what the bar screen does is remove the heavy material, basically to protect the pumps and the equipment in the sewage treatment plant.”

The bar screen is a big part of effectively disposing of wastewater. And Garney Construction’s Project Manager, Mark Miner, says installing equipment of this size takes a lot of preparation. “Part of the challenge is the bar screen itself slid into two slots that were built into the concrete walls,” said Miner. “Even though installing equipment like this is Garney’s bread and butter, it’s still a bit of a challenge. It’s kind of a dance of trying to lower the machine down and move it over and lower it down so it’s not easy to get that wedge shape into the concrete holes that are in the walls.”

The two new bar screens are replacing similar equipment installed when the plant was first built back in 1965. Strong says he hopes with good care and maintenance the screens will last another 50 years. The new screens are part of the Headworks Project at the plant, which is 75% complete. The project is designed to accommodate Grand Island’s hydraulic waste water needs until 2062.

*Video courtesy of NBC Nebraska

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