Importance

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Abstract

A flexible pipe diffuser receives dewatering discharge and maintains water quality standards at harbors, lakes and ponds. The diffuser is designed for long-term construction use. It is rugged enough to work under construction conditions but simple enough to be easily assembled and deployed. The flexible pipe diffuser is a fabric tube with minimum 10 feet diameter suspended vertically in the water from a floating platform. Turbid discharge enters the top of the tube and is conducted to the harbor bottom, where sediment is allowed to separate and settle. Floatable materials such as oil and grease separate from dewatering discharge and collect at water surface in the flexible pipe diffuser. The collected floatable materials are removed for disposal by skimmers. The flexible pipe diffuser tube is made of sailcloth and vinyl sewn together. The flexible pipe diffuser has a float platform to which the tube is attached. The float platform is attachable to a pier. The float platform has four polystyrene blocks in a timber frame. The flexible pipe diffuser is moored to the pier with a cable to restrict freedom of motion in the waves. The flotation platform and mooring system keep the diffuser in place beneath the dewatering discharge pipe. A 10 feet diameter diffuser tube handles flow rates up to 1700 gpm with no difficulties when operating at a 30 foot depth.

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