Industrial Wastewater Recycling can play a very important role in reducing the demand on Australia’s water supplies. It can also increase profitability for businesses while conserving this scarce and expensive commodity. Enviro Concepts is a leading supplier or wastewater treatment systems to businesses across the country. This article explores the environmental risks and the benefits of reusing industrial wastewater.
What is Industrial Wastewater?
Industrial wastewater is produced from processes at industrial and commercial premises. It includes all waterborne contaminants from sites and facilities (except sewage). Many Enviro Concepts clients have wastewater from truck wash, car wash, mine vehicle wash facilities that need to be treated appropriately either to discharge to trade waste or recycle for reuse.
The effectiveness of water recycling and reuse depends on what substances are present in the industrial wastewater. Some of the substances that our EL Range of Recycling Plants remove are:
- Suspended solids
- Oil and grease
- Hydrocarbons
- Organics
- Metals
- BOD
- COD
What Can Industrial Wastewater Be Recycled For?
With appropriate water treatment, industrial water can be used for a wide range of industrial processes such as cooling and material washing or non-industrial uses such as irrigation or toilet flushing.
Some industrial processes where recycled water can be used are:
- Material Washing
- Process Rinse Water
- Crate and Pallet Washing
- Boiler or Cooling Tower Feed Water Supplement
- In Production Line
- pH Adjustment
Non-industrial uses include:
- Crop irrigation
- Landscape irrigation
- Construction
- Dust suppression
- Heating/cooling (air-conditioning) systems
- Commercial vehicle (car, truck, bus, equipment) wash facilities
- Commercial laundries
What Are Some Guidelines You Can Use For Your Recycling Project?
To reuse industrial water in a safe and sustainable way, it is important to identify, assess and appropriately manage the risks. These include assessment of the recycled water system, it’s management and maintenance, verification of recycled water quality and proper employee awareness and training.
Before evaluating the best process for recycling, you need to have a laboratory analysis of the substances present in the water. From that point onward, you can take some informed decisions about your industrial wastewater treatment. Some of the processes you need to decide on are:
- Evaluate and implement water efficiency opportunities – Identify what sources of industrial wastewater can be recycled
- Identify areas for water recycling and reuse, both for industrial or non-industrial use
- If the water is used for industrial use, check for risks and control. Minimising risks include workplace risks, business risks and risk to customers by ensuring product safety and quality
- Non-industrial risks may include looking at the standards needed for the source water, health and environment risk assessments.
- Check on EPA approvals
- Estimate how much water consumption would be saved and calculate the ROI
The EL Water Recycling Plant
The Enviro Concepts EL range includes EL25 (25L/Min) to EL100 (100L/Min) containerised wastewater treatment plants. If a business requires treating industrial wastewater high in organic content, the EL range can be fitted with the Enviro Concept Bioreactor to treat organic impurities. The systems can be custom designed and containerised for easy shipment and install. For more information on our EL Recycling Plants, please visit our product page.
To download specification sheets, click here.
To receive a free estimate on your recycling needs, contact us.