Most kinds of industrial activity produce some amount of contaminated water and waste. In order for this water to be safely released back into the environment, it must be sufficiently cleaned and purified. This is a massive undertaking; indeed, within any given year, U.S. companies alone spend more than $10 billion on wastewater treatment.

It might surprise you to learn just how many types of industry require a wastewater treatment process. In this post, we’ll highlight just a few of them.

Which Industries Require Wastewater Treatment?

Our partial list includes:

Agriculture

Agriculturalists use water for everything from irrigation to washing down their machinery. The problem is that the agriculture industry also uses a lot of pesticides, which can easily be intermingled with that water, contaminating it and requiring treatment. And that’s to say nothing of more specialized needs; for example, dairy farms often produce water waste that has dissolved sugars, fats, and chemical additives.

Automotive

Auto manufacturers, service centers, and repair shops produce huge volumes of liquid waste, including water intermingled with used oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid, wiper fluid, grease, paints, and beyond. This liquid waste can’t simply be flushed down the drain. First, it has to be cleaned and purified through a wastewater treatment process.

Construction

Construction crews generate plenty of solid waste, but also contaminated liquids. Common examples include water that’s been polluted through its use washing heavy, dirt-covered construction equipment. The use of liquids such as paint and solvents can further pollute liquid waste used at construction sites.

Food Processing

A food processing center that works with meats or other animal products may have water contaminated by blood, fecal matter, even feathers. Contamination is less extreme at fruit and vegetable processing centers, but even here there is a significant amount of organic particulate matter.

Oil and Gas

In the oil and gas sector, wastewater comes in the form of used cleaning water and oil waste. Oil and gas companies produce high amounts of dirty water simply by cleaning out the inside of their tanks, something that requires a rigorous approach to wastewater treatment.

Pulp and Paper

The pulp and paper industry uses a staggeringly high amount of water just to get its products to market. Some estimates show pulp and paper companies requiring 17,000 gallons of water for each ton of paper. Naturally, this creates a lot of liquid waste that must be treated.

Water Treatment

Finally, note that water treatment companies actually produce their own liquid waste, which must itself be treated. As these companies remove impurities, making water safe for human consumption, they produce a lot of wastewater that requires careful disposal.

Learn More About Wastewater Treatment Options

Virtually every industry produces liquid waste in some form or fashion, requiring a strategic approach to water treatment. Having the right technology vendor helps. To find out more, reach out to PHS, a company that’s been providing best-in-class water treatment technologies for decades. Contact us when you’re ready to find out more.

Every now and then, a wastewater treatment facility must be completely shut down and decommissioned. There are a number of reasons why this might happen, the most common being:

• Older equipment is being sunset, replaced by more advanced and up-to-date equipment.
• The wastewater treatment facility is connected to a larger industrial facility, which is itself being shut down or relocated.
• The wastewater treatment facility is being connected to another system, such as a municipal collection system.

 

Regardless of the reason, decommissioning a wastewater treatment facility requires a thorough and meticulous process, which can help avert any unforeseen effects on the environment or on public health.

 

Tips for Closing a Wastewater Treatment Facility

While the specifics of the process may vary from one facility to the next, there are a few general guidelines we’d recommend.

• Have a written closure plan. When you know the site is to be decommissioned, create a written plan for closure, highlighting the steps required and the parties responsible for each. Be sure this plan is circulated to all parties involved with the decommissioning.

• Discharge residual wastewater. You may be able to discharge any residual wastewater to a nearby sewer, though doing so requires you to obtain written permission from the owner of that sewer.

• Deal with sludge and solid waste. Any sludge or solid waste left in the wastewater treatment center must be transported to a solid waste management facility. Separating the sludge from wastewater may require you to contact a dewatering provider, like PHS. The use of centrifuge technology is essential for separating sludge, reducing waste volume, and boosting the efficiency of your plant decommissioning process.

• Properly dispose of chemicals. You’ll also need to ensure that no wastewater treatment chemicals are left on-site. Arrange to return them to the manufacturer, or else provide them to another wastewater treatment center that can use them.

