💬 Struggling with Sludge? You’re Not Alone
Whether it’s a balancing tank, interceptor, or lagoon, sludge build-up is one of the most common—and costly—issues on commercial and industrial sites. Thick, settled waste takes up space, limits capacity, causes odours, and drives up removal costs.
But here’s the good news: you don’t need to keep throwing money at full-load tankering.
Mobile dewatering using on-site separation systems is a faster, cleaner, and more cost-effective solution.
🧱 What Is Sludge—and Why Is It a Problem?
Sludge is the solid or semi-solid material that settles at the bottom of tanks, drains, or separators over time. It’s a by-product of:
- Food or drink production
- Vehicle washdown and site runoff
- Grease traps, interceptors, or sumps
- Effluent treatment systems
When left unchecked, sludge can:
- Clog your system and reduce storage/treatment capacity
- Cause foul odours and bacterial growth
- Lead to fines for permit breaches or blockages
- Increase haulage costs, since you’re moving lots of water just to remove a small amount of solids
🚚 What Is Mobile Dewatering?
Mobile dewatering is the process of separating water from solids—on your site, in real time—using a self-contained sludge processing system, often built around a high-speed centrifuge.
Instead of pumping out thousands of litres of liquid sludge and hauling it away at full volume, we:
- Extract the sludge from your tank or system
- Process it using a mobile treatment unit (centrifuge-based or equivalent)
- Separate out the solids and return treated water to the tank or discharge system (where compliant)
- Take away only the dewatered solids—a much smaller, drier, and easier-to-dispose load
These compact, high-capacity units are also known as:
- Mobile separation systems
- Sludge dewatering rigs
- On-site solid-liquid separators
- Centrifugal processors
💷 How Mobile Dewatering Saves You Money
Here’s why our clients love it:
✅ Fewer Loads = Lower Costs
By removing water on-site, you can reduce disposal volumes by up to 80–90%. That means fewer tankers, fewer disposal charges, and less disruption.
✅ More Storage, Less Downtime
Removing solids restores the usable capacity of your tanks or systems. That means fewer overflows, less emergency maintenance, and better operational flow.
✅ Better Compliance
Concentrated sludge can be tested more accurately, helping you stay within consent limits. Plus, we help you document the whole process for your records.
✅ Quick Turnaround
Most mobile dewatering jobs are completed within a single site visit, using high-throughput centrifuge units that process thousands of litres per hour—saving time and minimising site disruption.
🧾 Case Study: Mobile Centrifuge Used to Manage Sludge During ETP Breakdown
📍 Client: National Food Production Facility, North West England
🛠 Challenge:
Following a breakdown of the site’s effluent treatment plant (ETP), the client was forced to rely on emergency tankering to prevent overflow from their balancing tank. With no on-site treatment capacity, sludge levels quickly rose, and they were faced with:
- 6–8 vacuum tanker movements per visit
- Operational disruption and increased safety risks
- High disposal costs due to full-volume liquid waste removal
- Growing concerns over consent compliance
The business needed a cost-effective, short-term workaround to maintain operations while the ETP was offline.
✅ Our Solution: Rapid Mobile Centrifuge Deployment
TES mobilised one of our high-capacity mobile centrifuge systems within 48 hours.
We:
- Pumped sludge directly from the balancing tank into our self-contained separation unit
- Used the centrifuge to remove solids, returning compliant water back to the tank
- Transported only the dewatered sludge cake for disposal
📉 Results:
- Emergency tankering volume reduced by over 70%
- Required tanker loads dropped from 6–8 to just 1–2 per visit
- Disposal costs cut by more than 60%
- No disruption to production during the ETP repair window
- Full documentation provided for environmental reporting
“TES provided a rapid response with their mobile centrifuge unit when we needed it most. The solution not only kept us compliant, it saved us a small fortune in tanker costs during our ETP outage.”
— Site Manager, National Food Brand
🧪 When Should You Consider Mobile Dewatering?
It’s ideal for:
- Sites with balancing tanks, lagoons or sumps that fill up quickly
- Businesses with regular sludge generation (food, drink, automotive, etc.)
- Remote or restricted access sites where frequent tankering is costly or impractical
- Sites experiencing ETP downtime or breakdowns
🛠️ How Trade Effluent Services Can Help
At TES, we provide:
- Fully mobile dewatering equipment using advanced centrifuge technology
- Skilled operators trained in confined space entry, environmental compliance, and health & safety
- Rapid deployment across the UK for sludge, slurry, silt, and wet waste
- Add-on services like interceptor cleaning, sampling, and compliance reporting
We help keep your operation flowing—whether you’re responding to an emergency or optimising your long-term waste strategy.
📞 Want to Solve Your Sludge Problem?
Whether you call it a centrifuge, mobile dewatering unit, or sludge separator, the results are the same: cleaner tanks, fewer lorry movements, and lower costs.
👉 Contact our team today to arrange a free site assessment or learn more about how we can help.
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