Water scarcity and the promotion of sustainability are some of the reasons why many paper and board manufacturers are reducing their water footprint through innovative wastewater recycling.
One example is another successful and recent pilot project together with a leading Scandinavian pulp and paper group: GAW has shown that wastewater recycling perfectly meets expectations in terms of technical and economic feasibility.
Project overview:
To explore the potential, GAW Water Technologies deployed a state-of-the-art containerized pilot plant equipped with an integrated membrane system (ultrafiltration + reverse osmosis) – supplied by sister company Osmo Membrane Systems. The plant treated secondary effluent from an existing biological treatment process with the aim of producing recycled water that matches or exceeds the quality of the current process water.
Challenges and solutions:
Pulp and paper mill wastewater can be difficult to treat even after biological treatment due to high COD, hardness and colloidal matter. But the membrane solution from GAW technologies GmbH delivered:
✅ A very reliable treatment without incidents .
✅ Low pressure operation during the entire 4-week pilot phase .
✅ The quality of the recycled water far exceeds the targets set.
Key results and impacts:
✔️ Potential to reduce water consumption by 30-50%
✔️ Significant energy savings through reuse of hot wastewater
✔️ Reduced wastewater output and less dependence on fresh water
✔️ Improved operational safety and sustainability in production
Based on these results, we were able to estimate the operating and investment costs for a potential large-scale recycling plant and we can report that both are within the economically viable range.
This pilot project represents a significant step forward in optimizing water consumption in pulp and paper production. 🌿 It proves that innovative solutions can have a sustainable impact on the environment while supporting operational goals!
More about the company: https://www.gaw.at/en/
[Source: GAW technologies – news, November 2024]
