Wastewater Management

Business Wastewater Management

When reviewing your business’s water usage and consumption, it’s essential to consider wastewater management as part of the assessment to ensure that you’re fulfilling all responsibilities where sustainable water use is concerned.

What is wastewater?

Wastewater is that which is either no longer required or that which is no longer suitable for use.

It’s generated through activities like toilet flushing, washing, bathing and rainwater runoff, all of which has been contaminated or which contains pollutants that could enter rivers, lakes and oceans.

Any water that has been polluted by human activity is considered wastewater.

Untreated sewage contains bacteria, organic matter such as fats, carbohydrates and fats, and chemicals. If it isn’t treated properly, public health would be put at risk and significant damage done to the water environment, making it difficult for aquatic life to survive.

What is wastewater treatment?

Wastewater collection and treatment is necessary to protect and improve water quality. Around 347,000km of sewers collect over 11 billion litres of wastewater every single day. This is then treated at 9,000 sewage treatment works before the effluent is discharged into inland waters, estuaries and the sea.

There are typically three steps involved with wastewater treatment:

Primary

Primary wastewater treatment involves reproducing what would take place in the natural environment to clear solid matter from water. Here, wastewater is allowed to settle in a large tank so that solids can be removed from the bottom of the tank.

Secondary

Secondary wastewater treatment uses bacteria to digest and break down organic substances in water.

Tertiary

Tertiary wastewater treatment is used occasionally to protect water environments, where treated effluent is disinfected to protect bathing and/or shellfish water while removing nitrates and phosphorus to prevent eutrophication (excessive nutrient presence in water that leads to dense plant life growth and algal blooms).

Whatever method is used, treating wastewater means it can then be returned to the environment to help maintain river flows and support both conservation and abstraction alike.

The specific method of treatment will depend on the type of contaminants present in the wastewater itself, as well as what end use the water has once treatment has taken place.

Why is wastewater treatment important?

The combined pressures of climate change, population growth, industrialisation, pollution and urbanisation are putting global water supplies at increasing levels of risk, particularly in developing nations and urban centres.

And, because the amount of wastewater being produced is also now on the rise, there’s a great opportunity for businesses to prioritise wastewater management to help protect both freshwater and coastal resources.

Wastewater treatment is an excellent water conservation strategy.

It removes suspended solids and other pollutants to prevent both groundwater and water pollution that can potentially damage lakes and rivers, taint drinking water, affect livestock, reduce aquatic species numbers and lead to water scarcity/water shortages.

Organic matter

Wastewater contains organic matter including fats, oils, grease, carbohydrates, proteins and synthetic compounds. If this goes untreated, it enters waterways and serves as a food source for microorganisms in the water.

These microorganisms use dissolved oxygen to break down pollutants, leading to high concentrations of organic matter and causing depleted oxygen levels to such an extent that wildlife suffocates and dies.

Inorganic compounds

Harmful inorganic compounds enter waterways through commercial and industrial activities. Substances include copper, nickel, magnesium, lead, sodium, zinc and potassium, all of which are difficult to break down.

If they enter waterways via untreated wastewater, they stay in the water source and concentrations will increase naturally over time, affecting water quality and making it hazardous to animals and human life.

Nutrients

Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus enter waterways via human waste and cleaning products, as well as fertilisers. High concentrations of these compounds in rivers, lakes and streams can cause dead zones, the result of algal bloom formation.

These algal blooms stop sunlight from reaching plants under the water. These then die and decay. Bacteria feeds on the decaying matter and multiply uncontrollably, consuming growing amounts of dissolved oxygen in the water. Aquatic species either leave the waterway or die from hypoxia.

Human health

If untreated wastewater enters the water environment, it can pose serious health risks to people, as well as animals. It contains pathogens such as parasites, viruses and bacteria, which can result in waterborne diseases and symptoms such as fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.

It has the potential to cause life-threatening illnesses in severe cases.

What are the UK regulations for business wastewater?

Proper management of wastewater streams is essential to ensure public health and environmental protection through prevention of water source contamination.

Businesses and industries that create large volumes of wastewater must ensure that they remain compliant with all relevant wastewater treatment regulations.

The Environment Agency regulates wastewater treatment by assessing the quality of discharge against set compliance limits. The appropriate treatment level and monitoring regime for a treatment works will depend on the population equivalent (PE) of the agglomeration it serves.

‘Appropriate treatment’ refers to the process or disposal system that ensures the receiving waterways meet water quality objectives after discharge, as well as complying with all other relevant regulations.

