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Monitoring Industrial Wastes in the Heartland

Assisting businesses with pollution prevention, and encouraging pretreatment of waste before it enters the system.

On this occasion they were removing a Flo-Tote and replacing it with a Model 460 Flo-Dar. When asked why Washington explained that some sites are more prone to sensor fouling (see picture at left), "making the Flo-Dar more useful here because the sensor is above the flow and not subject to fouling." According to Washington his division is responsible for:

The City of Kansas City, Missouri is often called America's City of Fountains. With so much emphasis on the beauty of water it's no wonder that the city puts such a high priority on managing and treating its wastewater. There are some serious challenges faced by the city every day. While Kansas City is the nation's 25th largest in terms of population it ranks 8th in land area. That means the city must manage approximately 2,800 miles of sewer pipe every day.

The Water Services Department's Industrial Waste Division has long used Marsh-McBirney Flo-Totes to monitor flows throughout this vast collection system. Their portability and ease of use are perfect for a division that monitors sewer flows for short periods before moving their flow monitors to another site. The division has recently begun using Marsh-McBirney Flo-Dar flowmeters in addition to their Flo-Totes. To get a better understanding of how Flo-Dar flowmeters can help an operation like this we caught up to Phillip Washington and his field crew during a recent Flo-Dar installation.

Monitoring use, to keep the treatment plant operating at full efficiency.

Tracking down polluters, including "midnight dumpers" who try to send their waste down the storm drains and sewers illegally.

The nature of this type of monitoring makes sensor fouling an even bigger reality than normal. Flo-Dar measures these flows using a revolutionary non-contact radar velocity sensor combined with a non-contact pulse-echo level. Because the sensor is not in regular contact with the flow it is not subject to the fouling faced by submerged sensors.

Safety is another consideration. Submerged sensor systems require confined space entry (and the associated multi-person crews and gear) each time the sensor needs cleaning or service. By contrast Flo-Dar requires confined space entry only during the initial installation. Washington explains, "Once the meter and sensor has been installed there's no need to enter a confined space to remove or clean the sensor." In addition to providing his crew with a greater measure of safety, this feature saves money and resources allowing more effective use of personnel and equipment.

Another benefit of non-contact flow monitoring is the wide range of applications where Flo-Dar is effective. According to Washington, "Presently IWD has five portable Flo-Dar units that are installed in manholes with lines that vary in size from 12 inches up to 30 inches with flow depths that are 1 inch deep up to 7 inches."

The IWD Crew
Charles Wichter, Justin Cooper, Mark Oliver,
Phillip Washington, and James McKay III