Featured Projects
Saving Money on Dredging Through Measured Sludge at a Pulp and Paper Mill
Client's challenges: A Pulp and Paper Mill needed to learn if and when dredging was necessary in their lagoons.
Hydrasurvey's solution: Conduct Comprehensive Bathymetric Sludge Surveys for the clients to quantify and map the sludge accumulation from the plant.
The survey revealed varying levels of sludge buildup across the lagoon cells, indicating the need for dredging to maintain efficient lagoon operations. The comprehensive mapping and analysis provided the mill with the necessary information to plan and budget for dredging, and maintain the operational efficiency of their wastewater treatment system.
The sludge survey saved the mill money during dredging by providing precise data on sludge distribution and thickness, enabling targeted dredging operations and preventing unnecessary cost overruns. This project highlights the importance of proactive sludge management and the value of accurate data in infrastructure planning and maintenance.
Lethbridge County Effectively Navigated Wastewater Lagoon Risks with a Robust Lagoon Management Strategy
Client's challenges: The county manages several wastewater lagoons which all require accurate assessment to determine if maintenance work is required. If work is required, the county faces the challenge of accurate budgeting and planning amongst balancing budgets.
Hydrasurvey's solution: To assess each wastewater lagoon and address the above priorities Lethbridge County contracted Hydrasurvey to complete a Lagoon Management Strategy.
As a part of this strategy Hydrasurvey completed Lagoon Sludge Surveys at each lagoon. Each survey consisted of key metrics used to determine the priority level of maintenance required at each lagoon.
These key metrics included, sludge volume and dry tonnes, effluent storage capacity, dredgeable sludge quantities, disposal suitability and qualitative observation.
The Lagoon Management Strategy provided Lethbridge County with a clear plan to prioritize improvement and sustainability projects for their wastewater management practices. It also highlighted their commitment to proactive monitoring and ongoing maintenance projects.
Quantifying and Mapping Sludge in a Naturally Lined Lagoon in Perth, Ontario
Client's challenge: Quantify and map sludge in a naturally lined wastewater lagoon built over a riverbed. The client was concerned that the riverbed would be a difficult area to accurately identify sludge accumulation.
Hydrasurvey's solution: Hydrasurvey conducted sludge surveys in three cells in Perth, Ontario.
Hydrasurvey’s standardized procedure to manually map the liner was used to differentiate the liner from the top of the sludge blanket.
The liner map enables us to distinguish between the top of sludge and the liner using sonar.
Our single beam sonar was then used to map the lagoons for sludge accumulation and distinguish the riverbed.
Sludge quantification and influence of aeration on sludge blanket at the Town of Fernie, BC Wastewater Lagoon
Client's challenge: Identify whether dredging in cells 1 and 2 was necessary and determine sludge volume and composition for dredge project budgeting.
Hydrasurvey's solution: Hydrasurvey conducted lagoon surveys in two aerated cells at the town of Fernie, BC's wastewater lagoon.
The bathymetric sludge surveys determined the in-situ sludge volume, dry tonnes of sludge, sludge composition and showed the influence of the aeration system on the sludge, which allowed contractors to provide accurate pricing to dredge the cells.
The lagoon sludge survey also showed a possible restriction issue with the aeration in cell 2. A localized build-up of sludge in cell 2 appeared to be burying aeration diffusers and causing more of a sludge build-up near the cell inlet. This allowed the town to specifically assess the aeration in that particular area of the pond.
Sludge quantification at the Darwell Wastewater Lagoon in Lac Ste. Anne County, Alberta
Client’s challenge: Unknown sludge build-up in cell 1 at the Darwell Wastewater Lagoon and unsure whether dredging may be necessary.
Hydrasurvey’s solution: Conduct a lagoon sludge assessment of cell 1 to determine sludge quantity and composition.
The lagoon survey showed substantial sludge build-up in the northwest corner near the septage dump. Data from the survey also revealed notable sludge accumulation in the southeast corner of the cell at the crossover sump.
The sludge distribution data allows dredge contractors to focus resources in areas that are worse than others to ensure the cell is cleaned entirely.
Synthetics (rags, plastics, foreign matter) were found to be floating on the cell and washed up on shore in some locations. These objects can pose a risk to pumping and dredging equipment.
