To be a good neighbor and comply with EPA regulations, the Stayton Canning Company in the mid-Willamette Valley of Oregon, had to find a solution to the problem of odors in its cannery settling ponds. Analysis indicated the most economical solution would be to screen out the organic matter before the rinse water was discharged to the pond. This required a separator that would accommodate flows of 500 gallons per minute. The decision was made to install a Kason CROSS-FLO stationary screen separator because it could handle the high liquid volume, required no power and had no moving parts which might lead to high maintenance costs.

The rinse water passes over the 5 foot wide screen which separates the muddy, sandy liquid from the organic matter. About 2,400 pounds of bean pieces and beet and carrot tops are removed everyday. The Kason unit installed at Stayton has a 5-foot-wide screening deck with slots 0.03 inches wide. It is capable of removing over 90% of incoming solids. A key advantage of the CROSS-FLO design is the variable angle feature. The slope of the deck can be readily adjusted manually for the required particle size removal. Finer particle sizes are handled more efficiently on the steeper angle and the coarser particles on the flatter angles . The profile wire deck is marked in degrees so that effective settings can be readily repeated. Trouble free year round operation -even in freezing temperatures -has been achieved since installation. And there are no more settling pond odors to disturb the community.

Screen Tips - Volume 1, Number 1 Sept 1986