Fabric wastewater management

By Sigrid Tornquist

When Conoco Phillips needed a floating baffle curtain for a new pond system at its wastewater treatment plant in Bartlesville, Okla., Engineered Textile Products was Conoco’s manufacturer of choice. Conoco needed the curtain to eliminate the potential problem of electrical system short circuiting, as well as provide a means to optimize the pond’s retention time and develop the pond’s flow pattern.

Designed and manufactured in multiple units in ETP’s fabrication facility in Mobile, Ala., the 455-foot floating baffle curtain was shipped to the site and stored for several months until the weather was favorable for installation.

ETP staff assisted a local contractor with installation. They secured the curtain to concrete-filled shore anchor posts, and positioned it to allow the liquid to flow around one end. Bottom anchors supplied additional ballast to assist with keeping the curtain in place.

Sigrid Tornquist is a freelance author and editor based in St. Paul, Minn. She is also the associate editor of InTents magazine, a publication of the Industrial Fabrics Association International.