More than 15 million out-of-date water purification tablets, including blister packaging, that were stored during the Cold War in case of nuclear attack have been reduced to a pulp by a cutter pump.

Faced with the task of safe and responsible disposal of more than 15 million tablets, including masses of foil blister packaging, Staffordshire-based CD Bissell Engineering needed a highly durable pump that would not clog up. By externally mounting the Landia MPTK on the side of a converted hopper, CD Bissell engineering could load and process 110 boxes of tablets in a single batch, equating to 8250 strips, 82,500 tablets. The cutter pump can actually handle more volume than this, but batch sizes were restricted by health and safety requirements. Benefiting from Landia's external knife system, the 18.5kW cutter pump kept its inlet opening free of the blister-pack and tablet impurities to produce the pulverisation required.

The MPTK has enabled us to meet the stringent requirement laid down by our water company customer for the most effective disposal'. 'This Landia cutter pump refuses to clog up, so we have no downtime or repairs to worry about'.

 As an added asset management benefit to CD Bissell Engineering and the water company, the adaptability of the Landia MPTK means it has also been used by the engineering business for a mobile rapid heat exchanger, designed by CD Bissell Engineering, where it is chopping and pumping coarse sludge at around 403m at a head of about 11m. With motors ranging from 0.55 to 30kW, Landia's MPTK has a specially-designed pump casing and impeller, and is available in a high pressure version that can pump matter more than twice the distance of conventional equipment.