Water and Effluent Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/701016
20 WET NEWS JULY 2016 Water companies face potential pressure from commercial communities that can flex and grow unpredictably, says Rich Matthews. The challenge: Overcoming the unpredictable INSIGHT Sewage & sludge treatment Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) technology has actually indirectly benefited water companies A MP6 has encouraged the water industry to take steps towards a catchment management approach. Indeed, when it comes to tackling the many pollution issues that threaten the aquatic environment or stormwater treatment, water companies comfortably adopt such an approach. They adeptly identify the o•en local, root causes of any problems and mitigate or eliminate them accordingly. Yet, when it comes to industrial wastewater treatment, an area that potentially puts a greater burden on sewerage infrastructure, this approach comes less naturally to the sector. Instead of tackling problems at source, investment decision-making is generally made at the 'end of the pipe'. There are a number of reasons why this is not the best way for the water sector to manage industrial wastewater treatment. The first major drawback to the end of pipe approach has to be industrial unpredictability and risk. It is extremely difficult for water companies to predict with certainty how demand from an area's industrial and commercial base is likely to develop and grow, or to forecast the upside and downside of demand in a specific area. This will be affected by many international, national and local factors from major developments through to investment, commercial acquisitions, and other periodic changes in economic circumstances all of which will influence the growth or demise of the local industrial community. This unpredictability exposes the water industry's investment decision-making to considerable risk. How big an industrial base does it need to cater for and what is its make-up? Unpredictable This is a very real problem as, from an operational perspective, apart from storm flows, it is the fluctuations in these industrial contributions (flows and loads) that place the greatest stress on the wastewater infrastructure. It is not just the treatment facility that is impacted; the conveyance systems are affected too by industrial demand. If risks are to be effectively managed, both the treatment facility and the conveyance system must remain capable of dealing with the effluent throughout the design horizon / asset life. But if that effluent load is unpredictable and liable to change, investment decision- making becomes incredibly difficult. THE CONCEPT • DAF technology is a cost-effective process for reducing organic load into the sewerage system at source • A ready meals producer achieved an 87% reduction in TSS, and a 70% reduction in of COD using the DAF system • The system has treated ~120,000m 3 , with a gross saving of circa £50,000 in Mogden charges since October 2014 NEED TO KNOW 1 It is difficult for water companies to predict with certainty how demand is likely to develop 2 The unpredictability exposes the water industry's investment decision-making to considerable risk THE VERDICT "The catchment approach to industrial water treatment requires a significant shift in the water sector's investment model, operational philosophy and responsibility. However, we feel significant commercial benefits really would follow such a shift" Rich Matthews, Siltbuster Process Systems Another shortcoming of the end of pipe approach is its impact on the conveyance infrastructure. Whilst the centralisation of treatment facilities may provide a more The DAF systems can be installed as retrofits, and also have the potential to provide a revenue income