What are those things?
I live in Midland, Texas, and right off of 1-20, a few miles outside of town, we have a wastewater treatment plant. Every time I drive by there I see three tubes sticking out of the ground that look like peppermint sticks. One is spinning quickly, one is spinning slowly, and the other usually isn’t spinning at all. What are those weird candy cane spinning tubes and what are their purposes?
2 Responses
JF
10 Mar 2010
2n2222
10 Mar 2010
They’re probably Archimedian screw pumps to raise the effluent from one level of the plant to another. They’re exceedingly clever, have no valves, and can’t be clogged, which is a good thing when you’re dealing with sewage. The screw is inside, so chances are what you’re seeing on the outside of the tube are the welding seams. Look them up in Google.
According to Rusty at the treatment plant they are rotating filters that remove the fecal matter from the sewage. That water is then used to water fields or is recycled in other manners. The number of tubes rotating depends on how much sewage is coming in and he statesthat very rarely will all three spin. Treatment plant maintenance # 432-685-7268