Challenge

A large healthcare products manufacturer in the U.S. needed a sustainable solution to excessive costs associated with municipal discharge and cooling tower operation.  Their existing purified water system produced a nearly continuous waste stream, and continually recirculated the water even when purified water was not needed.  Also, the feedwater to the system contained high total dissolved solids (TDS) levels, which in turn caused the RO system waste stream to have very high TDS and conductivity.

The healthcare manufacturer wanted to: reduce the existing waste stream from 64 gpm to 42 gpm; reduce the waste produced and the feedwater required for product production, to lower costs and increase efficiency while being environmentally responsible; filter 42 gpm of the waste stream to be sent to the cooling towers; improve the water quality to the cooling towers to reduce blow-down and potentially reduce chemical costs associated with cooling tower operation.

Solution

Siemens Water Technologies worked with the healthcare manufacturer to plan and design a solution that would meet all project goals and that could be carefully integrated into the existing infrastructure without disruption or operational risk.  Siemens engineered, built and installed a new waste treatment RO system designed to operate only when needed; the system could be shut down or bypassed by detecting when the waste stream quality was adequate for cooling tower feed. 

Results

Commissioned in 2007, the new waste treatment system achieved all of the desired goals. The manufacturer is extremely pleased with the results, which are helping to lower costs and improve the company’s environmental impact.

• The waste treatment system operates approximately 8 hours/day
• Waste stream has been reduced by more than 8 million gallons/year
• The plant’s waste disposal costs have been reduced by more than $350,000/year
• The waste disposal system can operate more frequently if water quality or plant expansion dictates, further increasing the system’s return on investment

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