ProChem Responds to City-Wide Water Reuse Mandate

The Customer
A manufacturer for mining utilities operations in the Midwest whose plant processes required approximately 40,000 gallons of fresh water per day and introduced heavy metals and oils into their wastewater.

The Problem
The 40,000 gallons of wastewater per day was being discharged from their existing wastewater treatment system, but the facility was experiencing discharge compliance violations for metals and faced water restrictions under a drought emergency forming in their city. While the facility was under a corporate mandate to reuse water, city-wide water conservation efforts were being put into place that impacted the facility. These efforts included restricted water supply and the first ever city-wide water reuse project, where all city-supplied water is now being recycled back into its potable supply. Wastewater effluent that is used as recycled influent is exempt from drought restrictions, so reusing their wastewater was the only option for maintaining production capacity.

The ProChem Solution
After completing the water analysis, assessing the facility's reuse potential and production goals, ProChem offered a Design, Build, Operate solution that included a new wastewater treatment solution with a water reuse system.

The wastewater treatment system is a 90gpm continuous flow system, utilizing physical/chemical treatment and ion-exchange technology. This system operates 10 hours per day, seven days per week. The treated wastewater is fed to the water reuse system, which uses ProChem's industrial high-pressure reverse osmosis (I-PRO™) technology to purify the wastewater and feed it back into the manufacturing process.

Both systems are equipped with local monitoring and automation controls and ProChem's web-based remote monitoring service, requiring minimal operator interaction.

ProChem employees operate the wastewater treatment system and water reuse system on-site daily. These responsibilities include testing equipment, calibrating instruments, and testing for water quality to ensure the system is meeting project goals.

With this Design, Build, Operate solution in place, the facility is experiencing 100% discharge permit compliance and a 95% reuse rate.

The Win

• 100% discharge permit compliance
• Cost savings on water purchasing, chemical/physical treatment, discharge permit, and operations (for the wastewater treatment system)
• 95% reuse rate of their wastewater
• Operational challenges alleviated
• Exceeded corporate water reuse mandate
• Successfully responded to city-wide water conservation efforts