Ecodisk™

Ecodisk™: what is it?

Ecodisk™ is a wastewater treatment system developed by PMT and Veolia Water Technologies based on a rotating biodisc system and brought up to the market in 1998. Specifically designed for the needs of small communities like hotels, construction areas, campings, military bases and any other facilities located in remote areas, Ecodisk™ provides biological treatment for domestic wastewater, within a range of 100 and 10,000 population equivalents (PE).

Ecodisk™ installations are characterised by a simple conception in a buried and/or semi-buried structure. It's robust and resilient design, enables operators to manage the system easily without necessarily depending on any expertise in mechanical, electrical or water related domains.

The robustness of the equipment is guaranteed by a stainless steel shaft - structural reinforcement and by the usage of high quality polyproplene material. Ecodisk™ does not require concrete protection, resulting in a very limited civil works compared to regular conventional treatment technologies.
 

Principles

Ecodisk™ is a plug-and-play product that is meant to be easily integrated into a wastewater treatment system. Upcoming wastewater can be fed through a screening process before coming to the Ecodisk which serves as the main biological treatment. A minimal screening is suggested to keep big particles. Pretreatment can be enhanced with a process step such as primary settler or septic tank.

Ecodisk™ working principle is simple and efficient. Biodiscs are mounted on a shaft rotated by a fixed speed motor and partially immerged in the eflluent to be treated. The surface of the discs is thus alternatively immerged and emerged. During the immersion phase, bacteria consume the pollutants such as Carbon and Nitrogen from the wastewater and during the emersion phase, they have acces to the oxygen in air which will be used for the degradation of the C and N. With this phenomenon, bacteria add mass on their surface colony. The rotational speed of biodiscs is quite low to keep the bacteria layer on the surface of biodiscs. The excess amount of bacteria will be detached from the biodisc by rotational forces and gravity. The excess amount forms sludge which will be extracted in the clarification phase.

After the degredation of the organic matter, a last step enables the clarification of water before rejecting it into the environment. Depending on the specifications of the community or operator, this clarification can be based on a lamella settler, a drum filter or reed plants.
 

Versions

PMT is able to offer its technology in packaged or in to-be-assembed-on-site versions. The packaged units, indoor or outdoor, are designed for easy shipping and simple installation on a concrete slab.

 

Ecodisk™: examples of installations

Nearly 1,500 Ecodisk™ systems have already been installed. These include :

• Treatment capacity of 4,400 EH and a disk area of 41,300 m², the site of Wissant (Pas-de-Calais) is one of the largest in the region.
• Ecodisk™ at the Naviti Resort in Fiji Islands, wastewater treatment for 1,200 PE.
• Ecodisk™ in Rathewalde, Germany, is a renovated facility delivering a capacity of 1,000 PE.