• Get rid of any scrap metals. Generally speaking, any remaining scrap metals can simply be taken to the nearest salvage yard.

• Remove or fill tanks. Any tanks must either be removed from the site or else filled with inert solids (or other approved materials).

• Follow demolition guidelines. Before demolishing the wastewater facility, it’s imperative to make sure you’re complying with all local laws and ordinances. In many areas, you’ll need to have the facility inspected for asbestos before it can be torn down. (And if asbestos is found, additional safety guidelines may be required.)

 

Learn More About Sludge Dewatering Equipment

As you prepare for the closure of a wastewater treatment facility, you’ll want to have the right partners to support you. That includes companies like PHS, which can provide the technology you need to properly get rid of sludge and solid waste.

PHS has decades of experience working with municipal water treatment facilities, providing technical guidance and next-gen equipment. Whether you’re planning a routine tank cleaning or a plant decommissioning, we’re here to help however we can. Reach out to the team at PHS at your convenience.

In urban and suburban areas, most homeowners benefit from wastewater treatment centers, which tend to be nearby. These treatment facilities provide residents of the community with an easy way to dispose of their wastewater. In rural areas, however, wastewater treatment centers aren’t as common. Often, rural communities must find alternative means, including lagoons, to help clean and treat their wastewater.

Lagoons usually employ a combination of chemical, biological, and mechanical systems to treat wastewater, allowing it to be safely released back into the environment. And while lagoon systems can be quite effective, they do require maintenance and upkeep. Over time, dirt and solid waste particles accumulate inside the lagoon, rendering the lagoon less effective than it might be otherwise.

When to Clean the Wastewater Lagoon

One of the most important aspects of keeping a wastewater lagoon clean is knowing how often it requires maintenance. In other words, how often does a wastewater lagoon need to be cleaned?

The short answer: Whenever it’s full. This may happen following several years of regular use and heavy dumping. However, it should also be noted that natural fillers (including leaves, grass, and animal waste) can expedite your need for a lagoon cleaning. Once the lagoon becomes full and dirty, it will quickly start to lose its efficien

 

How to Clean a Wastewater Lagoon

We’ve answered the question of when to clean a wastewater lagoon. The next question is how to clean a wastewater lagoon.

Generally speaking, if you want to get your lagoon nice and clean, you’ll need to invest in the right kind of equipment. There are a number of options, including dredges, which can manually shake loose some of the sludge built-up along the inside of the lagoon.

Another option is aeration. This approach involves the use of highly pressurized air, streaming into the wastewater lagoon and stirring up its contents. A well-performed aeration can shake solid wastes loose from liquids, making it easy to pump the solid wastes out of the lagoon and place them in a holding tank, where they can ultimately be transported away and disposed of.

When deciding on the best way to clean your wastewater lagoon, it’s important to consult with an experienced lagoon cleaning company, like PHS. In particular, it’s crucial to ask about the best methods for fully cleansing your lagoon without losing any productivity.

Contact PHS About Lagoon Cleaning

For decades, PHS has been at the forefront of lagoon cleaning services. We provide wastewater treatment providers with best-in-class equipment rentals, enabling fast and thorough cleaning and dewatering. We’d love to tell you more about how our aeration and centrifuge technology can empower your lagoon maintenance, without too much downtime or inefficiency. Additionally, we have rapid-response deployments available as needed.

Ready to learn more about lagoon cleaning equipment? We’d love to answer your questions and to help you identify the machinery best suited to your needs. Reach out to the experienced team at PHS whenever you’re ready to chat.

Sooner or later, most wastewater lagoons begin to accumulate excess sludge. This accumulation brings many problems of its own, from intense odors to bacterial build-up. And when left unaddressed, sludge issues tend to compound, getting more and more challenging to resolve.

So, what’s the best way to deal with this problem? There are a couple of options available to handle high levels of wastewater lagoon slide: Treat it or remove it. In this post, we’ll examine the pros and cons of both methods.

Removing Wastewater Lagoon Sludge

Lagoon sludge removal typically involves dredging. While there are other methods, this is by far the most common. Basically, dredging involves the mechanical removal of sludge from the lagoon. Once it’s removed, the sludge is dried and then transported somewhere for safe disposal, usually a landfill.

