The performance of a wastewater treatment plant is influenced greatly by the effectiveness of the trash removal system at the head of the plant. Due to the high cost of automatic trash removal systems, most small plants are relegated to using the manual barscreens.

These barscreens require manual cleaning and wet bagging of trash removed from the barscreen. Traditionally, these screens are designed with a very coarse bar spacing to avoid "blinding" of the screen when unattended. This results in a significant amount of trash going in to the treatment process.

McNeill Water & Wastewater Inc., has developed an automatic raking barscreen (ARB) that is designed to efficiently serve smaller wastewater treatment plants and at a very affordable price. The McNeill ARB provides bar spacing as small as ¬ inch, providing efficient removal of trash. Very small package plants can be outfitted with a McNeill ARB for less than $7,000.

Medium municipal plants can be outfitted with a McNeill ARB for less then $10,000. Prior to the McNeill ARB the budget for automatic trash removal ranged from $30,000. to $150,000.

McNeill also offers a municipal lease purchase plan at tax-free rates. Payments can be set up from 12 months to 72 months to meet the owner's cash flow requirements. At the end of the lease period, ownership converts to the purchaser, with no cash buy out.