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

2 people reacted to this.

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.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

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

A Chinese factory in Guangdong is assembling a humanoid robot every 30 minutes while Tesla, Figure, and Boston Dynamics still struggle to deliver 10 thousand per year.

Seven world powers including the US, China, and Russia are spending €22 billion on a reactor in the south of France that aims to confine plasma at 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times the temperature of the Sun’s core, using a magnetic field capable of lifting an entire aircraft carrier.

Secret chamber sealed 4,500 years ago found in the Pyramid of Khufu, and Hawass announces its opening to the world in 2026

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

While communities suffer from water scarcity and the advancing desert, women in Morocco use nets high up in the mountains to trap fog droplets, fill reservoirs, and transport drinking water through more than 10 km of piping.

China has begun the second phase of energy assistance to Cuba with a 120 MW solar generation plan, and the first result is a photovoltaic park with batteries that regulates voltage, controls frequency, and provides local autonomy to an island suffocated by chronic blackouts.

Germany installed vertical solar panels on a lake in Bavaria, and the result broke conventional logic: instead of producing energy at midday peak, the plant generates more early in the morning and in the evening, exactly when families turn on appliances and factories are in full swing.

A convoy of 36 barges crosses the Tapajós River with 110,971 tons of corn, placing Miritituba at the center of the route that shortens the path from the Midwest to the northern ports.

Romania installs breakwaters for 9 kilometers and dumps 4 million cubic meters of sand into the Black Sea to curb coastal erosion, protect tourist beaches from storms, and transform the Constanța coastline into a new barrier against surges and floods.

LG UltraGear 32-inch monitor reaches a historic price with a 2K QHD screen, 165Hz, 1ms, HDR10, and FreeSync Premium for only R$ 1,062 on Mercado Livre, with installment options up to 18x without interest for demanding gamers.

Justice orders Santa Catarina to resume body cameras in the Military Police and imposes a heavy fine on the State in an unprecedented decision

With 26,420 tons of pig iron, a ship from China arrives at the Sacomar mineral terminal, marking Angola’s return to the Asian route after more than three years of interruption.

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

A Chinese factory in Guangdong is assembling a humanoid robot every 30 minutes while Tesla, Figure, and Boston Dynamics still struggle to deliver 10 thousand per year.

Seven world powers including the US, China, and Russia are spending €22 billion on a reactor in the south of France that aims to confine plasma at 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times the temperature of the Sun’s core, using a magnetic field capable of lifting an entire aircraft carrier.

Secret chamber sealed 4,500 years ago found in the Pyramid of Khufu, and Hawass announces its opening to the world in 2026

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

While communities suffer from water scarcity and the advancing desert, women in Morocco use nets high up in the mountains to trap fog droplets, fill reservoirs, and transport drinking water through more than 10 km of piping.

China has begun the second phase of energy assistance to Cuba with a 120 MW solar generation plan, and the first result is a photovoltaic park with batteries that regulates voltage, controls frequency, and provides local autonomy to an island suffocated by chronic blackouts.

Germany installed vertical solar panels on a lake in Bavaria, and the result broke conventional logic: instead of producing energy at midday peak, the plant generates more early in the morning and in the evening, exactly when families turn on appliances and factories are in full swing.

Builders are using PET bottle bricks to transform plastic waste into lightweight walls, sustainable planters, and benches that anyone can make in their backyard.

Companies strengthen their commitment to sustainability for 2026, but the presence of women in the forestry sector reveals an equation that still doesn’t add up.

New study reveals unexpected connection between bees, flowers, and crops and suggests a possible solution to one of the biggest dilemmas currently faced by agriculture and global food production.

Brazil holds one of the largest coral systems in the world, harbors impressive biodiversity in the South Atlantic, and surprises scientists with the sheer scale of this submarine giant.

Construction is Changing: The Unusual Materials of Future Construction That Promise Cheaper Projects, Lower Environmental Impact, and Greater Savings

A convoy of 36 barges crosses the Tapajós River with 110,971 tons of corn, placing Miritituba at the center of the route that shortens the path from the Midwest to the northern ports.

Romania installs breakwaters for 9 kilometers and dumps 4 million cubic meters of sand into the Black Sea to curb coastal erosion, protect tourist beaches from storms, and transform the Constanța coastline into a new barrier against surges and floods.

LG UltraGear 32-inch monitor reaches a historic price with a 2K QHD screen, 165Hz, 1ms, HDR10, and FreeSync Premium for only R$ 1,062 on Mercado Livre, with installment options up to 18x without interest for demanding gamers.

Justice orders Santa Catarina to resume body cameras in the Military Police and imposes a heavy fine on the State in an unprecedented decision

With 26,420 tons of pig iron, a ship from China arrives at the Sacomar mineral terminal, marking Angola’s return to the Asian route after more than three years of interruption.