Water security is under jeopardy as competing socioeconomic and environmental agendas make it extremely difficult to administer this finite resource effectively. Four billion people – that’s how many people live in areas with severe water scarcity at least one month a year, as per a research published in Science Advances tells us. There is only one solution to this mayhem- Water Recycling.
What is Water Recycling?
The process of treating wastewater and reintroducing it to circulation is known as water recycling (or water reclamation), and reuses it for a variety of applications including agriculture and irrigation, potable water supplies, groundwater replenishment, industrial processes, and environmental restoration. Water recycling can be employed to enhance water security, sustainability, and resilience by providing alternatives to existing water supply.
Why is Water Recycling Important?
Our water resources are steadily getting polluted as a result of the inability to implement restrictions on large enterprises and most individual’s cavalier and haphazard approach to wastewater disposal. As water scarcity spreads throughout the world – and not only in underdeveloped countries – the need to recycle & reuse our wastewater is becoming important. It is imperative that small businesses participate in various sustainability activities. This includes modest gestures, such as this water bead retailer’s preference for non-toxic and biodegradable products over less expensive alternatives.
- Addressing Water Shortage Issues: Water treatment and recycling technologies exist. Recycling water reduces the quantity of water you use, and purified water can be utilized for a variety of purposes.
- Benefit the Environment: Treated wastewater can benefit the environment by enhancing the performance of bodies of water and soils into which it is released.
- Decrease Transportation Costs: Transporting wastewater from one location to another can be quite expensive for enterprises that generate a large volume of wastewater. Having on-site water treatment and recycling equipment cuts transportation expenses significantly. As treated wastewater becomes more widely available, the demand for new water sources will fall.
- Lower Operation Costs: Treating and recycling wastewater on a continuous basis is far less expensive than using freshwater. Not to mention that if we do not actively clean our wastewater, there will be no freshwater sources remains because they will be obsolete or badly polluted day by day and ground water is also reducing in the same manner.
- Lower Pollution Risks: Untreated and recycled wastewater is frequently discharged into our huge bodies of water. Untreated wastewater does not degrade naturally. Instead, it pollutes our oceans, rivers, and streams, degrading water quality and even killing the ecosystems in which it is discharged. Recycling wastewater is the only method to avert future water shortages and reduce the environmental damage caused by water pollution. Polluted water is hazardous for human health also. It may cause several diseases. Hence recycling of waste water is vital for both same as environment as well as human being.
How Water Recycling Works?
Wastewater is treated in water recycling systems until it is adequate for reuse in the intended purpose. Water recycling systems differ depending on the type of waste water to be recycled as well as the application’s needs.
Water recycling technologies used in day-to-day operations will benefit industries that consume a lot of water. The number of processes in a water recycling system will vary depending on the source of wastewater.
Water recycling stages:
- Removing oil and large particles: The removal of oil and big particles (debris) from the water is the first step in water recycling plant. First water will pass through screening chamber to remove the debris. Further the oil separator shall be used for removal of floating & emulsified oil & grease from waste water.
Basic oil and water separators can be broadly divided into three groups:
-Separators that primarily rely on gravity for the separation of oil to occur
-Separators that provide a medium on which oil particles can coalesce
-Separators which apply high centrifugal forces to waste water to separate oil particles
- Removing chemicals: The presence, kind, and amount of surfactant in the water determine the next step in the water recycling system. Surfactants are compounds that are typically found in detergents. They aid in the complete wetting of surfaces by lowering water surface tension. There are two main ways to remove detergent from water:
-The use of specific chemicals which allow/react with detergent particles & surfactant compounds to join and coagulate & produce micro & macro flocs to further separate it by different sedimentation techniques.
- Filtration: The waste water is deposited into a process tank where it is kept before being pumped into a filtration tank after removal of oil & debris.
A deep bed media filter is the initial step of the filtration system. This is where high-pressure water is pushed through filters having different filtration media such as pebbles, gravels, coarse sand, fine sand and other granular particles like activated carbons & green sand etc. to reduce total suspended solids & odor if any and make it feasible to treat further through membrane technology (UF & RO System). In membrane technology water is subsequently passed through three stages of cartridge filtration, each capable of reducing sediment size to one micron, to guarantee that the specified maximum particle size is met further.
- Sterilization/Disinfection: After the water has been cleansed of detergents & ready to final use the sterilization process can begin. Pathogens, which are disease-causing organisms, viruses, parasites, and bacteria found in low-quality water, are abundant in waste water. Water can be sterilized in two ways:
-Chlorine sterilization is accomplished by introducing and maintaining a chlorine concentration in the water. It’s perfect for storing and repurposing water in the future.
-Running water under UV light beams achieves UV sterilization. This causes viruses’ cellular functions to be disrupted, making it perfect for situations when water must be used right away.
Triveni Water Solutions-
To address the growing crisis of water shortage, Tirveni’s Water business provides effective, sustainable, complete and comprehensive water/wastewater treatment solutions. Triveni has executed some of India’s leading projects, in this domain. They consistently deliver sophisticated and advanced solutions and a high degree of value to their customers with their advanced project management abilities and professional in-house engineering and design teams.
Triveni’s innovative solutions comprise:
- Water treatment (raw, process, desalination)
- Sewage treatment
- Effluent treatment
- Recycling and zero liquid discharge
- Sludge treatment
- Intake waterworks
- Water and wastewater network management
- Tertiary treatment plants
- Biogas system for power generations
For effluent treatment, common effluent treatment, and sewage treatment, Triveni employ the most advanced technologies obtainable (physical, chemical, and biological treatment). Triveni’s solutions are designed to address the rigorous needs of cities and industrial clusters to reduce surface water and groundwater pollution while adhering to NGT norms and regulations.
Triveni also provide customers with after-sales services and operations management to fulfill the entire range of their company demands. They now have over 100 water and sewage treatment plants that are completely operational.
