In this study, the failure analysis of a decanter is carried out and the methods of performance improvement are presented. The decanter is a centrifugal separator that is used to separate water and solids from municipal and industrial sludge. Therefore, the decanter should be designed to improve the dewatering of sludge. Besides high performance, the decanter should guarantee its life time under a severe using condition. For theses reasons, the failure analysis and performance improvement of the decanter are studied. It is found from this study that the failure is caused by mass unbalance, wear, clogging or crack. If these failure causes are prevented, the life time as well as the performance is expected to be improved.