Businesses discharging wastewater will have an environmental permit in place with conditions attached to ensure that quality objectives are met.

The permits outline specific limits relating to the types and concentrations of pollutants that can be discharged into waterways, as well as the requirements for monitoring and reporting.

Standard rules permits

These permits relate to common activities that aren’t likely to represent serious environmental risks if, for example, wastewater discharge is minimal and there are no hazardous substances present.

Bespoke permits

These issues can be issued for bigger businesses or any with particularly complex requirements, tailored to suit specific wastewater characteristics and the nature of the environment in which discharge is taking place. These typically come with stricter limits and further monitoring requirements.

Non-compliance penalties

If you fail to comply with wastewater treatment regulations, you may be penalised in the form of:

• Fines
• Legal action
• Suspension or revocation of permits
• Reputational damage

4 common wastewater treatment methods for UK businesses

Membrane filtration

Here, a single feed stream is passed through a physical barrier membrane system of some kind that then separates it into separate streams.

The membrane itself is specifically designed with certain characteristics in mind so that only some components in the feed stream are able to pass through.

Types of membrane filtration include:

• Reverse osmosis, where the tightest membrane possible is used so that only water is able to permeate, with everything else (bacteria, proteins, sugars, minerals, salts, spores and so on) unable to pass through
• Nanofiltration, where small ions can pass through the membrane, but bigger ones and the majority of organic components can’t
• Ultrafiltration, where membranes have larger pores and lower pressure to allow salts, sugars, organic acids and peptides to pass through, but not proteins, fats and polysaccharides can’t
• Microfiltration, where only suspended solids, fat globules and bacteria are unable to pass through the membrane

Chemical treatment

Different types of chemicals used for wastewater treatment include pH neutralisers, coagulants, flocculants and anti-foaming agents.

pH neutralisers

Here, wastewater is neutralised so it’s neither too alkaline nor too acidic (ideally completely neutral at pH7) to prevent undesirable chemical reactions when discharged wastewater mixes with other effluent.

Anti-foaming agents

Here, agents like silicones, alcohols, glycols, stearates and insoluble oils are used to prevent foam from being caused, which can cause drainage issues, increase mechanical wear on pumps and promote bacterial growth.

Coagulants & flocculants

Here, low molecular weight compounds (coagulants) work alongside high molecular weight compounds (flocculants) to remove suspended solids and clarify wastewater.

Coagulants are used to neutralise the charge of suspended particles, before flocculants bind together these particles into bigger aggregations to accelerate water clarification.

Aerobic treatment

Aerobic digestion is typically a secondary treatment process, used after bigger contaminants have been removed from the waste stream by primary methods like sedimentation or filtration. This works particularly well for petrochemical, chemical and food/drink industries.

Here, oxygen, bacteria and microorganisms that feed on oxygen are used to clean up wastewater, breaking down organic material and pollutants like nitrogen and phosphorus.

Aerobic digestion systems include:

• Activated sludge
• Fixed bed/moving bed bioreactors
• Membrane bioreactors
• Biological trickling filters

Wetland construction

Wetlands are one of the most sustainable ways to treat wastewater, while also preventing surface water runoff during periods of intense rainfall to reduce flooding risks.

Constructed wetlands feature algae, organic soils, aquatic vegetation and microorganisms, with wastewater fed into the wetland and sediment/pollutants dropping down to be sieved and become part of the ground layer as the water moves through. Any pollutants or nutrients not removed at this stage are absorbed by the soil and vegetation.

How much does business wastewater management in the UK cost?

For commercial wastewater management and sewage treatment systems, there is no single cost that can be applied across the board. Every business is different and, as such, wastewater management requirements will vary as a result.

You need to work out what size system you’ll likely need to determine approximate costs, based on the number of people on site and the industrial demands of your organisation.

Other factors to consider include annual plant emptying costs, running costs and maintenance.

Best practice for UK business wastewater disposal

1. Install wastewater management systems

Making use of advanced technologies and innovative wastewater management systems, including activated sludge and membrane bioreactors, will help ensure that contaminants and pollutants are removed effectively, reducing the environmental impact of effluent discharge.

2. Reduce wastewater streams

Reducing the amount of wastewater your business generates is another excellent way of protecting the environment and improving business sustainability. Water recycling, water reuse and water-efficient fixtures and fittings are all potential strategies to consider.

3. Staff training

Ensure that staff members are aware of their own responsibilities regarding strong environmental wastewater practices, ensuring that your business embraces a culture of sustainability from the top to the bottom. Regular awareness days and training programmes will help develop this over time.

