The production of a turnkey wastewater treatment plant for a wire product manufacturer in Cape Town, enabling them to introduce industrial wastewater reuse at their facility.
At Cape Gate Fence and Wire Works, we installed a wastewater treatment plant that enabled the company to reuse industrial effluent, or wastewater, in various manufacturing processes, thereby saving costs on municipal water.
Cape Gate Fence and Wire Works is a wire product manufacturer in Parow, Cape Town. They are a South African market leader in the steel industry, with over 85 years of experience in delivering quality products at competitive prices.
Comprising the entire spectrum of wire articles, the company’s product range includes agricultural hardware, construction hardware, fencing material, nails and staples, shopping trolleys, and more.
A high volume of water is used in wire product manufacturing, as water is needed for various processes including acid washing, alkaline washing, rinsing, and zinc bathing. As a result, the effluent that the manufacturer produces tends to have a highly complex nature.
Typically, all of this water goes to waste – but only after it’s been treated to meet municipal discharge standards.
As such, adherence to municipal discharge standards was the main purpose of the water treatment plant we were going to design and manufacture for Cape Gate Fence and Wire Works.
However, we proposed that the water should be put through a second stage of treatment once it’s been treated to meet discharge standards. This further treatment would improve the quality of the treated effluent to the point where 70% of it could be reused as make-up water for rinsing.
Our reasoning was that industrial wastewater reuse would greatly reduce the client’s demand for municipal potable water, a precious resource.
Not only would this save them money, but it would also enable them to operate their business in a more sustainable way.
Design and Manufacture of Industrial Wastewater Reuse System
Our engineers designed and manufactured a water treatment plant that purifies the effluent in three stages:
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Pre-treatment
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Microfiltration
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Nanofiltration
Pre-treatment
The pre-treatment stage consists of homogenisation followed by pH adjustment and coagulation.
In the homogenisation stage, effluent streams from the various processes collect in the homogenising tank and absorb the fluctuation of quality and quantity of effluent generated.
Next, the effluent is dosed with chemicals to adjust the pH level and facilitate the efficient precipitation of dissolved metals. In addition, coagulant is added to encourage settling of suspended solids and improve solid separation.
Microfiltration
The next stage is microfiltration using Duraflow‘s crossflow tubular membranes, which ensures the removal of suspended solids. These membranes are specifically designed for industrial wastewater treatment, and feature a high flux rate.
Nanofiltration
The last stage of treatment is nanofiltration. The nanofiltration system consists of a set of four nanofiltration membranes. These membranes remove dissolved ionic species in order to achieve the required final product water quality.
The nanofiltration system operates at a high recovery rate of 70%.
The industrial wastewater reuse plant at Cape Gate Fence and Wire Works has a capacity of 350 000 ℓ/day. It delivers water that meets municipal discharge standards.
The secondary benefit is that further treatment now enables the client to reuse the effluent.
This not only expediated the return on investment (ROI) of the project but also reduced the client’s demand for municipal potable water. Moreover, it improved the quality of water to the rinsing process and, in extension, improved the product quality.
We can customize our industrial wastewater reuse solutions to suit your needs and budget. Contact us to find out more about our wastewater treatment services and how we can help you save water.
