Author: h1

Wastewater treatment is the process of involving chemical, physical and biological components to remove contaminants from the water. This is significantly used for industrial as well as domestic consumption. Wastewater treatment has a big impact on the modern-day civilization as it helps to thrive. In this blog, we will focus on wastewater treatment for industries and how it benefits them.

Industries dispose of a huge amount of wastewater every day and thus it needs a constant solution for the wastewater treatment system.

The process of treatment

Usually, industrial wastewater treatment goes through different stages of purification. The first step of purification is ensuring good and clean water. This is done by using huge filtering screens that eliminate solid inorganic substances such as plastic, metal, paper, etc. This step is followed by the elimination of silt and grit present in the water. These can prove to be quite abrasive for the industrial plant equipment. During these steps of purification, the wastewater flows through a sedimentation tank that removes the organic solid particles with the help of gravity when they settle down at the tank bottom. This settled sludge is collected at the centre of the tank from where it is pumped out of the water.

After this preliminary process, the water goes to different biological and chemical treatments to become completely purified and useable. The biological and chemical treatment ensures the removal of any bacteria or pollutants. Industrial water purification systems go through a complex and elaborate process to make the water reusable for the industry. This helps in reducing the wastage of water, which is very significant in today’s world.

Industries that require wastewater treatment

While almost all industries require water treatment to reuse water, here are some of the most important industries that hugely require reusable water.

• Breweries
• Dairy industries
• Iron and steel industries
• Food Processing industries
• Mining industries

What are the benefits?

Wastewater treatment comes with several benefits for industries. The three major benefits include:

• • Energy production – The sludge that comes out of the wastewater contains a huge amount of biodegradable substances. These biodegradable are treated in an enclosed digester of 35 degrees C with anaerobic bacteria. This leads to the process of producing a huge amount of methane gas that can generate electricity for industrial use.
  • Waste reduction – The industrial water filtration systems help in saving water by using the released waste in the improvement of the ecology and environment. This, in turn, enables the government to bring down the number of health risks that are caused by pollution of the environment.

• Production of fertilizers – wastewater treatment also helps in producing fertilizers by drying up the biodegradable substances in the drying lagoons which eventually turns into natural fertilizers. 

Conclusion

Treatment of wastewater not only helps in reusing the same water but also keeps the balance in the ecological system. This is very important for mankind to survive. With the water levels dwindling, it becomes even more significant to save water and reuse wastewater as much as we can. New technologies are developing to make the water treatment process easier and faster.

Water is one of the most vital elements of this nature meant for every living being. Without water, it is impossible to live even a day. But the main problem is that the water is getting contaminated every day and the situation can be alarming. The contaminated water is also contaminating the air and the soil and this way the entire ecological system is becoming unstable. If the water is not properly treated on time, then it will destroy the world of the living creatures. Thus, the industrial water treatment systems are necessary for preventing different types of fouling system from occurring. In case water is left untreated for a prolonged time, then this can damage the expensive industrial equipment ranges leading to excessive maintenance costs and unforeseen repairs.

Use of industrial water treatment:

The industrial water treatment system is mainly used for pre-treating and optimizing source water while keeping an eye toward improving process performance and production efficiency for a specific application. The common examples include processing or producing water, pre-treating boiler feed/cooling tower water, and/or water for drinking.

The comprehensive system of industrial water filtration is helpful in removing the minerals and solids from cooling tower water, boiler feed-water, pump water, process water, discharge water accountable for causing corrosion and damage. When left untreated, minerals and sediment in the source water can corrode piping, decrease heat efficiency, score bearings and shafts, and foul boilers.

