Challenge
This case study has applications in every industry with wastewater discharge limits. A company within the steel industry approached CentraSep with a problem: they were exceeding wastewater discharge limits. Expanding and upgrading their wastewater treatment facility in order to stay within these limits was going to incur costs of more than $1 million.
Solution
CentraSep spent time evaluating the problem. We looked upstream in their process to see what application was producing the solids that was causing their wastewater treatment overages. CentraSep found a high discharge point where an overabundance of heavy metals, including zinc particulate, was being sent to the wastewater treatment facility from one location.
CentraSep installed a complete filtration system that included tanks and pumps at that location, closing the loop and deterring the introduction of that heavy contaminate to the wastewater treatment facility. This solution resulted in three main benefits: the wastewater treatment facility did not have to expand (saving $1 million); the plant is able to easily stay within its discharge limits; and the filtration system is much more reliable than before, resulting in decreased downtime. Since this successful installation, many companies within the metallurgical industry have incorporated CentraSep into this same process.
