Disc pumps are an integral part of the state-of-the-art South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant at the California/Mexico border.

Until now, the only pump that has been able to handle the high solid and entrained air content in wastewater treatment applications has been the positive displacement pump. But this application is so grueling, pump service life is short and maintenance, non-stop.

Discflo technology eliminates the root causes of pump failure. First, its non-impingement pumping keeps air and gas bubbles entrained in the fluid so there's no foaming or vapor-lock-ing and because there are no close tolerances the pump can handle the wide range of solids that pass through the system. There are no radial loads and almost no axial loads, and there are no impeller surfaces to wear. The Disc pump needs lit¬tle or no maintenance and few, if any spare parts.

Discflo saves the average end user tens of thousands of dollars a year in maintenance and spare parts costs.  

Disc pumps have saved municipalities tens of thousands of dollars a year in maintenance costs, cut downtime and improved the overall efficiency of their operations. 

The Discflo pump excels in handling -

Viscous and high solid fluids: All types of municipal and industrial waste sludge.

Abrasive fluids: Lime sludge, bio-solids sludge, sand slurries with up to 80% solids, sewage.

Air or gas-entrained fluids: DAF sludge and other types of anaerobic slurries and waste.

Large and/or stringy solids: Raw sewage containing rags and tumbleweed, waste with plastic strapping  

A Florida water treatment installed its first Disc pump seven years ago to pump lime sludge, an abrasive, viscous (2000 cPs) fluid with high solids content (30-60%) and a specific gravity of 1.5.

Before installing Discflo pumps, the plant oper¬ated two progressive cavity pumps. During the course of normal operation, the rotor/stator assem¬bly in these pumps would wear out after 2-3 months. After seven years of service, the Disc pump has not shown any signs of wear. The only maintenance required has been a packing replacement, plus the Disc pump handles high¬er solid content - pumping from 60-80%. The superintendent writes, "The city has not only saved thousands of dollars by the use of the Discflo pumps, but the down time has been greatly reduced, therefore improving the over¬all efficiency of our lime solids removal operation."

The city has since added six more Discflo pumps to its operation. Three are pumping lime sludge to a rotary vacuum dryer and three feed ferric-sulphate to belt filter presses. The per-formance of the Discflo pumps has been "excellent" according to plant officials and the city is currently in the process of acquiring additional Discflo pumps for the facility.