Manufacturing operations, be they agricultural processing, food processing and abattoirs, or industrial processes, are typically significant consumers of town water, and significant generators of trade waste which either reports to sewer or treatment and licensed environmental discharge.
The issues with that general approach are that:
- The manufacturer incurs the costs of large quantities of town water, and
- Incurs the cost of sewer discharge, or environmental discharge, together with any associated on-site treatment costs.
The upshot is that the manufacturer will generally pay for the water at least twice, whist maintaining a significant consumption demand on town water. In times of drought, this exacerbates issue for town water supplies, and may even lead to negative perceptions in the local community.
Treatment technologies for trade waste streams are well-developed, allowing the majority of trade waste streams to be treated to a level equal to, or even better than, many town water supplies. As a result, on-site treatment and recycling of water is generally both technically feasible, and often financially attractive.
Such an approach provides independence to the manufacturer, whilst minimising its draw on community water supplies. While the manufacturer may not be interested in managing its own water treatment facility, many companies offer design-build-operate or build-own-operate options.
Basacon can assist clients to assess the technical options for their specific circumstances, and provide commercial procurement and contract advice, as well as operational support.