Redefining Wastewater Recovery: Technologies Powering Water Sustainability

Water scarcity is one of the most pressing global challenges, impacting billions of people worldwide and threatening industries, ecosystems, and communities alike. A critical challenge in this arena is the alarming rise in the contamination of clean water resources due to improper treatment by industries.

The Challenges in Wastewater Today

Industries, which are the second-largest consumers of freshwater, also rank among the top contributors to water pollution. Alarmingly, more than 80% of the world’s wastewater is discharged untreated into the environment, leading to significant pollution of vital freshwater reserves. This untreated or poorly treated wastewater poses serious risks to human health and the environment. Contaminants such as heavy metals, hazardous chemicals, and emerging contaminants of concern disrupt ecosystems, degrade water quality, and endanger public health. In water-scarce regions, the contamination of water resources also directly impacts the availability of clean freshwater for industrial use. It is critical to recognize the true value of water and implement robust measures for sustainability and circularity to address these challenges.

Through efficient water treatment processes and recovery of clean water for reuse, there is an immense opportunity for industries to make a positive difference. This has already begun. The global wastewater treatment sector is growing at an impressive rate of 6.5%, reflecting the rising recognition of wastewater as a resource. More businesses are now realizing and embracing the need for reuse and prevention of hazardous discharge.

Limitations of Conventional Treatment Methods

Several advancements have been made in wastewater treatment technologies in recent years, yet the fundamental scientific principles utilised in treatment and recovery remain unchanged. Existing (conventional) wastewater treatment methods and technologies fall short of addressing the increasingly complex contamination.

Conventional wastewater treatment methods, primarily chemical and biological processes, treat wastewater to a certain extent, though they are not geared to tackle the full spectrum of contaminants found in industrial water. Furthermore, these processes are often energy-intensive, operationally ineffective, and generate hazardous byproducts. They may also struggle to meet the increasingly stringent discharge standards, particularly for industries dealing with high-impact contaminants.

An important struggle in wastewater technologies is the reduction of dissolved solids. Current methods rely either on energy-intensive techniques or large quantities of chemicals to treat dissolved solids and generate secondary hazardous byproducts that cannot be safely discharged into the environment.

Thus, they also face hurdles to achieve the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) norms in a sustainable manner and fall short of the threshold for Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC).

The rising presence of heavy metals in drinking water further highlights the inefficiency of current treatment methods. Untreated heavy metals accumulate over time, posing severe risks to human health and ecosystems.

As industrial wastewater becomes increasingly complex, a paradigm shift is the need of the hour. The creation and commercialisation of unique wastewater treatment and recovery technologies using new fundamental scientific principles can redefine the water technology landscape, change the goalpost in water sustainability and transform an environmental challenge into a pathway for circularity.

New Paradigm in Wastewater Recovery: Physics-Enabled Water and Resource Recovery

Unlike traditional methods, physics-enabled solutions work at the molecular level for the separation of contaminants and efficient water without generating hazardous by-products. This begins with testing for the elemental composition of the wastewater. This enables the treatment of a wide variety of wastewater types—from groundwater contamination to complex leachates that are traditionally difficult to manage. The contaminants are broken down more effectively, providing a safer output for discharge or reuse.

This approach, ‘Physics-Enabled Water and Resource Recovery’, unlocks unique possibilities in industrial water recovery by shifting from conventional chemical and biological methods to physics-driven processes. Inventions and innovations along these principles may redefine standards in wastewater treatment and resource sustainability, and new approaches can change the goalpost for circularity in industries.

A rise in using physics for water recovery offers significant advantages for both industries and the environment:

Efficient Reduction of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): Inventions are designed to target dissolved contaminants, transforming them into loosely held suspended solids for easier separation from the water. This enables the recovery of clean water and empowers industries to achieve higher levels of water purity and compliance with increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

Achieving Sustainable Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD): This technology breaks the contaminants to their elemental state, agglomerates to loosely held suspended solids and enables water. A key feature is the generation of non-concentrated blowdown or reject, which can be reintroduced into processes, enabling sustainable Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD).

Non-Hazardous Sludge: Traditional wastewater treatment generates hazardous sludge that requires complex and costly disposal methods. Through applications in ‘Physics-Enabled Water and Resource Recovery’, sludge generation is based on the chemical affinity of elements in the wastewater once the contaminants are in an elemental state to water and one another. This creates the potential for non-hazardous sludge and has lower associated sludge disposal costs. It may allow for compliance with Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) as well. Depending on the elements present and their concentration, it presents opportunities for resource recovery, supporting the principles of circular economy and waste reduction.

Treatment of Complex Contaminants: Technologies based on ‘Physics-Enabled Water and Resource Recovery’ can tackle point-source water pollution and prevent tough contaminants from reaching natural aquifers in their hazardous state. The invention also works effectively on complex wastewater, such as leachate, that contains diverse contaminants with variable nature, allowing for the safeguarding of ecosystems.

With water regulations tightening globally, businesses must increasingly adopt breakthrough technologies to meet compliance standards and stay ahead of regulatory demands. The approach of ‘Physics-Enabled Water and Resource Recovery’ can help industries stay ahead of the regulatory requirements, mitigating the risks of hefty fines or shutdowns due to non-compliance. Moreover, as industries shift to greener and sustainable practices and have made carbon reduction a priority, it is equally imperative to address water sustainability. Water is one of the vital resources and is crucial for achieving any sustainability goals. This approach can bridge the gap by changing the goalpost of water sustainability by aiming to break contamination at a molecular level. By embracing new scientific approaches and adopting new technological paradigms, wastewater can be transformed into a valuable resource and forge a path toward a water-secure and sustainable future.

(This article is authored by Alok Sharma, Co-Promoter and CEO of Scalene Livprotec)