Wastewater is an issue that can end up costing your company more than it’s worth if you’re not careful. Most people think wastewater treatment is simply about calculating waste volume and then paying for treatment. However, wastewater treatment requires a more thoughtful and detailed approach in order to create lasting success.
If you’re not careful, your company may end up spending a ton of money on an industrial wastewater treatment program that simply isn’t right for your situation. Check out these three tips to help you find the right approach for dealing with wastewater!
1. Do You Have A Wastewater Plan?
Operating without a wastewater management plan is a sure fire way to burn through valuable time, money and resources. Your wastewater management plan needs to clearly outline your treatment tactics and which infrastructure and services in your area need to be involved. A good plan identifies areas for future developments, expansion, and upgrades to accommodate changing needs. Your wastewater management plan needs to provide an estimate of the start-up costs and the maintenance cost. If you aren’t clear on these basic things, you’ll spend a lot of time playing catch up.
Another important part of your wastewater management plan is it needs to integrate with the needs of the other organizations in your community. New developments in your plan shouldn’t place a financial burden on the community. With a well-made plan, new developments usually end up paying for themselves. Having a solid plan is an asset that makes it easier to make decisions and spend less time playing catch up.
2. Gather All Your Data Before Making Any Decisions
Hard facts are your best friend when it comes to industrial wastewater treatment. Decisions surrounding water treatment are generally hard to reverse and almost always expensive. Before making any decisions to get repairs or make additions, you need to be familiar with exactly what’s going on in your system.
You need to account for the volume of water discharged each month, where it’s going and where the problems are occurring. It’s essential to get clear on how much of your water is effluent and what happens to the water at every step in the process. Before looking at how to treat your water, you need to find areas where you can improve your existing processes first.
3. Calculate The Costs
Cost is almost always going to be a deciding factor when it comes to a company deciding to address wastewater issues. Efficiently treating wastewater can actually increase your return on investment when done properly. Clean water can be reused for energy, and some wastewater treatment systems can even sustain their own energy.
Depending on your location, there may be tax incentives if you can show your repairs will save a notable amount of water or electricity (generally over 40% in savings). Your wastewater management plan also needs to include a balance sheet that calculates the costs of the equipment and necessary operations.
4. Do You Have The Resources To Maintain Industrial Wastewater Treatment Solutions?
One common mistake that ends up costing companies millions of dollars is failing to check if they have the resources to maintain the treatment solutions that they select. If your staff isn’t equipped with the knowledge and expertise to manage new wastewater solutions, you may have created more problems than you solved. Before deciding on a wastewater treatment solution, you need to ensure you have the proper staff in place to implement, maintain and optimize the solution that you chose.
With a little bit of planning, you can avoid the exorbitant costs and time commitments associated with industrial wastewater treatment. Use these tips to help you stay on track with your plan!
