April 20, 2026
When decanters think
GEA OptiPartner Intellicant, GEA’s breakthrough in decanter automation, shows how digital intelligence can lift essential infrastructure to new levels of performance and impact – right when the world needs it most.
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are the unsung heroes of modern urban life – and their importance grows every year. As cities become denser and our environmental footprint expands, these facilities make it possible for millions of people to live in close proximity while still coexisting with the natural world. They are no longer simple disposal sites; they are resource‑management hubs that take in the concentrated by‑products of human activity, return clean water to rivers and ecosystems, and prevent communities from being overwhelmed by their own waste.
For decades, the decanter centrifuge has been the machine that makes this invisible urban miracle possible. It is the workhorse of sludge treatment, turning unstable sludge into something manageable, transportable and compliant – day after day, year after year.
But the pressures on wastewater plants have grown dramatically. Fluctuating sludge characteristics caused by weather, industrial discharges and seasonal changes require constant sampling, analysis and parameter adjustments. Stricter discharge limits and rising disposal costs demand higher efficiency at lower operating cost. And just as the demands on operators intensify, the industry faces a growing shortage of qualified personnel.
Doing more with decanters
Beneath these pressures lies an opportunity: decanters still hold far more performance potential waiting to be unlocked. With the help of sensors, software and smart automation, decanters are already achieving new levels of performance.
Fabien Petrick, a mechanical engineer and product manager for digital products at GEA explains that the core challenge for wastewater plants today is the limit of manual operation: “Every wastewater plant operator knows the challenge: Sludge composition changes constantly. Rainfall, temperature, industrial inflows, even local events can shift feed characteristics within minutes. Operators respond by adjusting polymer dosing, dryness targets, differential speed or pond depth. But these manual adjustments are always intermittent and only after the fact. It’s reactive instead of proactive – and in today’s environment, that just isn’t good enough anymore.”
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Decanters take a digital leap forward
In 2023, Petrick and his team launched Intellicant, GEA’s algorithm- and cloud based digital product that transforms a decanter into a self optimizing system.
“GEA decanters are already powerful machines – but the real breakthrough comes when you give them the ability to see what’s happening inside the process and react instantly,” says Petrick. “Intellicant allows for constant, optimal operation under varying conditions – something that would be impossible manually.”
This is the heart of Intellicant: the ability for the machine to see inside its own process, understand what is happening in real time, and adjust itself continuously – not every few hours, not every few minutes, but every second. By combining advanced sensors, real time data analysis and autonomous control software, Intellicant turns a decanter into a self optimizing system that continuously adapts to changing sludge conditions and keeps the process at its optimum operating point.
What customers say
Today, Intellicant is a field proven digital automation system for sludge dewatering, installed in municipal wastewater plants and busy achieving measurable performance improvements.
WWTP, Oldenburg, Germany: Lower polymer use, same high performance
At the Oldenburg wastewater treatment plant, operators shoulder a daily balancing act that most people never see: keeping separation efficiency high enough to protect the entire plant from overload, meeting strict ammonia limits that safeguard local waterways, and doing all of it while minimizing polymer use and staying within budget. It’s a job that demands constant vigilance and deep expertise.
Intellicant stepped in exactly where the pressure was greatest. By stabilizing the process and taking over the most demanding parts of decanter control, it gave operators much needed time, clarity and confidence that the system would remain steady even as sludge conditions shifted.
The economic gains were significant. With the Intellicant Edge Kit, the plant achieved an 11 percent reduction in polymer use during a two month trial – without compromising stability. With annual polymer consumption of around 100 tons, this represents a major financial win. A payback period of just 1.5 to 2 years made the decision to implement the system straightforward.
“We reduced polymer consumption by 11 percent while maintaining stable separation performance. With 100 tons of polymer per year, this is a major financial win.”
Ronald Chritonenkov
Plant Coordinator, WWTP Oldenburg
WWTP, Geseke, Germany: Precision dosing and major savings
Before Intellicant, operators at the Geseke wastewater treatment plant often overdosed polymer to stay on the safe side – a necessary but imperfect solution in a process where stability protects both the plant and the environment. Intellicant changed that dynamic completely.
Polymer use dropped by 25 to 28 percent, yet the process became more stable than ever. Operators gained time to focus on the rest of the plant instead of constantly chasing the decanter. And the data Intellicant provides daily has become a strategic asset. With transparent, reliable data, the team can finally understand how the process behaves over time, make informed decisions and see the impact of their adjustments. Downstream biological treatment runs more smoothly, and the entire plant feels more controlled, efficient and resilient.
“We are saving between 25 and 28 percent of polymer – and the dewatering process is still stable. What’s more, the archive data Intellicant delivers has become one of our most valuable assets.”
Wilfried Westermann
Head of WWTP Geseke
Parthe WWTP, Borsdorf Germany: Higher dry solids, fewer trucks, lower costs
At the Parthe wastewater treatment plant in Borsdorf – serving six municipalities and parts of Leipzig – Intellicant has become a trusted part of daily operations. The system runs reliably around the clock, reacting instantly to changes that operators simply cannot monitor continuously.
Dry solids increased from 22 to a stable 24 percent – roughly a 10 percent increase in actual solids content. This small numerical shift has a major real world impact: fewer truckloads, lower transport frequency and reduced disposal costs. What once required near daily pickups now needs only three per week.
For operators like Tom Höhnel, the difference is personal. He starts each day by switching on the decanter – and then Intellicant – because it makes his job easier and frees him to focus on the rest of the plant. Even during staff shortages, the plant can maintain safe, stable dewatering and ensure compliant discharge into the river Parthe.
“Since implementing Intellicant, we’ve increased dry solids from about 22 percent to a steady 24 percent. That improvement has significantly reduced transports as well as logistics and disposal costs.”
Sarah Polage
Head of Technical Operations, WWTP Parthe
A high impact technology made even more impactful
Wastewater treatment plants already play a vital role in protecting communities and ecosystems and decanters already perform the heavy lifting that keeps these systems running. But Intellicant shows what becomes possible when proven technology is paired with real time insight and smart automation.
A decanter that can see, understand and react instantly becomes more than a machine – it becomes an intelligent, adaptive system that delivers higher efficiency, lower costs and greater stability, even under the most challenging conditions. In a world where wastewater treatment is becoming more critical every year, Intellicant demonstrates a simple truth: digital intelligence can elevate essential infrastructure to a new level of performance and impact – exactly when society needs it most. Solutions like Intellicant don’t just optimize processes; they support the people who keep our cities running.
