The volume and quality of wastewater generated by industrial operations—from manufacturing to refining operations and mines—can vary widely. For facilities without an onsite treatment plant, any discharge that exceeds the local utility’s treatment abilities can be problematic and costly.
Failure to meet permit limits can leave the company paying fines or surcharges, while the company and local utility both risk being out of compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Industrial discharges that exceed permit limits can also significantly disrupt biology at the treatment plant, increasing the likelihood of pipe corrosion and negatively impacting treatment for possible reuse.
To maintain regulatory compliance and protect infrastructure, an increasing number of local wastewater utilities are requiring industrial operations to provide quality and flow monitoring information before the discharge reaches the utility. Industrial companies can be proactive in meeting this obligation by collecting the most accurate data in near real time. This can also drive direct cost savings—as many utilities are charging industrial customers based on measured discharge—and provide the opportunity to improve efficiencies and be greener.
Preventing Problems and Saving Money
Total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), electrical conductivity and pH from industrial discharge can have the largest impact on treatment plants. As a result, these parameters are the most in demand to be monitored.
Additionally, for operations that treat their effluent with chemicals before releasing it, failure to tightly control dosing will result in either spending too much money (overdosing) or not being as effective as necessary (underdosing). The latter can result in extra fees and fines.
When feedback from accurate water quality monitoring solutions is combined with the proper flow measurement technology, precise dosing eliminates both problems to ensure users are leveraging their resources as efficiently as possible.
Making Waves With a Growing Technology Portfolio
Badger Meter is continually expanding BlueEdge™, our suite of scalable solutions that integrates water technology, software and services for continuous water management. BlueEdge empowers utilities, industrial operations and commercial facilities to drive visibility and optimization across assets, people and processes—delivering the future of water management.
The portfolio now includes modular, multiparameter sensors based on electrochemical and optical technologies—capable of measuring key parameters like TSS, COD, and BOD without reagents. These low-power, configurable instruments support both periodic and continuous monitoring, with flexible data transmission options to suit diverse applications.
When paired with high-accuracy flow meters and smart analytics platforms, these innovations empower users to optimize performance, maintain compliance and drive sustainability across the entire water cycle.
A Real-World Example of Improved Monitoring
Dairy processing plants are one example of industrial settings that benefit from accurate quality and flow measurement. A large dairy processing facility faced significant challenges in minimizing product loss, especially during routine cleaning cycles and maintenance. Small changes in process conditions or human error could inadvertently send valuable products to the wastewater stream. This not only resulted in lost revenue but also increased the COD in the effluent, which could lead to compliance issues and higher charges from local municipalities for exceeding discharge limits.
To improve product retention and reduce effluent COD, it was necessary to understand the contributions of different process streams to the effluent. The s::can spectro::lyser Industrial ATEX was installed to monitor these various streams in a combined wet well.
This was combined with ana::tool, an advanced event detection system that can alert the user to abnormal changes in the effluent composition. By sampling each of the process trains and reviewing the data, operators determined that there were opportunities in the process for significant improvements. These enhancements would ultimately produce a higher quantity of a sellable product rather than sending the product to the wastewater treatment plant. In monitoring these events within the wastewater stream, the cooperative was able to instantly act on an event alarm to optimize its procedures and generate significant cost savings.
Another example is an oil and gas operator that ran into issues when using its own wastewater in reinjection wells. This stemmed from being on three different discharge fee schedules (potable water, high-salt content water and produced water) with the local utility. Taking grab samples in the field wasn’t working well because the water was coming from multiple sources.
As a result, the operation was inefficient and risked paying more than necessary in fees. Since installing our low-maintenance conductivity sensors, the company is now able to log how much of each type of water is being sent into the ground and pay the lowest amount of fees possible.
Find the Right Solution for Your Effluent Application
Industrial operators have a significant responsibility to measure and monitor their effluent water. Every site is unique, however, so it is important to investigate the level at which accuracy in quality monitoring and flow measurement is needed. The best and most flexible suite of solutions will be able to quantify contaminants, assess potential exposure to the community and maintain necessary compliance with defined standards, thereby allowing for optimal operational efficiency and safety.
