Why Grit Systems Often Don’t Work as Expected

August 5, 2025 

1:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM CT / 10:00 AM PT / 6:00 PM GMT

Duration: 1 hour 

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Summary

Grit Removal systems have been integrated into treatment plants for over 100 years. However, grit remains an issue downstream of the headworks at many plants. This session will review why so many systems fail to capture the bulk of the grit entering the plant and how to design your system for the optimum efficiency.

Grit, including sand, shale, quartz and other abrasive inorganic materials, is present in both wastewater and surface water intake applications. Unfortunately, operator dissatisfaction with grit removal systems is all too common. Design of grit removal processes has been labeled as inadequate and misunderstood. Conventional guidelines target removal of grit larger than 212-micron in an attempt to minimize organic content. In fact, many water and wastewater treatment plants across the country find over 50% of their influent grit is smaller than 212-micron. Additional factors also impact overall system efficiency, including settling velocity and grit washing technologies.

Advanced grit management, targeting 95% of all grit within the waste stream for removal at the headworks, has been proven to provide significant plant savings, in both operating cost and manpower for plants across North America.

This presentation will focus on what advanced grit management means to the end user, with example installations showcasing the performance improvements realized with primarily non-mechanical, low headloss treatment equipment. Topics of discussion will include third party grit characterization, installation information and performance optimization.