Preliminary Treatment (Headworks)Intermediate 12 min read

Preliminary Treatment (Headworks): Process Control Basics

Day-to-day process control at the headworks for Class C operators: reading screen headloss, handling and disposing of screenings, distinguishing grit chamber types, the basics of flow equalization, and routine headworks troubleshooting.

As a Class C operator, you're no longer just aware that the headworks exists — you're the one deciding when a screen needs raking, whether grit is being washed properly before disposal, and how to read the early warning signs that something in preliminary treatment is starting to fail. This guide moves from what happens at the headworks into how you actually run it, day to day.

Manual vs. Mechanical Bar Screens in Daily Operation

The operational difference between manually and mechanically cleaned bar screens isn't just labor — it's how each one fails.

Manually cleaned screens require frequent raking to prevent clogging and the buildup of high backwater levels caused by an accumulating "mat" of solids on the screen face. If that mat is allowed to build up and then gets pulled off all at once during cleaning, it can cause a flow surge that temporarily reduces the solids-capture

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