Fresh and clean water is a valuable commodity and is slowly turning into a luxury in several countries. Because we are facing severe shortages of freshwater, modern society is now facing the challenge of harnessing technology for wastewater treatment. Not only does this involve the treatment of domestic wastewater, but there are industrial water treatment companies to minimize waste and usage of industrial water.

Several industrial processes in the jewellery, oil & gas, mining, manufacturing, textile, and automotive sectors are designed to re-use processed water as much as possible. But according to UNESCO, only 20% of wastewater produced globally gets proper treatment.

After the industrial revolution and the arrival of the digital age, industries have faced the challenge of developing innovative and new ways for treatment of wastewater and to reduce wastewater discharge to the point of the elusive ‘zero discharge’. Many strides have been made in this direction, but there is still much work to be done because of the swelling population and booming industrial growth.

The operation and maintenance (O&M) of wastewater systems is a complicated process. It is important for compliance and successful treatment of wastewater prior to discharge into the environment.

Industrial wastewater comprises leachate and run-off from areas that suffer pollution linked to commercial and industrial storage, processing, or handling facilities. In case a company releases wastewater, it must ensure that all the wastewater produced is treated before it reaches the sewage system.

It is important to pay close attention to the following areas for optimal performance of wastewater treatment systems:

Regulatory obligations and permits
Consider whether compliance obligations, plans, and permits you have access to are up to date. The first step to compliance is to communicate with local environmental or sewer authorities about your plan to discharge wastewater from your facility.

The local authority may mandate that you should submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) or permit application which typically describes the sources, features, and volume of flow of your industrial wastewater discharge.

You also need to create and update O&M manuals for any wastewater treatment processes that you adopt, and these must indicate the nature of your equipment and how it is designed. Proper maintenance of logs, plans, and manuals will apprise the authorities that one is keeping the facility in good running condition and complying with permits.

In case you are given a permit, you should read it with care on receipt. Mostly, you will have the opportunity to respond to the authorities with disputes, questions, and comments. The permit may also need periodic sampling for compliance and lab analysis and other deliverables like logs of flow records or pH and other parameters monitored daily.

Features of wastewater
It is important to determine pollutants, pH, and the temperature of incoming wastewater. Thankfully, this step is part of the process of the permit application and the design of the wastewater system so that two birds are killed with one stone. When a company generates wastewater, it is usually aware of the processes that create its waste streams.

You will need to review the chemical management/hygiene plan as well as other procedures to verify chemicals handled on-site and the handling of such chemicals. Other personnel working on-site should be interviewed to ensure plans are followed and to make adjustments in case they discover discrepancies. If the latter is neglected, they could cause huge issues in the long run.

You must review how reagents and products mix to generate wastewater. After you determine the nature of the wastewater, you can design treatment systems and create protocols to ensure continuous operation. Even a sample test conducted on a small scale could help in long-term planning.

Origin and quantity
This is the question about how much wastewater one generates and at what point it is generated. In case a facility has violated wastewater discharge stipulations, it is responsible for returning back to compliance. In case a company doesn’t know the precise source of pollutants, it must investigate further and conduct sampling at different points in the system of waste drainage to determine the origin of pollutants.

Also, when a new process is adopted, the wastewater handler must be involved in the early stages of planning to determine which waste (if any) will add to your wastewater discharge. One should conduct a sample analysis of the waste to determine if it poses any concerns around discharge compliance.

Measurement of flow
The compliance manager or wastewater operator will be familiar with how much water flows out of the facility and how much enters it. In case there is a discrepancy between input and output, they must work to figure out where the discrepancies are occurring.

It is important to measure the flow of water accurately. In fact, the flow rate is perhaps the most crucial factor in order to calculate the capacity of the system of wastewater treatment. Measure of flow is required to judge the nature of treatment and the amount of chemicals to keep at hand. Nearly all discharge permits need water flow measurements.

In sum, if a company discharges industrial wastewater, it is important to maintain compliance with government regulations. You can take the help of industrial water treatment companies to keep track of wastewater and ensure compliance with laws.