Flutterby™!: Nemo Vs Muffin Monster

by:Dan Lyke [edit history] started: 2003-06-06 20:22:06.781232+02 updated: 2007-04-13 00:57:47.911783+02

HTMLified from the press release sent to me by email on Friday, June 6, 2003, and archived in MSWord format at NemovsMuffinMonster.doc. The email address has been altered to make it less SPAM attractive, and I've tried to maintain the spirit of the formatting rather than the letter:

CONSUMER ALERT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Alec Mackie, Marketing
JWC ENVIRONMENTAL
714-428-4614 or alecm at jwce dot com

COSTA MESA, CA, June 2003 – In this summer's blockbuster family film Finding Nemo a fish tries a daring escape from an aquarium by jumping down a sink drain, flowing through the city sewer system and out into the open ocean. While it's a touching story, the reality is many sewage treatment plants have large, powerful Muffin Monster® grinders that shred solids into tiny particles. In truth, no one would ever find Nemo and the movie would be called "Grinding Nemo."

"Pure Hollywood fantasy," said Fritz Egger, JWC's Director of Marketing. "Sewage treatment plants want to grind up or remove solids like rags, plastics and trash to protect their pumping and processing equipment from jamming."

The Muffin Monster® sewage grinders, built by JWC Environmental of Costa Mesa, CA, are popularly positioned in the headworks building of a treatment plant where sewage first enters for processing. "In practice, small ground particles may later reweave further downstream in the process, thus additional Muffin Monsters® are often used there as well, to protect pumps, centrifuges and other delicate equipment," adds Egger.

Consumers should know that they should never flush live fish, turtles or other aquatic animals down the drain. The equipment in a sewage plant, like the Muffin Monster®, will cause great harm or death to the animal. In addition, the tertiary process in a plant usually consists of chlorination or UV disinfection, which kills any remaining organisms.

The Muffin Monster® and its larger cousin the Channel Monster® grinder are powerful enough to shred anything that finds its way into the wastewater channel including clothing, shoes, sticks, rocks and even car keys. If used in your kitchen the Muffin Monster® could grind several hundred pounds of potatoes in a matter of minutes.

Here are some interesting facts to know about the Muffin Monster® sewage grinder:

- The two counter rotating shafts turn at different speeds and the cutters overlap to pull solids in and shred them with a cutting action, similar to a pair of scissors.

- Each shaft is made up of a stack of individual steel cutters, each with five teeth. The Muffin Monster® can stand as tall as 7'5" and weigh up to 1" ton.

- The Muffin Monster® design can handle up to 66.5 million gallons per day.

- The innovative design of the Muffin Monster® means it can apply 450-lbs/HP continuously and 1,430-lbs./HP at peak loads.

- Muffin Monsters® are used in thousands of treatment plants around the world to grind solids and protect downstream equipment.

- The Muffin Monster® has a product logic controller that can sense an overload or jam, reverse the cutters to clear the jam and then start grinding again.

In escaping through a treatment plant Nemo would have faced the Muffin Monster®, an enormous obstacle. There is one truth in the movie: all drains do lead to the ocean. While treatment plants use sophisticated equipment to grind or remove solids and process wastewater the final destination is the ocean. Pouring paint, motor oil or other contaminants down the drain can cause pollution in local rivers, bays and the ocean. Such items should only be disposed of at an approved household chemical collection site.

Corporate

JWC Environmental, a privately owned corporation headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, manufactures and services a complete line of sewage waste grinders, high flow fine screens and solids removal equipment for wastewater treatment. JWC products include the world renowned Muffin Monster®, Channel Monster® and Auger Monster®, which are all used in a wide variety of municipal and industrial applications worldwide. For more information contact Fritz Egger at fritze@jwce.com, JWC Environmental, 290 Paularino Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, voice 800/331-2277, fax 949/833-8858, or visit them online at: www.muffinmonster.com or www.jwce.com.

by:Dan Lyke started: 2003-06-06 20:35:39.215248+02 updated: 2003-07-18 22:48:27.959161+02

When I enquired about the press release, Alec Mackie of JWC Environmental also sent me some images of their devices. Thumbnails, worth seeing in all their full-sized glory: