Springdale, Arkansas, Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators Call Headworks Screens 'Bulletproof'

The Poultry Capital of the World is a city in northwest Arkansas in the heart of the Ozark Mountain range. Springdale, Arkansas, the fourth largest city in the state, is the headquarters for Tyson Food Corporation, the world's largest meat-producing company. The city was founded in the mid-1800s and has been a hub for agriculture and industry in the region since then. In addition, the region is home to outdoors activities like fishing, hunting, camping, boating, etc., and the natural, outdoors life is enjoyed by many residents as well as visitors to the area.

From 1990 to 2013, the population of Springdale grew by 133% due to the increasing development of industry. As a result, the city needed to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant to handle the increased flows. The treatment plant inlet comprises three channels with a 5-foot channel width and 6-foot depth. The debris screening section on site (known as the headworks) used an old set of screens which weren't keeping up with the flows and were difficult to operate and maintain. A project was initiated to upgrade the screens with modern technology. The peak design flow was established at 34 million gallons per day ("MGD") per channel.

The engineers brought on board evaluated different screen technologies and took the operators to visit several facilities. It was critical to the team that whatever equipment was selected would be easy to operate and relatively maintenance-free. After an extensive evaluation process, the consultant and the city selected Headworks Inc. to supply the replacement screens. Our scope was three Headworks MS2 Bar Screens designed with 3/8" (10 mm) bar spacing. The screens discharge into an existing belt conveyor and solids handling system. They have been running at Springdale Wastewater Treatment Plant since 2013 day in and day out without problem. Wastewater Treatment Plant Maintenance Supervisor, Mr. Shannon Bowen, said "We love these screens. We haven't had any problems since we installed them. They are bulletproof!"