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How much of your lagoon is sludge?
Put in the lagoon's size, its operating depth and the average sludge depth you measured. You get the sludge volume in gallons, the share of depth it has taken, and the liquid volume you have left. No email, no sign-up.
Use the average of several sludge-depth readings on a grid, not one probe. Depth is measured at the same water level each time.
This is geometry from your inputs, assuming uniform depths. It is not a treatment prediction; that takes a review of your system.
What the number tells you, and what it does not.
Measure on a grid, average the readings
One probe at the inlet says nothing about the whole cell. Walk a grid, probe at each point with a sludge judge or a weighted disc, and write down the depth, the water level and the date. Use the average here. Keep the grid and you can measure the same lagoon next year and know whether the blanket moved.
Sludge is capacity you already paid for
A lagoon is a volume of liquid and a length of time. The sludge blanket eats both. The gallons figure is treatment volume you cannot use; the percentage is how much of your operating depth is already gone. Boards understand a percentage. Operators understand lost retention time. This gives you both from your own measurements.
Then send us the numbers
The button under the results carries your inputs into our review form. We look at the sludge volume alongside your flow, loading and what the sludge is made of, and tell you honestly whether a monthly biological program fits or whether you are looking at grit and a cleanout. Either way you leave with a straight answer.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Straight answers.
How do I measure sludge depth in a lagoon?+
Probe on a grid, not at one spot. A sludge judge or a weighted pole with a disc works. Record each point, the water level and the date, then average the readings. Repeat on the same grid each time so the change is real, not a different spot.
Why does the sludge percentage matter?+
Every foot of sludge is a foot of treatment volume you paid for and cannot use. Less liquid depth means less retention time, and retention time is what the biology needs to do its work. The percentage tells you how much of your lagoon is already gone.
Can this tell me whether treatment will work?+
No. It tells you the size of the problem in your own numbers. Whether our program fits depends on what the sludge is made of, your loading and your flow. Send the numbers with a review request and we will tell you straight.