Wastewater Treatment
Our Wastewater Process
As water becomes more scarce and environmental regulations continue to tighten, many facilities are seeing greater scrutiny on their water before discharging. Whether the water is being discharged to a municipal treatment plant, a river, or treated for reuse, the importance of being able to remove contaminants from water or water from contaminants through dewatering in a cost efficient manner is becoming increasingly important.
Wastewater is the presence of a dispersion of a contaminant phase in water. This can include oil , suspended solids and particles, metals, organics, and often times some combination of all of these.
The ways in which the water becomes contaminated can range widely depending on the industry in which the water is being used, but the fundamental chemistry of water remains the same. By understanding the process and what contaminants are likely present and by having a deep understanding of water chemistry, it is possible to engineer a treatment solution through a combination of equipment and chemistry.
Preparing Wastewater for Re-use
In order to remove the contaminants to the level required to meet discharge requirements, several steps are often necessary.
This typically means equalization, followed by a pre-treatment step for solids removal. This pre-treatment step could be settling of solids through clarification or the floating of solids through Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)—in both scenarios it may be critical to add a coagulant and a flocculant to achieve desired results.
After this pre-treatment step the water is then ready either for discharge to the municipality or additional treatment in what is called the secondary treatment phase. Secondary treatment can vary widely, but is typically some form of biological process optimized to remove the remaining contaminants, typically BOD and remaining nutrients that are above discharge levels.
In both the pre-treatment step and the secondary treatment step, sludge is generated that can be costly to haul away for disposal. A result is desirable to further dewater the sludge through the addition of a dewatering polymer to form a tighter particle that retains less water.
The sludge is then passed through one of many different mechanisms for mechanical sludge dewatering. The final step in the process is tertiary treatment, which is the disinfection stage in which the water is sterilized often times using bleach or UV. The water is now ready for discharge or re-use.
FCT Water specializes in the chemistry of water and the ability to manipulate water conditions to achieve removal of the contaminant. We also provide site audits to determine that the chemistry is being optimized and use in a way that is going to result in the best results at the lowest costs.
Through our approach of a site visit and system audit and jar testing a wide range of chemical treatment possibilities and dosages, we are able to design a solution that will results in lower costs and consistent compliance.