Reused water is defined as water used more than once before being returned to the natural water cycle; it can be from the processing of municipal wastewater or from industrial processes such as Food & Beverage, general industrial use, Metal Treatment & Automotive, Packaged Wastewater Treatment and Photovoltaic, for example.
Recirculation systems for rinsing water or processes require high quality. In surface treatment lines, two-stage or more rinsing steps are generally used. In the first stage, the parts are rinsed with a small amount of water to reduce the amount of wastewater to be cleaned. In the second stage, a large amount of water is recirculated, passing through ion exchangers that remove dissolved mineral salts. Ovivo’s expertise and technology in this field enables us to provide the most economic and effective rinsing stages.
Economical processes and process combinations – we are counting on tomorrow‘s technology.
- Microfiltation
for separation of solids e.g. metal hydroxides
- Ultrafiltration
for cooling lubricants, degreasing baths, retention of biomass, detergent solutions
- Nanofiltration
for recycling of acids and alkaline solutions, concentration of metal electrolytes
- Reverse Osmosis
for chilled water treatment, boiler feed water, rinse water
Vast amounts of water that could be effectively reused are wasted in industrial applications. With abstraction licences becoming more difficult to obtain; the rising cost of raw water, and ever tightening consents for discharge, business drivers for reuse are increasingly apparent. As well as highlighting reuse as the “right” thing to do for the environment, it makes good commercial sense which is where Ovivo excels to create value in water.
After all, why pay to clean water intake and then pay again to clean-up water for discharge!
For example, poultry processing uses large volumes of water to ensure clean, safe food production. Ovivo installed an Advanced Water Treatment Plant for Inghams, Australia which fulfilled its corporate commitment to long-term water reuse.
A comprehensive audit protocol emerged from a six-stage approval process that included guidelines to regulate purified water-use at Inghams’ site.
The plant uses commercially available technology to produce water of drinking quality from treated wastewater, combining physical, biological nutrient removal and aerobic membrane separation techniques, as well as ultraviolet radiation and chlorination. These processes provide a multi-barrier approach that removes micro-organisms and complies with tough Australian drinking water guidelines. This is the first time an Advanced Water Treatment Plant has been used to produce potable water from treated wastewater at a poultry processing plant.
Inghams reduced its reliance on mains water by 70% and saves 545 megalitres of water annually using Ovivo technology. This exceptional reduction in water use represents global best practice in water management.
Water usage per unit of production has been used as a KPI in many process industries for a number of years, and the continuing usage of KPIs will make businesses more efficient, and will be of benefit to the environment.
It is an increasing imperative that appropriate means are developed to enable the reuse of water within irrigation networks, further industrial processes, domestic-type flushing systems, car washes and even for drinking water, or perhaps for replenishment of a groundwater network or the rejuvenation of a ‘dried out’ source.
Whilst solutions such as “toilet to tap” or “sewer mining” are currently unfashionable, aquifer top-up is attracting much attention as a way of reusing municipal wastewater and, in membrane-based systems, the technology already exists to ensure that this can be effected safely and with confidence.
Ovivo is able to offer proven and reliable state-of-the-art solutions for wastewater reuse in agricultural and industrial applications that will provide new sources of water and thus help to sustain our water resources.
Membrane processes offer a high purification level and relatively low energy consumption. Ovivo provides optimal membrane solutions for water reuse and for other industrial process separation requirements. Our membrane systems comprise the entire membrane filtration spectrum from ultrafiltration to reverse osmosis.
The recycling of treated wastewater using membrane technologies constitutes a major milestone towards zero liquid discharge.
Global
