At the recent Industrial Water Solutions Conference, hosted by the Water Environment Federation and WateReuse Association, professionals gathered to discuss strategies for sustainable water management in the industrial space. While sessions focused on the circular water economy, evolving regulatory space, and partnerships across sectors, a major focus was placed on accommodating the significant demands presented by the boom and anticipated exponential growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
As part of the conference, I co-facilitated a half-day workshop with individuals of varying professional backgrounds to explore the current barriers present for manufacturers looking to implement water reuse at their facilities. We presented attendees with real case studies from the food and beverage, manufacturing, and refinery industries and asked them to identify the current barriers for industrial water reuse, as well as opportunities for overcoming those barriers.
Attendees identified a common struggle we see among our industrial clients — a lack of regulatory guidance. While states across the country have policies addressing municipal indirect potable reuse, and California recently passed legislation for direct potable reuse, the industrial landscape largely lacks policy with some exceptions, such as the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of food and beverage manufacturing.
Without policies and regulations, we have found our industrial clients harbor some uncertainty about reuse opportunities. While navigating a regulatory landscape can be challenging, the absence of one creates concern that a company will invest in feasibility studies, planning, design, or even construction, only to have the work shut down. This is one area where Woodard & Curran can help clients identify what, if any, regulations exist or permits that may be required as a first step in the process.
Our bench of experts in industrial water and water reuse, as well as drinking water and wastewater treatment, can then support our industrial client in determining what technologies are available to best suit the end use of the recycled water. Some facilities want to use recycled water in non-contact floor washing, facility boilers, cooling towers, or the first flush for clean-in-place processes. We’ve helped many of our existing clients with feasibility studies, system evaluations, and cost estimates for implementing reuse projects, as well as design for treatment systems.
While under a design-build contract for a life sciences company, Woodard & Curran was asked to assess the potential of water reuse to reduce demand on local wastewater treatment plants. The facility where the new wastewater treatment plant was to be built produces devices used in the biopharmaceutical industry. The processes generate two industrial wastewater streams. During a five-month pilot study of anaerobic and aerobic processes with an MBR, the project team established that the resulting effluent is suitable for reuse.
In California, Woodard & Curran partnered with the city of Victorville, to design a 2.5 million gallon per day (MGD) wastewater treatment plant that receives wastewater from an industrial beverage bottling facility, as well as sanitary sewage from residences, businesses, and a nearby prison. The facility is designed to segregate and screen the industrial wastewater before it is sent through upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors and then combined with the pre-screened sanitary wastewater. The combined flow is treated aerobically by a membrane bioreactor (MBR), generating effluent that meets the California Recycled Water Criteria (Title 22) requirements. The treated wastewater is primarily used in cooling towers at local power plants.
My co-facilitators and I will be reprising the Industrial Water Solutions Conference workshop to kick off WEFTEC, which is being held from September 27 through October 1 in Chicago, Illinois. If this topic interests you, be sure to sign up in advance for an engaging presentation with breakout sessions to further address the barriers and how to overcome them when embarking on an industrial water reuse project.
