At a Glance

2010-ET-CP-20

Production processes often consume

large amounts of water and, in turn,
generate large amounts of waste
water effluent. Concerns over
security of water supply and
increasing
costs
mean
that
companies are seeking to minimise
their consumption of fresh water.

Recovery & Reuse of Water from

Industrial Waste Streams

The aim of this project was to assess

the potential for water recycling and
reuse in Irish Industry.
Four companies, each from a
different industry, participated in the
study and reverse osmosis filtration
was carried out on several waste
water streams at each facility.
The results were then extrapolated
across similar industries in Ireland in
order to quantify the potential for
water recovery across Irish industry
as a whole.
The findings were as follows:
It is estimated that it is technically
possible to recover the following
proportions of water supplied to
IPPC licensed companies:
34% is recoverable from process
waste water streams which is
13.9 million m3/annum.
57% is recoverable from WWTP
Outflow which is 23.4 million
m3/annum.
Of the opportunities identified for
waste
water
recovery
using
membrane filtration, only some of
the opportunities were financially
viable.
Reducing water consumption can be
used as a marketing tool to promote
a positive company or brand image.
There were limited opportunities to
recover valuable components from
waste water streams.

FDT Consulting Engineers & Project

Managers Ltd,
Churchtown, Dublin, Ireland
www.fdt.ie
FDT is a 100% Irish-owned, independent
process engineering consultancy, based in
Dublin, serving clients in Ireland, the UK,
Europe and Africa. Formed in 1991, the
company has a highly skilled team of
engineering consultants with professional
qualifications and strong technical
experience that provide an in-depth
knowledge of process, utilities &
packaging plant.
FDT serve a range of sectors, such as
Brewing, Food and Dairy, Pharmaceutical,
Healthcare and Chemical industries, with
a variety of process engineering solutions
and consulting services. The company has
strong sustainability and resource
efficiency capabilities which help to
reduce our clients operating costs and
meet their compliance obligations.
Aim of this project

The secondary aim of this project was to

investigate the chemical composition of
the membrane concentrate to determine
if valuable by-products can be extracted
from the waste streams. The separation of
by-products would have the benefit of
reducing
the
effluent
treatment
requirements, while also reducing
procurement costs or adding a revenue
stream.
Project Description
Four production facilities, each from a
different industry, were identified to
participate in this study. These were

Brewing: Diageo, Dundalk

Dairy: Dairygold, Mitchelstown
Food: Largo Foods, Ashbourne
Pharmaceutical: Rottapharm
Madaus, Mulhuddart

The combined total water usage of these

3
facilities is in excess of 1.6 million m /annum.
Water balance diagrams were generated for
each facility. Analysis of the water users was
then carried out to identify the waste water
streams which were most likely to be
recoverable using Reverse Osmosis (RO)
treatment. Samples were taken from each of
these waste water streams and tested for
membrane compatibility.

A second set of samples was taken for the

purpose of conducting the trials. RO
filtration of the samples was carried out
using a Laboratory Cellunit.

The aim of this project was to assess the

water recovery potential in Irish Industry.
There is currently very little evidence of
water being recovered and reused within
the production process on large industrial
sites in Ireland. Water is an increasingly
expensive
commodity
for
many
industries.
This project aimed to encourage
companies to recover water for process
use by demonstrating that it is not only
technically feasible, but also commercially
advantageous.

Laboratory Cell Unit

The effectiveness of the RO filtration in

recovering waste water was assessed by
analysing the quality of permeate.

Water supply costs in Ireland are

approximately half the European
average.
It is expected that water supply costs
will increase over the coming years.
The payback periods calculated for the
four opportunities identified were
stress tested against European average
and maximum water supply charges
and the payback periods decreased
significantly.

Concentrate and Permeate resulting from

Membrane Filtration of Waste Water
Sample

One of the opportunities identified to

recover valuable components from
waste water streams had a payback of
5.44 years. The other three were not
financially viable.

Outcomes
This following is a summary of the
findings of this project:

Other
From a strategic perspective, reduction
in water usage has several benefits.

Environmental
It is estimated that it is technically
possible to recover 34% of water
supplied to IPPC licensed companies from
individual waste water streams, which is
3
13.9 million m /annum.
- 26% is recoverable using membrane
filtration.
- 7% is recoverable using lower grade
filtration.

Reduce reliance on scarce resources

to increase security of supply.

It is estimated that it is technically

possible to recover 57% of water
supplied to IPPC licensed companies from
WWTP Outflow using membrane
filtration, which is 23.4 million
3
m /annum.
If mains distribution losses are taken
into account, which are estimated at
44%, these figures could be as high as
3
24.8 million m / annum and 41.7 million
3
m / annum respectively.

Water Footprint is of increasing

importance in supply chain selection.
Organisations
have
a
social
responsibility to minimise their impact
on the environment. Reducing water
consumption can be used as a
marketing tool to promote a positive
company or brand image.
Lessons learned
There are opportunities to recover
water and, in some cases, other
products from waste water streams.
However, detailed analysis is required
to assess these opportunities. Where it
is technically feasible to recover water,
there can be significant financial and
environmental benefit.

While it was possible to recover

valuable components from waste water
streams, additional filtration would be
required to reuse the resulting permeate.

More Information

Economic
From the waste water streams
examined, there were four opportunities
to recover waste water, using membrane
filtration, which were identified as being
financially viable.

Michael Clancy
FDT Consulting Engineers and Project
Managers
Churchtown, Dublin,
Ireland

In all other instances, the volume of

flow in the waste water stream was too
low to justify installation of a membrane
plant, from a financial perspective.

For more information on this project

please contact:

Tel: 00353 (0)1 2960022

Email: michael.clancy@fdt.ie

The
Cleaner
Greener
Production
Programme (CGPP) of the EPA is funded
under the National Development Plan
2007-2013. The CGPP was launched in
2001 as a grant scheme to fund Irish
organisations to implement cleaner
greener
practices
while
achieving
significant cost savings.
Cleaner Greener Production is the
application of integrated preventive
environmental strategies to processes,
products and services to increase overall
efficiency and reduce risks to humans and
the environment.
Production processes: conserving raw
materials and energy, eliminating toxic
raw materials, and reducing the
quantity and toxicity of all emissions
and wastes
Products: reducing negative impacts
along the life cycle of a product, from
raw materials extraction to its ultimate
disposal.
Services: incorporating environmental
concerns into designing and delivering
services.
The programme aims are focussed on
avoiding
and
preventing
adverse
environmental impact rather than treating
or cleaning up afterwards. This approach
brings better economic and environmental
efficiency.
The CGPP is funded by the EPA STRIVE and
NWPP programmes

Additional case studies from companies

that participated in CGPP are available on
our website (www.cleanerproduction.ie),
including:
A full technical report for each project
Programme brochures, summarising
all projects funded under CGPP
More information on CGPP is available
from the EPA:
Lisa Sheils
Environmental Protection Agency,
Richview, Clonskeagh,
Dublin 14, Ireland
Tel: +353 (0)1 2680100