Meet The Giant "Screws" That Will Clean Up The Tietê — 18 Tons, The Height Of A Building, And Capable Of Pumping 41 Olympic Pools Daily

Meet The Giant “Screws” That Will Clean Up The Tietê — 18 Tons, The Height Of A Building, And Capable Of Pumping 41 Olympic Pools Daily

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 24/10/2025 at 14:29

Imagem: Divulgação / Sabesp / Estadão

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With 18 Tons and Almost Six Stories Tall When Assembled, Two Screw-Shaped Pumps Will Strengthen Sabesp’s System and Drive Sewage from Greater São Paulo Toward the Decontamination of the Tietê River

Two mechanical pumps weighing 18 tons, with a height comparable to a six-story building, will be crucial in the new stage of decontaminating the Tietê River. Manufactured in the shape of “giant screws,” they were transported by Sabesp between Guarulhos and Suzano in the early hours of this Thursday, the 23rd, and will be integrated into the sewage system of the São Paulo Metropolitan Area.

High-Capacity Structures

These pieces of equipment will be part of one of the Sewage Lift Stations (EEEs) of the company, responsible for pumping household waste to the Wastewater Treatment Station (ETE) in Suzano.

Each pump has a diameter of 2.7 meters and will be capable of moving 1,500 liters of sewage per second — equivalent to 41 Olympic-sized swimming pools per day.

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How the System Works

The system operates in several stages. First, sewage from homes is collected by the so-called branches, small pipes that carry waste to collector networks located in the streets.

Then, it goes to the trunk collectors, installed near streams and rivers, which prevents sewage from flowing directly into water bodies.

Next, the material is carried by interceptors — large pipes over two meters in diameter — to the lift stations.

In these intermediate structures, the screw pumps come into play, moving the sewage vertically until it reaches Sabesp’s main treatment network.

Decontamination of the Tietê River: Operation Expected by the End of the Year

The two pumps will be installed in a well 14 meters deep, inside the new lift station.

When the system becomes operational, expected by the end of this year, the ETE in Suzano will start treating sewage from about 285,000 homes in 90 neighborhoods — benefiting approximately 850,000 people.

Additionally, small isolated stations will be deactivated. According to Sabesp, this should reduce operational costs and allow for more efficient control, accelerating the progress of the Tietê decontamination program.

With information from Terra.

Meet The Giant “Screws” That Will Clean Up The Tietê — 18 Tons, The Height Of A Building, And Capable Of Pumping 41 Olympic Pools Daily

With 18 Tons and Almost Six Stories Tall When Assembled, Two Screw-Shaped Pumps Will Strengthen Sabesp’s System and Drive Sewage from Greater São Paulo Toward the Decontamination of the Tietê River

High-Capacity Structures

How the System Works

Decontamination of the Tietê River: Operation Expected by the End of the Year

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Meet The Giant “Screws” That Will Clean Up The Tietê — 18 Tons, The Height Of A Building, And Capable Of Pumping 41 Olympic Pools Daily

With 18 Tons and Almost Six Stories Tall When Assembled, Two Screw-Shaped Pumps Will Strengthen Sabesp’s System and Drive Sewage from Greater São Paulo Toward the Decontamination of the Tietê River

High-Capacity Structures

How the System Works

Decontamination of the Tietê River: Operation Expected by the End of the Year

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Austrian engineers have developed an inflatable concrete technology that transforms flat slabs into domes using only air pressure, eliminating scaffolding and temporary forms, and potentially changing the way bridges, tunnels, and curved roofs are constructed worldwide.

Australia prepares to dredge 96.5 million m³ in Moreton Bay to deepen, widen, and realign channels of the Port of Brisbane, in a project of up to 25 years designed to accommodate larger ships and enhance maritime safety and regional port efficiency.

A robot named Walter does the work of five bricklayers per hour and can save the construction industry, where the average age of professionals is 46 years and almost no one wants to learn the trade anymore, in the United Kingdom.

Spain installs two giant pipelines 2.2 km off the coast to draw water from the Mediterranean and supply a megafacility capable of producing 200 million liters of drinking water per day.

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