Now let’s have a look at the ways how industrial water treatment systems make water healthy:

1. Screening: Source water, either from industrial or natural source usually passes through a screen in the first stage of the industrial filtration system. This stage is necessary as this keeps out the large materials of the water system that can clog or can disrupt the water purification method otherwise.
2. Flocculation/Coagulation: This is the second step of industrial water treatment where chemicals are added to the water to treat it further. This results in the formation of sticky yet small particles known as floc. This floc attracts larger particles. This results in larger particles either to rise on the top to be skimmed off or to the sink to the bottom area of the floc tanks for removing conveyor.
3. Filtration: This is the next important part of the water purification system offered by every industrial water treatment plant. Here the water is pumped through different types of filters while leaving behind the accumulated floc in the filtration media. These filters are made of sand, crushed black walnut shell, cloth or carbon. And these filters trap and remove more particulate while the water passes through these.

Disinfection: Therefore, the filtered water is pumped into a closed tank where the disinfectant chemical like chlorine is used to destroy all the microorganisms or bacteria that have survived the process of filtration. Other technologies of disinfection include RO or Reverse Osmosis, UV or purification with Ultraviolet Light, or Ultra-filtration or filtration with filters with pores of 0.2 microns or less than that.

We constantly use water in our daily activities. Have you ever imagined what will happen if we run out of water in the near future? Water scarcity is not a distant issue anymore. Half the people around the world have already woken up realizing the importance of water conservation and the trend in awareness is constantly increasing exponentially.

Wastewater is the water that is being used for domestic, industrial, agricultural and even medical purposes. Among them, industries consume water in large quantities and thus require a proper industrial wastewater treatment strategy. Treatment of wastewater includes various stages after which the water is deemed to be safe and thus returned to the environment. Wastewater treatment plant typically consists of primary, secondary and tertiary stages which remove solids, chemicals and bacteria at each stage. Wastewater treatment plants are gaining attention not only due to the awareness of water conservation but also due to the many benefits the plant possesses.

Wastewater treatment plant – An asset to create a brighter tomorrow

Firstly wastewater treatment plants provide clean and quality water for irrigation purposes from wastewater that is being released from domestic buildings, industries and agricultural sectors. It is believed that a litre of wastewater pollutes 8 litres of unpolluted water. Therefore converting litres of wastewater per day to usable water is the prime advantage of using wastewater treatment plant. The industrial water treatment systems are long-lasting solutions whose efficiency and stability are consistent with time. It requires very low maintenance, and the cleaning of the plant is pretty simple. The industrial water filtration systems used in the plant require regular cleaning of the membrane filters which may get clogged up over time.

The wastewater treatment plant prevents the outbreak of water-borne diseases by filtering the contaminants and microorganisms from entering into the water sources. There are several water treatment companies that manufacture such wastewater treatment plants with advanced technology and better sophistication. Most of the modern wastewater treatment plants are available at affordable rates and have low operating costs. They produce a minimal odour when compared to the earlier systems and are noiseless. They can be installed easily even in compact sites as the whole setup is compact. They are cost-effective, environment-friendly and have high durability.  Most of the industries having a wastewater treatment plant ensure that the treated water is used for their various other purposes such as water cooling systems and water for irrigating ornamental plants surrounding the industry.

Summary

A large amount of biodegradable waste that is collected in the process of wastewater treatment can be used to produce methane, which in turn can be used as a source of electricity. The methane gas produced can be used to power the treatment plant itself. Also, biodegradable waste can be used as a natural fertilizer for agriculture. Therefore the wastewater treatment plant is a boon to our generation in order to conserve water and help in the peaceful living of the following generations to come.

Water treatment is becoming increasingly important in recent times due to the cumulative demand on this limited resource and pollution constraints rising out of expulsion from untreated/moderately treated wastes. They majorly aim to remove the pollutants from wastewater and to save our natural water resources by destroying pathogenic organism which are the leading causes of many water-borne diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera and Hepatitis A or E.

In order to accomplish a great significance in this arena, the research and development team are putting their utmost efforts in improving the conventional system. This has resulted in many improvised and modernized technologies and industrial water treatment systems are among them.

What is the objective of a water treatment operation?

