ABSTRACT
Currently, a large amount of sludge is generated through water treatment plants. This sludge represents a problem, generally having its destination in water bodies without treatment and needing correct handling through a dewatering process. The paper aims to expose two variants of the dewatering technique with geotextile bags, analyzing its operations and dewatering processes. It describes field tests performed on two geotextile bag systems, a conventional bag and a bag with lateral restraint, both of which are submitted to two filling cycles. Field and laboratory tests were performed for both geotextile bags using sludge from a water treatment plant. Data about volume, height abatement, and solids content due to the dewatering were collected per time and compared between the two configurations. The results showed that the geotextile bag with lateral restrains could receive a greater volume of sludge, receiving more than 20% of the total volume received in the conventional bag. In the other hand, the conventional geotextile bag achieved a higher solid content, reaching 39% higher solids content than the bag with lateral restrains. The data obtained made it possible to conclude that both configurations were successful, resulting in dewatering efficiencies greater than 1000%.
