Water Management: Applications of Geosynthetics in Water and Wastewater treatment People rarely think about the role of geosynthetics in getting it there, especially when water is easily available from the tap. There are plenty of applications in which geosynthetics are being utilized successfully to improve the process of storing and treating water and wastewater. Geosynthetics have lower penetrable properties and are also less expensive too which has resulted in many different applications such as potable water storage, decorative ponds, & wastewater treatment lagoons. AGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS The need to contain animal waste products is on a steep rise with the amount of livestock being concentrated on large agricultural farms. These livestock are usually raised in larger barns with concrete floors that are gently sloped so jets of water can spray the waste into waste lagoons. Geosynthetics or Geosys wall systems are therefore used to line these waste holding lagoons, floating covers, treatment ponds, & evaporation ponds. GOLF AND DECORATIVE PONDS One of the common causes of a golf course pond is course irrigation, which is normally non-hazardous freshwater. Secondly, these ponds are often included in the course layout as a water hazard for golfers. These water hazards are usually made to fit the overall design of the golf course which implies that they are usually backfilled & landscaped to blend with the surrounding natural environment. Dating back to the eighties, the most common liner for golf & other decorative type ponds used to be a compacted clay liner, however thanks to the evolving use of geosynthetics, there are now inexpensive & effective geosynthetics options such as geomembranes. WASTE-WATER TREATMENT Para web reinforced soil walls or Geosynthetics are used in multiple applications in wastewater facilities. These sorts of applications are found in industrial & municipal treatment amenities which include treatment lagoons, sedimentation basins, & digestion ponds. The straightforward instance incorporates a geomembrane as a low absorption barrier b/w the water or wastewater being contained & the subgrade. However, more complex systems can include:
Anaerobic lagoons with covers
When wastewater with a reasonably high organic load is kept in a lagoon for multiple days an active anaerobic sludge accumulates at the bottom of the lagoon. In an uncovered lagoon the anaerobic digestion activity takes place at the base of the lagoon & the activity near the surface tends to be more aerobic. These lagoons can be covered with a geomembrane floating cover to increase the anaerobic digestion activity by the exclusion of air or enable the harvesting of gas (especially methane) which can be utilized as a fuel or to minimize the effect of odor from the anaerobic activity.
Aerobic (aerated) lagoons Aerated lagoons systems use either surface aerators or diffuser systems to introduce air into the wastewater & this results in consumption of the organic content of the wastewater which is usually released as carbon dioxide.
Geosynthetics for combined anaerobic and aerobic lagoons Most wastewater plants make use of anaerobic & aerobic systems as a combined or 2part process. This can be readily achieved in 1 lagoon using a specially designed geomembrane baffle & floating cover.
Enhanced evaporation A reinforced system and a typical dark geomembrane with shallow wastewater over it will see the wastewater temp. rise with solar radiation creating an increased capacity for evaporation. This is vastly utilized in wastewater disposal and for salt & mineral extraction processes. A floating cover over the wastewater will prevent the growth of waste volume in the wet season as well as enable freshwater to be gathered from the cover. Source link: https://www.driftsnews.com/water-management-applications-of-geosynthetics-in-waterand-wastewater-treatment/