Upgrading of Ambatale pulsator

Abstract

ABSTRACT The major drinking water treatment plant in Sri Lanka, the Abatable Water Treatment Plant (WTP) is located on the south bank of the Kelang Ganga at F 79° 56' N 6° 55'. The Ambatale WTP was constructed in the early 1960s, and produces nearly 90% of total drinking water supply to the Colombo district. The treatment plant was expanded and rehabilitated on four occasions, and brought up to its present capacity of 117 mad in 2003./ The raw water for all the clarifiers at Abatable WTP is from the same source, the Kelang Ganga, The deterioration or ageing of the plant and the operational inconsistencies lower the quality and quantity of water produced at a WTP; if not upgraded regularly./ Increasing die capacity and the efficiency of the Abatable WTP are necessary due to the increase in domestic and industrial water demands in Colombo./ Increasing the capacity by upgrading the existing treatment units at Abatable rather than building new ones could reach the goal of production of more drinking water. It saves the capital cost. Furthermore, in case of limited funds, upgrading the existing facilities in an optimal way by improving efficiency is more advantageous./ There are three pulsed sludge blanket clarifiers at Abatable; a Pulsator (1979), a Superpulsator (1992) and a Pulsatube (2003). These Pulsator clarifiers are using a sludge blanket process combined with pulsed flow and providing combined flocculation & clarification in one vessel. The configurations of above the above three types of clarifiers are almost similar to each other. Therefore conversion of a Pulsate into a Pulsatube clarifier or Superpulsator clarifier could be done by a simple modification to the structure./ The objective of this research is to study the possible options of rehabilitating the Abatable Pulsate (1979) and identify the best possible rehabilitating option.