Apparatus for treating wastewater

Claim 1

In the combination of apparatus for treating wastewater including a settling tank and means for delivering wastewater to the tank, the wastewater including solid and liquid components; means for separating the solid from the liquid components; a sludge digester containing sludge; means for moving the separated solid component from the tank to the digester; and means for heating the separated solid component prior to its delivery to the digester, means for distributing the solid component substantially uniformly throughout the sludge in said digester comprising a rotating manifold mounted concentrically within the digester, the manifold having distribution arms in communication with the manifold and extending outwardly therefrom toward the periphery of the digester and to within about a foot of said periphery, means for rotating the manifold at a speed not substantially greater than one rpm, said speed being less than a speed which would cause a homogenous mixture within said digester, means for activating the rotating means only when sludge is being delivered to the digester, a holding tank and means for removing sludge from the digester and depositing it in the holding tank, means for removing sludge from the holding tank and combining it with the solid component prior to the time it is heated, and means for removing combustible gas from both the digester and the holding tank.