A Flexible Wastewater System Can Help Your Changing Needs

The best wastewater treatment platform is a modular one. Wastewater undergoes a number of separate but interconnected processes, becoming cleaner and cleaner with each step, until it is in compliance with your facilities permit. Still, some wastewater treatment manufacturers have a single, static set of technologies for their systems. Once they install that system, they pack their bags and leave the rest up to you. But what if that system was installed to meet a certain discharge limit and later on the district changes its requirements?

That’s why manufacturers should partner with a provider like MacDermid Envio, which offers a custom-built, customizable, modular system. The team at MacDermid Envio will tour your facility, recommend a set of technologies that work for your unique manufacturing processes, install the system and set up automation, and leave the door open for future additions as necessary.

Using modularity to align with regulation changes

Wastewater discharge limits change frequently, as technology advances and the Environmental Protection Agency outlines more ambitious goals for sustainability. So when a regulation changes, your wastewater system needs the agility to change with it. Consider how a wastewater platform from MacDermid Envio helps you meet with changing regulations:

• When regulations tighten, you may just need to add another piece of technology to the existing system, rather than rebuilding it from scratch. Think of it like you’re putting an addition on your house.
• MacDermid Envio’s sensor technology provides real-time feedback so you can determine if something is wrong with your treatment. From there, you can work with MacDermid Envio to identify next steps – maybe that means adjusting your current system, or maybe it means looking at another piece of equipment for provide additional treatment.
• By providing remote assistance, MacDermid Envio’s team can monitor your system’s performance. If a problem with your system arises, they’ll be able to assess it. If the solution is a simple adjustment, they can walk you through that. If it calls for something more complex, MacDermid Envio’s team can visit the plant and see what changes might be necessary.

Still, it’s important to keep your ear to the ground with regard to your district’s regulations. Each region is different – what works for the county over might not work for you.

Changing you system to accommodate your processes

If your plant introduces a new operation, process or piece of equipment it will change the make up of your runoff. Maybe you introduce a new metal into your production line, or perhaps better technology brings a different array of chemical solutions. When that happens, your wastewater system will need to be flexible.

If the nature of your wastewater changes, the same systems might not be as effective. However, if you can add another technology to your system, like an evaporator, that might be all you need. But flexibility goes beyond modular systems – some technologies themselves can be tweaked to meet new needs.

For example, many factories use a coagulant as a primary step in their wastewater treatment process. Adding a coagulant depends on the water having the right pH balance, which can be adjusted by adding an acid or a base. Different chemical or metal solvents will yield different pH adjustment and coagulant types. But changing those don’t require an entirely new system, just a different approach to the chemical additives.

Wastewater treatment is a constantly changing undertaking – whether by new regulations or new manufacturing processes. That’s why manufacturers shouldn’t tie themselves down with inflexible systems – install a platform that can be broken down into modules and updated or added to as necessary.

Contact MacDermid Envio Solutions to learn more!

Written by a MacDermid Envio Solutions Subject Matter Expert