Zero Liquid Discharge “ZLD”

ZLD is rapidly becoming a commonplace practice in the manufacturing industry where wastewater is produced.  This is mostly desired as part of a larger “Green” or sustainable initiative, which companies are incorporating into their mission statements and corporate objectives.  The goal of these Green initiatives is to embrace a more environmentally friendly and socially responsible approach to the firm’s business and manufacturing processes.  Samsco Corporation has the experience and equipment essential for companies to achieve ZLD as part of their larger Green initiatives.

What Is “ZLD” (Zero Liquid Discharge)?

Essentially, the ultimate goal of ZLD is to eliminate (to the extent feasible) the discharge or disposal of liquid waste from a facility.  This is ultimately accomplished by recycling, reusing or simply reducing the volume of a waste stream, including primarily water-based streams.  The non-water components of a wastewater come from either the manufacturing process itself or from a cleaning process and can include any number of materials, chemicals, oils, or solids. These come from a wide variety of industries, including but certainly not limited to:

 

In a ZLD system, these waste streams, depending on their chemistry and composition, can be reduced, re-concentrated, and potentially re-used, and represent a significant cost savings as well as being a key component of a business model incorporating “Green” or sustainable goals and objectives. 

How is Zero Liquid Discharged Achieved?

There are a variety of treatment technologies available that are geared toward achieving ZLD by addressing the many different characteristics and properties of waste streams, including

• Solids removal (filters, filter presses, clarifiers, ultrafiltration),
• Liquid separation (oil/water separators, centrifuges),
• Chemical treatment (flocculation, pH adjustment, etc.),
• Carbon filtration (organics removal), and
• Evaporation (water removal) 

However, by and large, the greatest component of a waste stream (in most cases) is water.  Evaporation focuses on removing the water portion of the waste stream and concentrating the remaining components.  Evaporation is a key element to ZLD and Green waste handling practices, in that it produces clean water vapor while concentrating the remaining chemistry to an almost water-less waste material. 

What are the benefits of achieving ZLD?

The clean water vapor produced can be sent to atmosphere where it returns to the earth’s natural evapotranspiration cycle, or it can be condensed and reused for in-house applications, provided it meets the company’s water quality criteria.  Both approaches are environmentally friendly and socially responsible. 
As a result, achieving ZLD using evaporation has numerous benefits, including:

• Waste Disposal Reduction - The ability to remove the largest portion (water) of the waste stream, often up to 99%,
• Environmental and Social Responsibility - Water vapor produced can be returned to the earth’s natural evapotranspiration cycle or condensed and reused in house (both are Green endpoints)
• Achieve ZLD Distinction- Waste is significantly reduced to a material which can be managed as a highly concentrated (often solid) material,
• Cost Savings - Significantly reduced disposal costs versus hauling the wastewater or other traditional waste stream disposal options.
• Elimination of Liability –By significantly reducing (or eliminating) the volume of wastewater that requires being hauled and disposed of at an off-site facility, elimination of the company’s liability associated with that waste is achieved. 

How Can Samsco Corporation Help?

Samsco Corporation has over 30 years of experience in the wastewater treatment industry.  Our specialty is evaporation.  We custom design and manufacture a wide range of evaporator systems tailored to the specific needs and objectives of our clients. We have achieved “ZLD” status, even prior to the “Green” or sustainability movement. 

In collaboration with our sister companies, we have the ability to custom design an entire treatment system, using other traditional treatment technologies, such as filter presses, clarifiers, sludge dryers and newer technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO), and ultra-filtration (UF) in conjunction with a Samsco evaporator. 

Samsco would be more than happy to assist your company in achieving its goal of becoming a ZLD facility.  If you would like to know more about Samsco and how we can help you achieve ZLD distinction, please contact us at 1 (603) 668-7111.  More information is available at info@samsco.com.