Excessive sludge build-up resulted in considerable vegetation growth in the sludge beach formed at the septage dump. Removal of aquatic vegetation increases treatment capacity and also reduces the likelihood of animals burrowing into the liner.
Client's challenge: The city conducted annual bathymetric sediment surveys in their stormwater pond facilities to determine water and sediment volume and hydraulic capacity.
Hydrasurvey's solution: Hydrasurvey was thrilled to be awarded the cities bathymetric survey bid. Proposals were evaluated on capabilities and merit. They evaluated the company profile, pricing, schedule of work, methodology, key personnel and similar completed projects. They also evaluated the companies stringent safety qualifications, insurance and WCB supporting documentation.
The deliverables included:
Ability to identify perimeters and gain access to ponds covered in densely overgrown cattails.
Collect composite sediment samples from each body of water, samples are tested at an accredited lab.
Determine sediment volumes and capacity in all ponds. Overlay maps showing actual bottom contours and water level. These 3D sediment maps were built with drones and unmanned survey vessels featuring single beam sonar. The 3D sediment maps were overlaid onto drone photography.
Sediment quantification in Stormwater Retention Ponds
Sludge accumulating around lagoon inlets - spot dredging an option to save money on desludging in Carlyle, Saskatchewan
Client's challenge: The Town of Carlyle, Saskatchewan's sewage lagoon' primary cell is aerated with two sewage inlets and a septage dump. The town's main challenge was unknown sludge accumulation throughout their lagoon. Their second challenge was being susceptible to sewer line backups due to sludge surrounding their inlets. Their third challenge was a limited desludging budget.
Hydrasurvey's solution: Hydrasurvey conducted lagoon surveys in one cell in Carlyle, Saskatchewan.
Hydrasurvey completed a Comprehensive Sludge Survey using Sonar and GIS data analysis to map and quantify sludge volume and distribution throughout the lagoon. The survey determined that sludge had predominately accumulated around the two inlets and was lightly distributed throughout the rest of the lagoon.
Using sonar, Hydrasurvey clearly showed that without desludging the town could be susceptible to sewer line backups around the inlets. Hydrasurvey also provided the sludge volumes around the pipe inlets for budgeting of spot dredging in those areas.
With clear data showing sludge had accumulated around the 2 inlets The Town could now receive estimates for spot dredging vs entire lagoon dredging. With localized spot dredging there would be significant cost and time savings for the town.
Determining baseline sludge distribution and bioaugmentation product performance at the Spencerville, Ontario sewage lagoon
Client's challenge: The client has been using bioaugmentation for several years without measuring the product's effectiveness. They wanted to determine a baseline sludge profile in order to begin measuring their bioaugmentation product's performance. They were also concerned about the overgrown cattails and wanted to visualize how much area of each cell was occupied by them.
Hydrasurvey's solution: Hydrasurvey conducted lagoon assessments in three cells in Spencerville, Ontario.
Hydrasurvey completed lagoon surveys in both cells to quantify sludge accumulation. We determined there was significant cattail overgrowth that could be impacting the lagoon's performance and capacity.
We also determined there were other areas in the cells that had significant subaquatic vegetation growth (which was not visible from shore) and would also impact the performance of the cells.
We set survey control on the site and provided the client with sludge volumes (including total volume and dredgable volume), sludge blanket distribution maps, and sludge elevation maps, which they can use to monitor year over year sludge thickness accumulation to determine the bioaugmentation product's performance.
The client was satisfied that they could now form a plan and develop a budget to remove lagoon cattails, begin monitoring the performance of their bioaugmentation product and track sludge accumulation moving forward.
Thermal Storage Tank Imaging for an Oil Sands Company in Alberta
Client's challenge: Quantifying the contents of the storage tank efficiently to limit down time as the tank needed to be kept in service as much as possible.
Hydrasurvey's solution:
Hydrasurvey conducted a thermal imaging survey of Froth Tank at an oil sands site. The purpose of the thermal imaging survey was to map and quantify the various layers identified by thermal imaging inside the tank.
Pictures were taken during the morning and later in the evening to observe any variations in temperatures and settling of material inside the tank.
The survey was able to detect four distinct layers which were each measured by overlaying thermal images with digital images.
Estimated volumes of each layer were determined by measuring the perimeter heights of each thermal layer around the tank and then by generating a 3D surface using a natural neighbour gridding algorithm to interpolate the possible surface inside the tank shell.