Though this method can be effective, sludge removal is very laborious and quite costly. Dredging and disposing of sludge can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, which means that, for most wastewater lagoon owners, it’s truly a last resort. (In some cases, if sludge build-up is truly out of control, it may be the only option left; you’ll want to avoid letting your sludge problem get so out of hand!)

Treating Wastewater Lagoon Sludge

When it comes to treating wastewater lagoon sludge, there are a couple of primary options to consider: Aeration and mixing, and bioaugmentation.

Aeration and Mixing

The ideal solution to address lagoon sludge is to ensure a fully operational aeration system. This means making sure the system provides ample oxygen, and also that the system offers turbulent mixing through the water column. Basically, the goal here is to assist the sludge in breaking down anaerobically, harnessing natural chemical processes. While this can be a safe and cost-effective option, it can also be a little time-consuming.

Bioaugmentation

Some lagoon owners will augment their water with specific types of bacterial growth. This can be done in addition to aeration if you really want to cover all your bases. These bacterial growths will help multiply the bacteria already in the lagoon, which promote the breakdown of wastewater sludge. Again, this is a safe, effective, and fairly natural approach, though it’s not necessarily quick. Still, the most expedient option available is strong aeration and mixing combined with bioaugmentation.

Taking Care of Sludge in Your Lagoon

There really aren’t a ton of options available for getting rid of sludge in your wastewater lagoon. As you consider these limited options, the most important thing you can do is ensure that you have the best technologies in place, including aeration systems that allow you to keep your sludge under control.

PHS is a leading name in sludge dewatering solutions. For decades, we have provided best-in-class technologies to lagoon operators across the country. To learn more about the options we provide, reach out to PHS today.

We often think of environmental compliance as something that’s primarily expected of manufacturers, utilities, and other big corporations. Actually, there are environmental ordinances that impact professionals at all levels and in virtually every industry, including small farmers and agriculturalists. Indeed, every farmer should be aware of what’s expected of them by the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as local regulating bodies.

This is especially pertinent when it comes to wastewater treatment. Consider that the water used in different agricultural practices can very easily mix with fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, all of which contaminates the water and makes it unsafe for release back into the environment. Failure to acknowledge this, or to properly treat and dispose of the water, can result in legal problems, including fines.

Agriculture and Wastewater Treatment

It’s not just fertilizers and pesticides that farmers have to worry about. For example, agricultural processing centers tend to produce water with high levels of suspended solids. In particular, fruit and vegetable effluent can be incredibly common in the water discharged by farmers and agriculture centers.

There are a number of ways in which the water generated through agricultural practice may be contaminated. As such, those in this field must be aware of a number of different wastewater treatment strategies.

Options for Wastewater Treatment

The most basic option is for farmers to implement full wastewater treatment systems, which separate solids and other particles from the water itself. Separating solid contaminants is generally required to make the water legally dischargeable.

A traditional wastewater treatment system tends to be complicated and may require both a lot of chemicals as well as a lot of labor. Even an automated process usually requires at least one technician to oversee it, which represents a lot of overhead for smaller farming operations.

Another option is simply to haul the water away to a treatment center. The problem with this is that it’s extraordinarily costly, simply because transporting contaminated water is very expensive.

Thankfully, new technologies have made it much easier and more cost-effective for farmers to separate sludge and solids from their wastewater, and to discharge their water more efficiently.  For example, centrifuge-based systems can be a great option to separate the liquid from the solid, resulting in clean water that can be discharged back into the environment without violating any EPA regulations. The solids, meanwhile, are often turned into lightweight wafers or cakes, which can be hauled off for disposal much more affordably.

Find Out More About Wastewater Treatment

This is just one example of how technology has changed the game for farmers looking for wastewater treatment options, and it happens to be something we know a lot about here at PHS. We’ve been providing wastewater treatment solutions for decades, and would love to share more information about cost-effective technologies available to help farmers. Reach out to us whenever you’d like to start that conversation.