Dredging, Dewatering and Transportation of Pulp Mill ASB Wastewater Sludge

Dredging, dewatering and transporting up to 10,000 dry tonnes of pulp mill Aerated Stabilization Basin (ASB) wastewater sludge from the mill’s lagoon system, with direct loading into transport trucks, at the break-up time of year when road restrictions/bans can affect transportation to the landfill. In 2021 (and also for future years), an additional challenge was the identification of other landfills/disposal sites that can accept the material and the volume to be disposed of, as both the mill landfill and the local privately-operated landfill previously closed.

This mill, located in Alberta, is one of the largest in the province. APG has been working with this mill since 2015, dredging, dewatering, and transporting the solids to a landfill on 4 different projects. Each project has had up to 10,000 dry tonnes of mill wastewater solids to remove from the final settling area of the pulp mills wastewater ASB lagoon system.

APG approached the project with 4 and 5 centrifuge dewatering configurations to maximize the production of the dewatering operation and work 24 hours per day to reduce the total project completion time. APG’s hauler provided enough trucks each day and night to allow for continuous operations without having to temporarily stockpile the dewatered sludge on the ground. In 2021, APG assisted in identifying a new disposal site, as the landfill used previously had closed.