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Snail shells in chlorine contact chambers & secondary clarifiers

1/30/2017

 
Picture
Snail shells found floating and removed from chlorine contact chamber.
Over the past few months, I have been contacted by operators seeing an unusual buildup of tiny snail shells in the clarifier weirs and chlorine contact/UV disinfection chambers. For the snails to develop - the facilities are running extremely well with excellent water quality entering the secondary clarifiers.

With such clean water with low color and turbidity, algae can thrive on the walls and weirs in the clarifier and UV chambers. Once you have algae, the pouch snails have a food source and begin to multiply. How can the snails be brought under control?

Most effective way is to remove the snail food source  or algae from the clarifier weir & walls. Options to remove the algae include:
  • Physical removal by scraping/brush
  • Using a water jet to clean. Some facilities have installed a water jet/spray system
  • Use hypochlorite to kill both algae and snails on the weir for an immediate, short-run solution.

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    Author

    Erik Rumbaugh has been involved in biological waste treatment for over 20 years. He has worked with industrial and municipal wastewater  facilities to ensure optimal performance of their treatment systems. He is a founder of Aster Bio (www.asterbio.com) specializing in biological waste treatment.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

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