Industrial Water - The Total Water Management Approach to Treatment

While water plays a vital role in a business' industrial processes, water and wastewater management is not a core business function. Discharge permit violations, personnel requirements, systems and equipment design, monitoring costs, and other aspects of water and wastewater management can be an expensive liability for a company. Not to mention other water and wastewater management issues such as:

Difficulty in training, supervising, and retaining proper personnel.  Lacking process design expertise that is needed to meet dynamic process demands. Difficulty in maintaining compliance and managing permits in a changing regulatory landscape. Inefficiencies in equipment utilization and company maintenance costs. Uncontrolled variable monthly costs. Difficulty in managing inventoryThese issues can also be especially daunting if you try to tackle those separately using different suppliers. Believe it or not, all of these issues can be handled as a package. Just consider how entangled they really are.

Total Water Management is a comprehensive strategy or philosophy for managing every aspect of a facility's industrial water. The goal of total water management is to cost effectively manage all aspects of a company's water related issues. This means everything from pretreatment of process feed water (i.e., industrial water) to the clarification of plant effluent (i.e., industrial wastewater) to ordering spare parts. Some water treatment companies provide all of these products and services because their goal is to keep industrial water and wastewater treatment systems operating efficiently.

This approach integrates physical/chemical treatment programs with automated controls, monitoring technology, and all related services.When you speak with a water treatment company who uses the total water management approach, the first step they will take to develop the program is to identify where your facility's water usage occurs. Numerous areas within a facility may utilize water, but do you know how much water each area uses and the quality of water that is needed in those areas? To help gather this information, these companies will perform a comprehensive water balance study, which also helps determine the best methods for handling pretreatment and wastewater.

Total water management may also mean combining water and wastewater treatment technologies with operational expertise. Some companies provide outsourcing services and training for water treatment system operators.This is because with new technologies and added processes comes a learning curve.

Additionally, keeping operating costs low requires data on things like water volume use, chemical volume use, and so on. This data can be gathered from sensors that are placed on the treatment equipment itself and fed to web-based software. The software can then place the data in trend reports and other reporting tools that management can use to make decisions about cost and even optimize the system's performance.

Total water management from a water treatment company

The best part of the total water management approach is that you may be able to pay just one bill to that one company that covers all your water treatment expenses. You will want to look for a water treatment company who designs a solution for you that will meet your dynamic process quality demands, protect your process equipment, and achieve compliant discharge with minimal waste generation.

A successful total water management plan requires continual analysis and improvement of its processes. Your vendor should communicate with you so that you can place orders conveniently, guarantee that your system is monitored properly, and get questions answered and concerns addressed proactively. Moreover, the total water management approach lends itself to having a continuous focus on identifying opportunities for improvement and cost savings.

Vendors who utilize the total water management approach will provide access to the following products and services: A wide variety water and wastewater treatment systems. Installation and startup services. Remote monitoring services (some newer systems are web-based). Chemical programs for water and wastewater treatment. Chemical and resin supply. Spare parts supply. Membrane cleaning services. Operations contracting with experienced operators or operator training for your staff. Environmental regulatory assistance (e.g., training and reporting)