INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENT
THE WASTE-WATERENERGY NEXUS IN INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENT Veolia Services Southern Africa is a water, waste and energy solutions company that specialises in the design, supply, procurement and commissioning of water and wastewater treatment plants in multiple industries. WASA talks to the Veolia team about industrial effluent in the mining and metals as well as food and beverage sectors.
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ecent changes at Veolia Services Southern Africa have meant that our primary focus on water treatment has now shifted to include waste and energy solutions across subSaharan Africa. Veolia offers solutions in three paradigms: waste, water and energy,” says Miles Murray, director: Business Development, Veolia Services Southern Africa. The company is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aimed at achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. “Achieving 13 out of the 17 goals, to a lesser or greater extent, depending on the context, has already been well established through the various water treatment solutions that we offer. This includes water reuse, wastewater recycling, water scarcity solutions and zero liquid discharge, to name but a few,” he adds.
Increasing competitiveness
When dealing with wastewater, companies are faced with three options: 1. Recovery – Wastewater recovery is the extraction of valuable resources such as clean water and metals from industrial effluent. 2. Reuse – Industrial water reuse and recycling is the process by which wastewater produced from one source is treated to be reused in the same process or recycled for another. 3. Discharge – When industrial effluent (that is within certain legal parameters) is discharged into the municipal sewer. “Veolia will typically assess all of the different waste streams on a customer’s site. We then aim to treat these waste streams as a multilink, consolidated system instead of treating all waste streams separately. As with most water cycles, there are certain waste products that are generated. Our commitment to the circular economy ensures that we don’t waste resources through waste products that are
Miles Murray, director: Business Development, Veolia Services Southern Africa
valorised. Zero waste to landfill is a huge focus at Veolia,” maintains Murray. Treating wastewater for reuse entails extracting: • sediment through a refining process of filtration, decantation and clarification • bacteria by disinfection through mechanical and chemical methods • micropollutants by microfiltration or clarification. Veolia is increasing its customers’ competitiveness by assisting them in minimising operational expenses, complying with legislation, and becoming socially and environmentally responsible. Veolia focuses on optimising its customers’ resources, offering energy-efficiency solutions for better water cycle management.
Mining and metals
This is one of the most water-intensive industrial sectors in the world. “We help customers reduce their water needs while enabling productivity gains by establishing a circular economy. Every process unit of a metals plant – raw materials, operational units (like furnaces and kilns), discharge units and refineries – processes water and creates
