A look at two practical approaches to keep your facility operational, and 4 next steps to get you started.

1. 2 WAYS YOUR FACILITY CAN
OVERCOME WATER SCARCITY
4 Next Steps To Get You Started+

2. Fresh, quality water is a
scarce resource.

3. source: droughtmonitor.unl.edu
NO DROUGHT
35%
ABNORMALLY DRY
TO EXCEPTIONAL
DROUGHT
65%
of the population live in
abnormally dry to
exceptional
drought areas.
65%
POPULATION BY
DROUGHT CATEGORY

4. contained a contaminant from a
geologic or manmade source at a level
of potential concern for human health
source: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/pubs/prin_aq/ | 6,600 Wells were sampled for this study
1 5of
every
groundwater
samples

5. › Reduced surface and groundwater
supplies in many areas
› Inadequate local supplies and changing
regional distribution
› Municipalities taking senior water rights
from long-standing industries
› Plants going idle or shutting down
› More regulations driving up production
costs (e.g., Clean Water Act Section §316(b), EPA
Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) and Air
Quality Regulations)
What are the
Impacts?

6. “WHEN THE WELL'S
DRY, WE KNOW
THE WORTH OF
WATER.”
- Benjamin Franklin

7. 2 RESPONSE OPTIONS
Investigate Alternative
Water Supplies
1
Optimize Existing
Water Resources
2
2

8. Investigate
Alternative Water Supplies
1

9. › Municipal wastewater
› Other industrial wastewaters
› Produced water from oil and gas fields
Recycled
Water Sources

10. Thermal Desalination
› Steam or hot water used to
effectively boil seawater
› Commercial Types: Multi-Stage
Flash Evaporation and Multiple
Effect Distillation
Membrane Desalination
Technology
› Use of semi-permeable membranes
(Reverse Osmosis) to produce
fresh water
› Commercial Types: Sea Water
Reverse Osmosis (SWRO), Brackish
Water RO (BWRO)
Desalination

11. Optimize
Existing Water Resources
2

12. Wastewater Treatment
and Recycle Opportunities
› Cooling tower blowdown reuse
› Steam generator blowdown
and condensate recovery
› Softener and filter backwashes
› Slurry line flush waters
› Storm water
› Reverse osmosis reject

13. Desalination
Facility Optimization:
Develop A Water Management Plan
› Treat and recycle internal process wastewater
› Capture and treat storm waters
› Minimize water consumption/wastewater production
› Prevent contamination of water sources

14. NEXT STEPS
Perform a vulnerability and
resiliency assessment
Conduct a water audit
Perform process integration
Determine water reuse or
recycling
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15. Vulnerability &
Resiliency
Assessment
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Key metrics include changes in:
• Supply water quality
• Supply water availability
• Discharge limits
• Discharge volume
Other assessment metrics
to consider:
• Sustainability
• Sustainable return on investment
analysis (SROI)

16. Water Audit
• Perform site familiarization and
permit review
• Identify water processes and
confirm water flow diagram
• Evaluate water data and flow
measurement to identify water
saving opportunities
• Conduct sampling/testing
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17. Process
Integration
• Perform sources and sinks
evaluation for improved
process efficiency
• Conduct water pinch
analysis and process
evaluation for improved
water-use efficiency reporting
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18. Water Reuse or
Recycling?
• Evaluate treatment options
leading to process reuse
• Perform bench/pilot testing for
technology prove out
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19. Let’s work together to figure out the best
option for your facility
› Contact Colleen Scholl (Layman)
to get started