Industrial Wastewater Treatment

Wastewater Treatment for Manufacturing and Industry

As water becomes scarcer and environmental regulations 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 effective manner is becoming increasingly important. Industrial wastewater treatment for manufacturers can vary depending on the processes which generate the wastewater, and often include multiple treatment steps to achieve the best results. FCT Water’s industrial wastewater treatment process includes a comprehensive system audit to determine the most effective treatment plan for your water.

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What is Wastewater?

Industrial Wastewater Treatment
Wastewater includes any water that has become contaminated by human use. There are multiple types of wastewater. Domestic wastewater includes water from toilets, showers, dishwashers and other home appliances. Storm runoff may collect contaminants from streets, parking lots, rooftops and more to become wastewater. And Industrial wastewater contains contaminants from industrial process, and can include harmful chemicals and pollutants. While the ways in which water becomes contaminated can vary, 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 Water for Re-use or Safe Discharge

Several steps are often required to treat wastewater to acceptable discharge levels, though exact treatment methods will depend on the precise chemistry of the wastewater. 

Primary Phase:            Pre-treatment and Solids Removal

Industrial wastewater treatment often begins with equalization, followed by a pre-treatment step for solids removal. This is an especially important step for industrial water, since many manufacturing processes release a significant amount of suspended solids into water. This pre-treatment step could include the settling of solids through clarification, or the floating of solids through Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)—in both scenarios it may be important to add a coagulant and a flocculant to achieve desired results.

Secondary Phase

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.

Sludge Management

In both the pre-treatment step and the secondary treatment step, sludge is generated that can be costly to haul away for disposal. It may be desirable to further dewater the sludge by adding 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.
 

Tertiary Phase: Sterilization

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 contaminants. We also provide site audits to determine whether the chemistry being used is optimized and implemented in a way that will achieve 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.

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