Water treatment system

For industrial companies producing wastewater as part of its process, some type of wastewater treatment system is usually necessary to ensure safety precautions and discharge regulations are met. The most appropriate industrial wastewater treatment system will help the facility avoid harming the environment, human health, and a facility’s process or products (especially if the wastewater is being reused). It will also help the facility curb heavy fines and possible legal action if wastewater is being improperly discharged into a POTW (publicly owned treatment works) or to the environment (usually under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit).

What is a wastewater treatment system?

A wastewater treatment system is a system made up of several individual technologies that address your specific wastewater treatment needs.

Treating wastewater is rarely a static process, and a wastewater treatment system that is engineered to accommodate fluctuations in treatment needs will go a long way in avoiding costly replacements/upgrades down the line.

 An efficient and well-designed wastewater treatment system should be able to handle:

  • .process variations in contamination and flow
  • .variations in water chemistry needs and required chemical volumes adjustments
  • .possible changes in water effluent requirements

What's included in a basic wastewater treatment system?

As mentioned above, the exact components of a wastewater treatment system depend on the wastewater characterization in relation to regulatory requirements for discharge from the plant, but in general, a basic wastewater treatment system typically includes some type of:

  • .clarifier to settle suspended solids that are present as a result of treatment
  • .chemical feed to help facilitate the precipitation, flocculation, or coagulation of any metals and suspended solids
  • .filtration to remove all the leftover trace amounts of suspended solids (again, the level of filtration needed will depend on the degree of suspended solids removal required to pass local discharge regulations)
  • .Final pH adjustment and any post treatment
  • .control panel (depending on the level of automated operation needed)

Depending on the needs of your plant and process, these standard components are usually adequate, however, if your plant requires a system that provides a bit more customization, there might be some features or technologies you will need to add on. For example, for facilities that generate biological demand such as food and beverage a biological treatment system will be required to reduce the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand), etc.

What does a wastewater treatment system typically remove?

An industrial wastewater treatment system might be made up of the technologies necessary to remove any number of the following:

Biochemical oxygen demand

Biochemical oxygen demand, or BOD, refers to the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic matter into smaller molecules. High levels of BOD indicate an elevated concentration of biodegradable material present in the wastewater and can be caused by the introduction of pollutants such as fecal waste, cleaning, and wash-down from food processing or fertilizer runoff.

Nitrates and phosphates

If large amounts of nitrates and/or phosphates are not removed from wastewater and these nutrients are discharged into local environments, they can lead to an increase BOD and extensive weed growth, algae, and phytoplankton. This can further lead to eutrophication, or the deoxygenation in a body of water, killing the organisms and potentially leading to hypoxia or environmental dead zones.

Pathogens

Pathogens are bacteria, viruses, fungi, or any other microorganisms that can be present in wastewater that can lead to all kinds of health issues, including acute sickness, severe digestive problems, or death. When domestic or industrial wastewater contains these harmful pathogens and is not treated, it can spread illnesses and diseases such as cholera, dysentery, salmonellosis, hepatitis A, botulism, and giardiasis, to name a few.

Metals

Mostly found in wastewater as a result of various industries, manufacturing processes, when left in wastewater in high concentrations, metals can cause extensive damage to the environment and human health. They are particularly damaging because they don’t break down and tend to accumulate, causing toxic environs.

Total suspended solids

Total suspended solids (TSS) in wastewater, the organic and inorganic solid material suspended in the water, can, like many of the other contaminants listed, harm aquatic life. They can also be problematic if the wastewater is being reused for a process, so depending on whether or not you need to discharge your wastewater in a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) or environment, or reuse the wastewater for process, will determine how harmful the TSS will be. TSS can decrease levels of oxygen in aquatic environments and kill of insects. They can also scale and foul piping and machinery.

Total dissolved solids

Total dissolved solids (TDS) are any anions, cations, metals, minerals, or salts found in wastewater. They can cause issues with aquatic life, irrigation and crops, and they can also seep into groundwater. TDS can be generated in wastewater from just about any industry.

Synthetic chemicals

When pesticides and other chemicals are used / made in the manufacturing process, they can be transmitted to humans and the environment through wastewater, causing damage to the environment and human health. Some common chemicals found in wastewater include diethylstilbestrol, dioxin, PCBs, DDT, and other pesticides. These “endocrine disruptors” can block hormones in the body and affect the functions these hormones control.