Over the years, Koberlein Environmental Services has built a large fleet of septic pumping equipment that’s worth more than $1 million. But a smaller investment has yielded an outsized impact on operations: the 2017 purchase of a ScreencO Maxi Screen 400, which separates solid waste during land-application of septage.

The portable, gravity off-load system cost about $15,000, which is a relatively small price to pay for dramatically improved efficiency during peak land application times, says Chris Ravenscroft, owner and president of the company in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

A key feature is the unit’s 19.5 square feet of screening area. Previous separators used by the company had smaller screens that filled up faster, requiring stopping to rake off debris. The Maxi Screen 400 can process waste at 500 gpm through a custom dump hose that telescopes and pivots laterally. A fan spreader deflects waste down to the screen, which keeps the front screen from clogging.

The unit is made from aluminum with stainless steel, 3/8-inch gapped bar screens. Trash gets raked onto a 7-foot-long folding chute. “We can off-load heavy loads faster because we’re not constantly stopping the screening process,” Ravenscroft says. “That can be a significant timesaver if you’re applying 70,000 or 80,000 gallons a day at a farm, with trucks backed up, all waiting to off-load.”

He says the company might have 12 to 15 loads per day of 4,000 to 5,000 gallons per load. “And it might all come in during a four- to five-hour period after lunchtime. So if we can cut the off-loading time by 50%, we don’t have trucks stacked up waiting to unload.”

Given that the company land-applies more than 3 million gallons of septage a year, and it all goes through this one machine, Ravenscroft says the ScreencO unit easily is one of the company’s most important assets. “It’s one of those situations where it’s just the right tool for the job,” he says. “It works — it’s just that simple.”