With the rising costs of city water and sewer, users of pure water are looking to get the most “bang for the buck” and to minimize their utility costs.   In many cases, the byproducts of primary water purification processes can be reclaimed and re-used and returned to the inlet of the existing process or directed to other applications in the plant.   Not only does this reduce sewer costs, but by re-using this water there is less makeup water purchased from the supplier.   In many cases, the product quality from the reclaim process is better than the raw water and actually improves the quality of the feedwater to the primary water purification system.    Not only does reclaiming this water make good economic sense, but it’s a significant step toward most organizations’ sustainability goals.

One of the keys to being able to operate a reclaim process reliably is doing a thorough job of characterizing the stream to be recovered.   It also requires a consistent quality to avoid upsets.   It generally makes more sense to isolate a specific stream (e.g., the concentrate from a primary RO unit) and have a smaller recovery system than to try to treat a composite waste stream from a plant.

Even in cases where further treatment is required to reclaim a waste stream, the economics are becoming increasingly attractive.  To evaluate the feasibility and economics of possible reclaim applications for your facility, please get in touch with your Process Solutions, Inc. sales representative for a consultation.