Industrial water - opex savings through water reuse
With water becoming a more valuable resource, industrial businesses that focus on better process water solids removal will increase recycling and reuse and cut the costs of water supply, treatment and discharge.
Globally, water is becoming recognised more and more as a precious resource. Growing populations, increasing urban development and changes in climate mean that supply and demand are ever more finely balanced and the cost of purchasing this resource is only heading one way: up.
For water-intensive businesses such as food processors, beverage makers and paper mills, however, this represents a line in the operational budget—and a drag on profitability.
Unfortunately, these industrial businesses also carry the cost of disposing of the water that they use, meaning that they pay twice for the same resource.
A cost of doing business
In order to discharge effluent that meets environmental regulations, businesses need to treat the water that they use—and this costs money. Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF), lagoons and other industrial wastewater treatment technologies are typically large systems that use up valuable site space, require huge amounts of energy to run, and need regular, costly maintenance and cleaning in order to continue operating effectively and efficiently.
For most businesses, this cost of treatment becomes simply another line in the operational budget—and yet another drag on profitability. Water supply, treatment and disposal become a never-ending cycle of cost that businesses simply accept.
This is a fallacy.
The idea that the water supply, treatment and disposal cycle is a cost that business must simply accept is a fallacy.
Improve profitability by recycling and reusing water
As the costs of water supply, treatment and disposal increase, every dollar, pound or euro spent buying water should be considered to be an investment—and businesses should extract as much value as possible from every drop.
Forward-looking businesses will have recognised by now that there are three “levers” available to them that they can pull to save money on water:
- Reduce the amount you buy
- Cut the cost of treating what you use
- Discharge less and cleaner water
One way to pull all of these levers is with better upstream treatment.
Removing solids, by-products and other materials from process water results in water that can be recycled and reused—for cleaning, irrigation, steam generation and other on-site processes—thereby cutting the supply requirement and saving businesses money.
It also reduces the load being sent to downstream treatment equipment, meaning that treatment systems operate more efficiently and at lower energy costs. The reduced solids load has the further benefit of preventing the clogging that makes pumps and aeration systems work harder—at higher electricity costs.
Finally, recycled water with reduced solids content and improved treatment results in lower overall discharge quantities and cleaner effluent, meaning that businesses can cut the costs associated with effluent surcharges (a subject that I’ll cover in a later blog).
To sum up, businesses should pay for water once, but try to use that water as many times as possible.
Technologies exist to enable and improve recycling and reuse; businesses that invest in them will achieve ongoing savings in their operational expenditure (opex) and will see improved profitability.
