This publication provides an introduction to industrial wastewater collection and treatment. Industrial waste should be collected in a manner that avoids unsafe conditions to personnel, equipment, and facilities. Industrial wastes should either be pretreated sufficiently to be accommodated in a domestic wastewater collection and treatment system, or provided with a separate collection and treatment system. Bench scale or pilot plant treatability studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed physical, chemical, or biological unit processes may be needed for design of industrial waste treatment facilities. These studies should be conducted on the waste stream, if available, or on an equivalent waste stream at another facility. As a minimum, jar tests should be conducted prior to chemical process design to determine the reactor design criteria, process control and operating strategy, sludge production, and sludge characteristics. Using new membrane technologies, consideration must be made for brine generation that can be nonhazardous and discharged directly to a publicly owned treatment works (POTW). Pilot and bench scale studies should simulate the complete series of proposed unit process treatment steps using the same wastewater sample. This will identify any adverse effects of upstream treatment processes on subsequent treatment steps.
Paul Guyer is a registered mechanical engineer, civil engineer, fire protection engineer and architect with over 35 years experience in the design of buildings and related infrastructure. For an additional 9 years he was a principal advisor to the California Legislature on infrastructure and capital outlay issues. He is a graduate of Stanford University and has held numerous national, state and local offices with the American Society of Civil Engineers, Architectural Engineering Institute, and National Society of Professional Engineers. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Architectural Engineering Institute.