4. Monitoring & maintenance

Once systems are in place, proactive maintenance schedules ensure that everything operates efficiently, with any issues dealt with promptly to reduce the risk of environmental contamination.

Grants & funding for UK business wastewater management

There are various avenues for grants and funding that could be used to support wastewater management solutions for business. These include:

The Water Restoration Fund

Up to £11 million is available via the Water Restoration Fund to support local projects to restore and enhance the water environment, with money provided through the collection of environmental fines and penalties from water and sewage companies.

The Ofwat Innovation Fund

A £600 million ten-year Water Innovation Fund is being run by industry watchdog Ofwat, designed to help the water sector better meet the evolving needs of customers, the environment and society at large. The fund is open to innovators across all sectors on an international scale.

The Countryside Stewardship Fund

The Countryside Stewardship fund pays farmers and land managers to protect, restore or enhance the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change. It applies to woodland, farmed land and land managed for nature (or a combination), including places like scheduled monuments, woodlands, commons and sites of special scientific interest.

3 case studies of effective business wastewater management practices

H&M Group

The H&M Group, as part of the fashion industry (one of the biggest users of water), has plans in place to have a positive impact on water by 2030, with wastewater management across the value chain one of its core areas of focus.

By 2030, it intends for all wastewater produced to be treated so that the natural environment isn’t affected adversely by effluent discharge.

Because most of its wastewater impact comes from the supply chain, H&M’s water programme must be reshaped to demonstrate better performance in reducing freshwater consumption and improving water quality.

Work completed includes ensuring that 100 per cent of facilities in all basins with direct discharge have functional effluent treatment plants in place by 2025. Furthermore, 100 per cent of facilities with indirect discharge will comply with the receiving authorities requirements on wastewater volume and pollution load.

Strategies to focus on in the future include circular water use and water recycling to make it commercially viable, lack of innovative solutions for process control to secure wastewater quality around the clock, high capital investment to meet aspirational levels of wastewater quality and appropriate operation/maintenance of wastewater treatment, including operator competence.

Meister Cheese

US-based family cheese manufacturing company Meister Cheese made use of an anaerobic digester to improve sustainability, using the system to treat the wastewater it produces so it can be returned to the natural environment as clean water.

The anaerobic digester also produces methane gas (also known as biogas), which is being used to produce energy to power the plant.

Meister also made use of nanobubble technology that uses air and water to generate clean chemistry in situ, important because cheese manufacturing wastewater contains high concentrations of antimicrobial compounds, which inhibit wastewater treatment processes… leading to higher loads of untreated waste being sent to downstream processes.

Lithium battery water recycling

Arvia recently assisted a client with cleaning the water used at its battery recycling plant, with the aim being to reduce the total organic carbon levels in the water by 90 per cent. This would allow the water to be reused.

An electrochemical oxidation process was used that produces powerfully hydroxyl radicals to destroy organics in lithium battery water, including the likes of dimethyl carbonate, ethylmethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, ethylene carbonate, ethylene glycol and cyclohexylbenzene.

This water treatment process is effective for wastewater recycling, removing all organic pollutants to ensure efficient water recycling can take place.

What are the health & safety risks for business wastewater management?

If you have wastewater treatment facilities onsite, it’s essential that the appropriate level of health and safety training is provided and risk assessments carried out so that staff members are aware of their responsibilities, as well as potential risks.

These include:

Biological contamination

Wastewater contains harmful pathogens like viruses and bacteria which can increase the risk of infection if proper sanitation practices aren’t adhered to.

Chemical pollutants

Exposure to corrosive chemicals can cause severe injuries, burns and respiratory problems.

Physical hazards

Slick floors and working in wet conditions increase the risks of slips, trips and falls. Working in confined spaces can also increase injury risks, as can limited ventilation.

Business wastewater management: Call H2o today!

We can work closely with your business to reduce trade effluent and wastewater costs, ensuring that you can continue to meet legal obligations by complying with trade effluent discharge consent.

We can monitor what you’re discharging to make sure you’re only paying for what is being released in terms of content and volume, rather than relying on estimated bills that will likely be in favour of the sewerage company in question.We can also work alongside you to reduce your trade effluent discharge volume chemical oxygen demand and suspended solids.

If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with the H2o Building Services team today.

Waste Water Management – Infographic – H2O Building Services

Businesses reviewing their processes and procedures where water usage is concerned should make sure they include wastewater management in their assessment, so they know they’re doing all they can where responsible use of water is concerned.

View Waste Water Management Infographic