Veolia Water Technologies UK (VWT UK) has been specified to supply its water treatment chemical solution, Hydrex 6861, to egg product supplier D Wise, based in Malpas, Cheshire. This has allowed the company to reduce the amount of sludge by-product formed during its manufacturing processes – and the costs to remove it from site. It has also improved its water treatment efficiency, resulting in an estimated and significant £50k of annual savings.
D Wise is a family run business that specialises in the production of pasteurised egg products for the food industry. As a result, its wastewater is contaminated by substances including egg proteins and cleaning chemicals. Previously, a combination of PAC (Polyaluminium Chloride) and sodium hydroxide was used to coagulate the wastewater prior to being passed through a DAF (Dissolved Air Flotation) unit.
However, this solution was producing a high volume of sludge, causing the DAF unit to become overloaded with suspended solids. Consequently, it was only able to treat a limited amount of wastewater per day, while the remaining 70m3 had to be removed from site by a local farmer, for land spreading. Removing this quantity would require five to six trips to site every day at a cost of £65 per load. Over the course of a year, this amounted to well over £100k in removal costs to D Wise.
An alternative solution was required. James Wise, [Operations Manager] at D Wise commented: “I started looking for a new water treatment supplier and Veolia Water Technologies UK seemed to have a good number of really strong reviews that assured me the company offered a reliable service. I also liked the look of VWT’s Hydrex 6861 organic coagulant that would enable us to cut out chlorine from our water treatment process.”
Hydrex 6861 is a coagulant derived completely from renewable sources and is an effective replacement for traditional inorganic solutions, such as ferric sulphate. Easy to use, Hydrex 6861 does not require caustic soda for pH correction. Crucially, it also offers cost savings as it can reduce sludge production by approximately 30% in comparison with metal salts coagulants, thereby reducing sludge disposal and dewatering costs.
After being contacted by James, Brian Jones, Business Development Manager for VWT UK visited the D Wise site. Together they discussed the use of Hydrex 6861 and replacing the use of PAC and sodium hydroxide in the system without adding to the level of sludge formation. This would enable the DAF unit to double its processing capacity so that it treats 4m3 per hour for ten hours a day – saving D Wise £50 k per year. As a result, VWT UK was awarded the contract to supply effluent treatment chemicals for the next 12 months.
“So far, everything is going really well,” commented James. “Brian has been able to pass on his expertise, training our team to use the chemicals effectively and maximise the performance of the DAF unit. If we ever have a problem, we know we can contact Brian, and he will respond quickly.
“We have recently been planning to move D Wise to a larger site that will produce more effluent. Originally, we believed we would need to upgrade our wastewater treatment system as a result. However, now that we’re using Hydrex, it is likely we will be able to keep the same system. I’m excited to see the long-term results and would definitely recommend Veolia Water Technologies UK to others.”
To find out more information about VWT UK’s chemical wastewater treatment offering, visit: www.veoliawatertechnologies.co.uk/services/water-treatment-chemicals