The ultimate goal of water treatment is to produce water fit for specific purposes. There are 5 main stages involved in the treatment of wastewater into drinking water. They are

• Chemical Coagulation
• Flocculation
• Sedimentation
• Filtration
• Disinfection

But what are the objectives of industrial water treatment? The objectives of this study are

1. To review the present scenario of biotechnologies for water treatment in the world and the country.
2. Ultimately harvest water that can be recycled for various purposes or organized of in a more environmental and healthier way.
3. Eliminate pollutants and other pathogenic organisms that are contaminating the water.
4. Suggesting suitable plans and identifying reliable and professional services to take care of the implementation of the water treatment strategy.

Biotechnology is generally used in many other industrial areas. Gone were those days when they were used only for the study of cells and organisms, with the advancement and development in the health care industry, many clinical approaches were made in making the water treatment strategy successful.

Biotechnology is transforming the industry

Essential biotechnological methods for sewage or wastewater treatment include

Activated sludge – This method uses aeration and a biological floc composed of bacteria and protozoa to remove the contaminants present in the sewage water. These microbes feed on the organic material, forming flocks which can easily settle out.

Oxidation ponds – They treat wastewater through the interaction of sunlight, bacteria, and algae. This is used worldwide and is becoming increasingly popular in developing countries.

Trickling filters– It is an aerobic technique in which the organic matter is removed from the wastewater with their biological filters

Biofilters– It is a popular water treatment technology in which the biofilters use microorganisms to remove air pollution. They can remove organic pollutants from the air, water, and wastewater and make the water clean.

There are also other sophisticated techniques for industrial water treatment plant such as reverse osmosis and ultra-filtration including membrane technology and surface water pollution. Apparently, each and every methodology in biotechnology aims in reducing water pollution without harming natural resources or water bodies.

Although Earth has a large water surface yet 97% of water is salt water, 2% is frozen and only one per cent of water is available as fresh water for the humans to drink. So numerous researches are carried out to convert the salt water (seawater) to freshwater. Most of the process haven’t produced significant results, however, Water Desalination is a technology which includes several processes that remove salt and other minerals from seawater to produce freshwater and is proven to be successful.

Most experts consider desalination can turn out to be a good option for solving the water crisis. As our global water crisis continues to worsen, we are hearing more and more about the use of desalination as a feasible basis of drinking water. But what is desalination?

Desalination – A Complete Overview

Water desalination plant disperse dissolved salts and other minerals from water. In a nutshell, it is a process of turning salty ocean water into drinking water. It is being used more and more around the world to provide people with needed fresh drinkable water. In many areas when there is a scarcity for fresh water and sea water available in plenty, desalination is used to provide potable water for household, production and farming.

Although it is an expensive affair since it requires lots of energy and the water obtained from water desalination systems costs twice the amount of water from freshwater sources. However, in the desert regions like Qatar, there is no fresh water and people in order to make their living often rely on this kind of technology.

How Does Desalination work?

Desalination processes involve multi-stage flash distillation (a process that distils sea water by flashing a portion of the water into steam in multiple stages using countercurrent heat exchangers). There are three methods of desalination

• The thermal desalination-This process uses energy to evaporate water and then condense it again. It works depending on the availability of energy. When there is an adequate amount of electricity, thermal desalination is regarded as the most viable option
• Electric desalination- It is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. To achieve desalination, the water desalination companies apply a small electric current to a plastic chip containing microchannel filled with seawater. This chip works by transmitting salts in one direction and desalinated water into another branch.
• Pressure desalination- This process is typically used in reverse osmosis wherein the saline solution is separated from the dissolved salts flowing through the permeable membrane.  The pressure range varies between brackish water and seawater depending on the intensity of salt content present in the water.

Desalination has numerous advantages, and some of their significant benefits are: to make water available in those areas that have limited resources of fresh water and often regarded as the alternate source to water.