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The flocculator was originally made of soft flexible clear tubing. The tubing was deformed and pinched as coiled along the flocculator. Additionally, the tubing degraded at the joints (See Figure 1).
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Figure 1: Deformed and pinched tubing. (12/13/08)
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Air leaked into the tube at each of the bulkhead fittings. This air prevented flow through the flocculator. The plant operators advised using a thicker, more resistant tubing to solve the problem of degradation.
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Finally, clear braid-reinforced tubing was used to set up the flocculator. This tubing was flexible enough to form a figure eight and very durable (Figure 2).
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Figure 2: Clear braid-reinforced tubing. (12/14/08)
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The flocculator was set up vertically at ground level. Elevation differences between the flocculation tank and the outlet of the tube flocculator drive flow through the tube flocculator. A tee with one end open to the atmosphere was connected to the outlet. The tee can be elevated or lowered to control the flow rate through the flocculator.
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FReTA was constructed by the lab tube floc team for the plant and can be used in future semesters. FReTA measures the rate of change in turbidity as opposed to just measuring the turbidity at a specific point in the flocculator. This is advantageous because the the change in turbidity rate is comparable to the settling velocity.
Troubleshooting
Air in the Tube Flocculator
Air often gets caught in the connection between the 1/4 line drawing water from the tank. To resolve this issue the peristaltice pump used to sample water from the sed tanks was used to provide pressure to remove air. Additionally the joint was sealed with tape to make it air tight (Figure 2). 
Figure 2: Sealed air tight joint. (12/14/08)
For additional information on flocculator issues see Flocculator Maintenance