Developed for Truck and Tire Washes

Industrial tire wash or wheel wash systems are being mandated all over North America where the potential exists for trucks to “drag out” dirt or other contaminants onto public roads. Landfills, construction sites, military bases and sand & gravel mines are just a few of the industries being required to install and maintain wheel wash facilities. And it makes sense. After all, you would not want to bring contaminants into your home on the bottoms of your shoes. We wipe our shoes or take them off when going from a contaminated environment to a clean one.

The problem with many wheel washes is that the water becomes so dirty that it just pumps dirty water around in a closed loop. In other words, there is no provision for separating the dirt from the water. Occasionally you may see a bag of anionic polyacrylamide to be used as a water treatment agent but even if this works there is no dosing method short of flinging a hand full on the grate when things get out of control.

Dungeness Environmental was asked by a wheel wash manufacturer to study this problem with the idea of developing a systematic engineered solution based on dry polymer water treatment chemistry and precision dosing. What we were really being asked to do was to complete the development of the modern wheel wash. It quickly became obvious that the dirt had to be continuously removed from the water to avoid wheel wash failure. It was equally obvious that some form of chemical treatment was the only possible way to succeed.

Therefore we developed Clear Trax, a granular dry formulation based on our natural water treatment clarifier, ChitoVan Chitosan. Clear Trax dissolves quickly, coagulates fine sediment particles and creates a very large dense floc. The floc settles rapidly and will not re-suspend.

While our original Clear Trax 450 formula continues to be the most effective solution for the busiest (100 + trucks per day) and dirtiest of sites we now offer two additional product to meet even a wider range of applications. Dungeness offers Clear Trax 250 for moderate to heavy traffic (50 - 100 trucks per day) and sediment loads. Clear Trax 100, our most economical formula, is recommended for more moderate traffic (50 trucks per day or less) and sediment loads.

Our patent pending chemistry is only half of the solution, however. To be cost effective and efficient a precision delivery device and a way to mix the dry polymer with the water was needed. Our solution can be seen in the image above. The Dungeness Volumetric Feeder (dry-feed auger) fits in or above the wheel wash unit and can be dialed in to the exact dose rate for any system conditions. On days with a lot of traffic (or very dirty trucks) the polymer dose can be turned up. On light traffic days polymer can be conserved by turning the dose down. The hopper will hold about 2 weeks’ worth of polymer.

Our Clear Trax line of products are available in 12-lb and 25-lb buckets. Contact Dungeness Environmental to get set up with the Clear Trax system today. Ask about our free trial offer.

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