Case Study in Wastewater Reuse

While upgrading a pasteurization system for a major beverage producer, we were asked to assist with water conservation efforts within the plant. The city water supply was restricted due to local water usage standards, which prevented the facility from running at full production capacity. The plant was also under strict sanitary drain limits, and regularly required third party water treatment services. After a succinct water usage audit, the concentrate reject stream from the nano-quality semi-permeable membrane system was identified as a major contributor to overall wastewater volume.

Placer Process designed and installed a specialized reverse osmosis (RO) system to recover over 60% of that concentrate wastewater stream. The recovered water quality now exceeds the city water quality and allows the plant additional production, while also reducing wastewater volume significantly.

The block flow diagram below shows the modifications to the existing water system in red. Equipment and installation costs are quickly offset in water costs and sanitary drain charges.

Key Notes:

A simple tie-in plan minimized down-time, and now allows the plant to easily bypass the new water recovery system during CIP or maintenance

• The buffer tank sizing was critical to preventing excessive cycling on the recovery RO; the tank overflow into the sanitary drain prevents this system from being critical to plant operation
• The recovery RO filters were specially designed to minimize chemical and energy requirements, while effectively dealing with large variations in supply water quality

This is just one example of Placer Process’ water reuse applications. Other waste streams such as CIP rinse water, seal flush water, and condensate drains are all commonly recycled water resources that we can help integrate into your process plant. Please give us a call today to discuss how much money you can save by saving water.

Contact Placer Process today at 1-877-251-6082 today to discuss how much
money you can save by reusing water.