Simple steps to keep onsite treatment within consent

With the Environment Agency making clear to the water industry its expectations for zero pollutions, the need for robust wastewater treatment has never been greater, says WPL’s technical director Andrew Baird.

The regulator’s toughening approach to discharge permit breaches, a number of high profile prosecutions and record fines for polluters, along with increased public awareness, means customers are also demanding more from their water utilities.

While much of the Environment Agency’s scrutiny has been directed at the water sector – in 2019, it told the industry to clean up its act and protect the environment from pollution – it is clear that all companies with onsite treatment are coming under increasing pressure to have reliable processes in place.

A breach of trade effluent consent, which is granted by water companies to companies that discharge into the public sewer, is a criminal offence and penalties can range from an early warning notice to a fine or prosecution or, in the most serious cases, imprisonment.

Financial and reputational implications are also significant. The cost of reactive mitigation for the most serious breaches, such as clean-ups or tankering, can potentially run into millions and risks thrusting the company brand into the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

WPL specialises in packaged wastewater treatment plants and sees different companies making the same avoidable mistakes that result in permit breaches – but the solutions are often simple.

Maintain onsite equipment

Equipment failure lies behind the majority of permit breaches, and often occurs due to a lack of maintenance.

When it comes to commercial or industrial companies, onsite effluent treatment is not necessarily seen as a core part of the operation and interest can be lacking. This can result in this vital equipment, that may underpin the efficiency of the whole site, being some of the least loved.

When installing new kit, we advise management to give the responsibility of maintaining it to specific employees who understand not only the mechanics but also the importance of the plant. Having enthusiastic champions of the equipment means it is more likely to receive the attention it deserves.

Of course, with the COVID-19 pandemic leading to urgent reviews of business continuity plans, it seems good practice to assign this responsibility to a team rather than an individual, so the knowledge is not lost if one person becomes unavailable.

Testing and trials

Performance and commercial shocks caused by discrepancies between designs and the delivery of a project can be avoided by conducting detailed reviews and pilot trials ahead of installing permanent plant. WPL can undertake in-depth advance testing in two ways.

Industrial laboratory service

Bespoke lab-scale reviews are conducted at WPL’s in-house facility to ascertain the profile of the effluent and ensure that the correct dosing regime is implemented, based on the requirements of environmental discharge permits. WPL’s process scientists carry out a separation test on effluent samples from the specific site and replicate appropriate treatment processes from WPL’s range which includes dissolved air floatation (DAF), biological treatment and settlement options.

WPL engineer inspects containerised dissolved air floatation (DAF) tank

Depending on the specific consent requirements, scientists can monitor chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and levels of pollutants such as greases, phosphates, nutrients and nitrates to see if they are achieving the separation required.

Based on the analysis, a report is produced that determines the best technology and cost of the final scheme. This kind of testing has a quick turnaround with results returned in about a week. It causes little disruption to the customer and allows designers to rule out different technologies, saving time in researching options that might not work.

Onsite pilot

Following a lab review, an onsite pilot project is usually recommended to identify the precise equipment required.

Pilots allow engineers to really look closely at factors including chemical and power consumption and sludge production to give a very accurate indication of how the plant will operate and the costs, giving the customer confidence that there will be no surprises.

Pilots can seem expensive but they may save you money in the long run.

We recently built a permanent DAF unit on the site of a food manufacturer, which only wanted a lab review and not a pilot. It transpired the effluent that was discharging was different to the sample we had been given for the lab testing – the sugar content differed vastly and could not be effectively removed. We have since had to install an additional biological treatment plant on the site. Samples are variable in industrial treatment and the pilot would have picked this up very quickly, saving the customer time and money.

Repurpose existing equipment

The solution to failing consent may not always require a large investment or the rebuilding of infrastructure.

In many cases, just a single piece of equipment is needed. Or, if an existing piece of kit fails, it can often be repurposed. WPL’s Hybrid-SAF™ is a highly efficient biological treatment technology with custom-built cells can be retrofitted into any on-site vessels regardless of shape or size.

Standardised modular Hybrid-16 units

This can improve the process to give it a 20-year life expectancy to meet consent and is significantly cheaper than rebuild projects.

Staff training

Of course, the solution to consent failure may not even be engineering-based. It can instead be a case of better staff training and revamped internal policy. For example, in the food industry, breaches can occur because employees are not scraping utensils before they wash them, meaning food debris and grease washes into the public sewer – resulting in a breach. Education and ongoing training can really help prevent equipment and processes breaking down, ensuring the treatment plant remains fully compliant and continues to protect the environment.

WPL can offer advice on all of these issues and support companies who are concerned about onsite treatment facilities failing consent.