Plate Settler Sourcing

As the AguaClara project continues to expand, the desire to design and construct water treatment plants as efficiently and effectively as possible is becoming more relevant. The plate settlers that AguaClara is currently designing and suggesting that the communities build are relatively cheap to build, but are extremely meticulous and time intensive to construct. This page is dedicated to an assessment of outsourcing the construction and possibly the design of the settlement systems in AguaClara water treatment plants. It takes into account economics, maintenance, durability, environmental impact, and supply chain issues.

Relevant Information

AguaClara sedimentation tank upflow velocity bellow the plate settlers is 70 m/day
AguaClara sedimentation tank capture velocity 10 m/day
AguaClara sedimentation Area ratio, Velocity Up/Velocity Capture is on the order of 10, ideally we want this ratio to be as high a number as possible
AguaClara currently uses a sedimentation tank plate settler angle of 60 degrees, plate length of 1 meter at 60 degrees, plate material is transparent polycarbonate sheets
AguaClara engineer John Erickson has given a very optimistic estimate of 20 years of water plant use for the polycarbonate sheets
John has also stated that the plates that were introduced into the town of Ojojona Honduras's AguaClara plant were constructed of fiberglass and after 2.5 years are already showing significant signs of wear and tear
The next prospective AguaClara plant to be constructed would be in the town of Gracias Honduras.
Gracias plant flow rate of 50 liters/sec
Gracias would have an active sedimentation tank area of 14.026 meters x 2.159 meters per tank, and there would be 3 tanks

Plate Settler Module

AguaClara > Plate Settler Sourcing > active area.JPG

Figure 1. Rendering of a module of plate setter.

Figure 1 depicts a plate settler module. AguaClara plate settler modules have an active area of1 meter in width and 1 meter in length (1m x 1m). Each plate is 1 meter long (L). That is 1 meter length at 60 degrees. The spacing between baffles is 5 cm.

Current AguaClara Plate Settler Module Cost

AguaClara > Plate Settler Sourcing > plate settlers cost.JPG
Table 1. The cost of a module of plate settler.

Table 1 details the cost of a 1 square meter module of plate settler. The specific cost of a module is $298.02. At this price the cost of the Gracias plate settler system will be $9024.68.

Please attach this spreadsheet, not just a picture of it, so the actual calculations can always be reviewed. Also insert the equations you used on this page so anyone can see what procedures you used to do these calculations.

Settling Tank Drawing

Companies of Interest

Brentwood Industries
Enviropax
Siemens
Meurer Research Inc.

Recommendations After Analysis