Parshall flumes are among the most common things you’ll spot at a wastewater treatment plant, and that’s no accident. In addition to its standard surface water and irrigation channel applications, the Parshall flume design is quite adept at adapting to any sanitary applications. Take a look at how Parshall flumes and wastewater plants are the perfect match.
Influent Flows
When it comes to influent flows, Parshall flumes are particularly useful. Headworks, in general, can be harsh on all kinds of equipment. When you utilize a fiberglass flume, however, you can enjoy protection against the abusive nature of the flow because the grit is not able to wear down the fiberglass surface as easily as it can other materials.
Fiberglass and stainless steel are virtually the only materials that can be used to deal with the gritty flows of wastewater treatment plants. When it comes to stainless steel, however, you’ll find that the material is heavy and can’t easily be mass-produced in high volumes, making it costly to produce and install. Fiberglass, on the other hand, doesn’t have those problems and is easy to manufacture and install.
Effluent Flows
The most important factor when it comes to measuring effluent flows is dimensional accuracy. The Parshall flume can offer incredible accuracy, but if you want to push that accuracy as far as it can go, you’ll need one made of fiberglass. Maintaining dimensional accuracy is easy when you use fiberglass Parshall flumes, thanks to the standardized molding manufacturing process.
Effluent flows specifically require pinpoint dimensional accuracy because they have to remain compliant with the plant’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit if their discharges go into surface water directly. Plus, the Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for inspections can be pretty severe, so you’ll need those accurate measurements.
Interplant Flows
Throughout any wastewater treatment plant, you may find several areas in which you need to take flow rate measurements within the facility’s systems. Interplant flows are essential, but they can be quite damaging to unprotected flumes. Fiberglass flumes have the necessary grit and resilience to resist damage from these kinds of flows.
While Parshall flumes are good for passing abusive flows, they’re also easy to implement in existing systems. With the variety of different sizes available, the flume style can work with all sorts of different systems. Within the system, however, you may want to use the same size throughout if you can since it makes measurement easier for the operator.
Parshall Flumes From Tracom
Now that you know how Parshall flumes and wastewater plants can work together, it’s time to get a flume of your own. At Tracom, we offer a wide variety of styles and sizes that can fit with all sorts of wastewater treatment plant systems. Using fiberglass construction, you can enjoy the pinpoint accuracy you need to maintain that essential legal compliance. In fact, you can work with our team to create a custom design specially fit for your unique system setup. Contact us today to get started.
