Project Location: Elwood, IL

Owner: Stepan Company
Address: 2250 Stepan Drive, Elwood, IL 60421

Years project was performed:
Project Started in October 2017 | Current

Merrell Bros., Inc. was contracted to provide a turn-key solution to remove liquid sludge from the on-site sludge lagoon. We used (3) belt presses to dewater the sludge, working 12 hours per day, 6 days per week, 24 days per month. To remove the liquid biosolids from the lagoon, we utilized one of our tractors and lagoon pumps. This pump is specifically designed to mix/agitate the sludge into a thick slurry prior to pumping the sludge to our on-site 18,000-gallon mix/equalization tank. We used a long reach excavator and sludge stockpile/storage boxes to maintain a clean, safe, and efficient operation. This eliminated storm water runoff concerns, as well as ensured continual sludge dewatering. Our simple and effective custom weir tanks, designed to settle the solids out of filtrate, allowed us to reuse the filtrate water for our continuous wash water.