asked the Minister for Local Government if he will introduce a new type of screening unit for the handling of sewage and various waste streams, which consists of an elastometric deck surface in which the sizing action is developed by alternative flexing and stretching of the deck surface.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sewage Screening Unit.
39.
The equipment proposed to be used in any particular sewerage work is a matter primarily for the sanitary authority commissioning the work and their technical advisers. I am not aware of any proposal for the provision of screening units of the type referred to by the Deputy.
Can the Minister tell the House what an elastometric deck surface means?
There are a number of different types of screening units in operation in this country the most common being:
(a) The ordinary fixed screen which arrests the grosser solids.
(b) The comminutor which breaks up the larger solids with a series of knife actions and,
(c) the macerator, which is a variation of the comminutor usually implying a pumping action.
These units are generally giving satisfactory service. New types are put on the market from time to time and often exaggerated claims for their performance are made. It is policy to wait until such units have proved themselves before encouraging their use here.
The Department's engineering advisers keep in touch with developments elsewhere through the technical journals and through their contacts with consulting engineers who, if they are interested in a particular new development or in a particular piece of new equipment, generally inspect them in operation in Britain or the Continent before advising their introduction here. There is no information to date in the Department on the particular type of screening unit referred to by the Deputy.