What is sludge dewatering and what is it used for?

In fact, filter presses produce excellent cake dryness and, in many cases, higher cake dryness compared to other filtration equipment.

What is “silt”?
Simply put, “sludge” is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a variety of industrial and municipal processes.
The purpose of sludge dewatering is to reliably and efficiently concentrate waste into a filter cake with a high solids content for convenient and economical disposal. The disposal of sludge is regulated by strict regulations. Most companies, municipalities and institutions have sustainability goals that comply with regulatory guidelines and their own organizational and environmental requirements.
Benefits of sludge dewatering
Reduce the amount of waste
Because sludge dewatering focuses on reducing weight and volume to minimize waste disposal costs, as the name of the method suggests, water removal is the primary means of volume reduction before sludge by-products can be treated economically.
Reduce shipping costs
Managing sludge can be an expensive business. Dry, high-solids cake means lower costs. The use of dewatering equipment is an effective tool for managing sludge accumulation, which can reduce transportation costs and storage expenses.
The cake has stable dryness and low risk of spillage/leakage
The use of sludge dewatering filter presses can produce stable cake dryness. Dry, high-solids filter cake not only means lower transportation costs, but also provides a lower risk of spillage/leakage onto the road. This is a major problem, especially when trucks pass through residential areas.
Wastewater recycling
Wastewater recycling is another benefit of sludge dewatering. Once the sludge dewatered water is free of hazards and contaminants, it can be recycled by industry and the community. Although this water is generally not drinkable, it still has many applications. Steam power plants are a good example of using reclaimed water to serve a company or community.　
Equipment is easy to automate
Many people think that filter presses are labor-intensive equipment. But the fact that sludge dewatering filter presses can be equipped with automatic cloth washers, mechanically assisted cake release devices and complex control systems that allow communication with the plant’s master control system, all of which make sludge dewatering easier.
Eco-friendly
Finally, sludge dewatering is environmentally friendly in several ways, starting with reducing the volume of waste to a more compact and easier to handle size for disposal. Although the dry cake is disposed of, the reuse of the filtrate can reduce the need for new water sources needed for municipal and industrial wastewater plant treatment, and can also reduce the overall amount of water required for treatment.