White Paper: Making Wastewater Treatment Part of a Profit Strategy

The Challenge

Manufacturing operations are in the business to make a profit. Yet, it can be extremely difficult to map out how to achieve profitability each year when your budget must absorb unplanned expenses such as excessive tool wear, machine downtime, extra housekeeping, costly fluid disposal, or compliance fines.

With the average operational cost of water increasing at a rate of more than 6% annually in the U.S., the writing is on the wall for manufacturers to get a handle on their water use. It may seem easier for a business to overlook the increasing cost for an essential resource such as water and chalk it up to the cost of doing business, or perhaps, simply pass the expense along to its customers.

In an increasingly competitive global market, even the smallest increases can mean losing a client or inching closer to negative revenues. Casually accepting cost increases on primary resources like water can put extraordinary stress on other parts of the operation to make up for those increases. If other areas of the process are unable to achieve their goals – and thus are unable to make up for the increasing cost of water – a steady pattern of decreasing profitability emerges that can quickly spiral in just a few quarters.

In addition to the front-end expense of water, manufacturing operators must also contend with the challenge of dramatically increasing operational costs for wastewater. The days of allowing process run-off water to flow down a sewer drain have long been outlawed by federal regulations. In the past 45 years, there have been dozens of federal addendums to the 1972 Clean Water Act. Each of those additional regulations addresses a new concern, a new danger, or a potential danger to the environment and the population.

Over the decades, there has been a diminishing level of federal government spending to help keep wastewater infrastructure development on pace with new regulations. Flint, Michigan, is an example of how (with a lack of federal funding) a fiscally challenged local government that is illequipped to handle critical water treatment can opt for the “affordable” solution, only to find out the human cost can be profound.

Challenges facing wastewater treatment professionals include: 

• Many wastewater treatment facilities are old and require improvements, repair, or replacement to maintain their useful life.
• Today’s quantity of contaminants is far more complex than those of the past.
• Population growth is taxing many existing wastewater treatment systems, creating a need for new plants.
• Farm runoff and increasing urbanization provide additional sources of pollution not controlled by wastewater treatment.
• One-third of new development is served by decentralized (septic) systems.

With federal financial support lacking, the onus falls to the state, regional, or local governmental bodies. All of them are unprepared to handle the cost of significant wastewater infrastructure improvements, or to figure out how to supply safe water to their citizens.

As state and local regulations are passed to ensure safe water for the population, new wastewater treatment regulations are added. Unable to shoulder the costs for enhancements to infrastructure capacity or capability, the burden then is passed on to businesses to adjust their processes to ensure compliance. This effectively builds in the cost of changing compliance measures at the expense of private business’ profits.

With so many variables for different manufacturing processes, as well as the differences in local regulations across the nation, there is no all-encompassing solution. Businesses must be acquainted with, and mindful of, their wastewater composition and how it should be treated to achieve full regulatory compliance.

The burden of compliance is on businesses, which must:

• Understand what’s in the wastewater.
• Create a strategy to address specific wastewater challenges.
• Choose a wastewater system that ensures compliance.
• Operate a system that will offer ROI.
• Embrace a system that can adapt and expand for future needs.

For more than four decades, the U.S. has consistently added new regulations and essentially instructed manufacturing operations to “make it work.” In a highly competitive market, there seems to be two options: continue to add in the expense of new regulations at the cost of diminishing profits, or find a way to address wastewater that leverages technology and innovation to create a new process – and a new model for profitability.

The Solution

When the cost for wastewater compliance puts operating permits and profitability at stake, stepping up the focus on water resources becomes a critical priority. If the volume of water required for an operation is non-revisable, or the access to adequate quality water is minimized, implementing water recovery and reuse strategies like those offered by PRAB can be a solution to both challenges.

Filtration for industrial water encompasses many different technologies that efficiently remove hazardous or undesirable contaminants. PRAB’s approach to wastewater applications involves discussing and analyzing data and samples to choose the best solution. By using the PRAB Separation Spectrum Chart, all possible options are presented for further discussion. PRAB has a cadre of established technologies and proven solutions. Most PRAB systems deliver payback in less than one year, which means capital dollars invested are justified and recouped quickly.

The full line of PRAB wastewater filtration equipment starts with a simple paper bed filter and magnetic separator, and moves through vacuum filtration and ultrafiltration technology. 

• Ultrafiltration: Designed to separate emulsified oils and suspended solids from wastewater and coolant, reducing oily water volumes by as much as 98% without chemicals.
• Vacuum Evaporators: Heat pumps, hot/cold water evaporators, and mechanical vapor recompression units offer clean separation technology for a wide range of industrial applications.
• Reverse Osmosis Systems: Remove up to 99.5% of dissolved salts and virtually all colloidal and suspended matter from the most challenging waste and feed water applications.
• Paper Bed & Magnetic Paper Bed Filters: Extend coolant and tool life, and increase surface finish an average of 27%.
• Solid Bowl Centrifuges: Manual and automatic models offer benefits of centrifugal separation with the advantage of an easily removable bowl for simple cleanup/maintenance.
• Tramp Oil Separators: Remove free-floating and mechanically dispersed tramp oils from individual machine sumps, central systems, and wash tanks.
• Guardian Coolant Recycling Systems: Cut coolant disposal costs up to 90% and new coolant purchases up to 75%.

PRAB has been effectively handling wastewater treatment for more than 35 years. With a thorough appreciation for the value of water, combined with the engineering capability to help filter, recycle, and reuse a large percentage of existing wastewater, PRAB can design a comprehensive system for wastewater filtration that meets the needs of any facility. These systems, whether simple for particle removal or more complex for finite liquid/liquid separation, are all engineered based on each customer’s unique application and specific water analysis requirements.