MATEC In America (USA) has recently introduced revolutionary dewatering technology to North America. The MATEC line of water treatment equipment has enjoyed great success world-wide with hundreds of installations, for the express purpose of cleaning up and recovering up to 90% of the washwater, and eliminating settlement ponds at quarries, mines and other aggregate facilities.
Washwater and settlement pond problems facing today’s aggregate producers and mines include issues with conservation, zoning, environment, EPA flyovers and fines, water restrictions, high pumping costs, tying up real estate and the high cost of maintaining the ponds, including excavator and drag-line issues for dig-out. Overcoming these problems lies within the heart of the MATEC System, the only HPT High Pressure Filter Press and decanter-style Clarifier. Besides having a small footprint, the system has dramatically lower maintenance costs than any other methods of water recovery or dewatering, and essentially has no moving parts. The end result is a super-dry dirt cake that is so dense and so dry (80%+ solids), it can easily be stockpiled and sold as a desirable product for landfill cover or other purposes; the dirty water is cleaned, and as much as 90% of the water is recycled back into the process. The most significant benefits of going pondless are substantial cost savings and quick ROI as a result of freedom from environmental problems, no associated costs of settlement ponds and their upkeep, operating costs for energy, manpower, wear and tear on earthmoving equipment, and freed-up real estate.