Role of Zero Liquid Discharge System in Waste Water Treatment

ZLD

Water is one of the most valuable natural resources that require special attention in today’s date. Water scarcity is a major issue that needs to be addressed. While there is sufficient water on the planet to supply millions of people, it is not equally distributed, and the majority is wasted, polluted or managed unsustainably. Increased efforts are being directed towards the removal of the wastes from water so that recovered freshwater can be reused.

For this purpose, a waste management system, named as Zero Liquid Discharge System is being focussed by municipalities, governments and companies. The system is designed to treat the contaminated water where all water is recovered and contaminants are reduced to solid waste. While there are ample of other water treatment processes designed to recover maximum freshwater and minimize waste, Zero Liquid Discharge is the most popular of all.

Schematic-illustration-of-A-thermal-and-B-RO-incorporated-ZLD-systems-Incorporation_Q320Zero Liquid Discharge or ZLD is widely used for industrial waste water treatment that helps to decrease the waste quantity & recover fresh water for reuse. Although ZLD seems to be a perfect approach, it is a complex process that requires huge investment & sophisticated machinery. Extraction of water from waste means handling salinity, scaling compounds, and organics, which finally adds up to the cost.  Despite the challenges, the system is the optimum choice for industrial waste water treatment.

Listed here are some of the advantages of zero liquid discharge system that industrial process or facility can derive by adopting the ZLD system at their site:

  • Waste management cost is considerably reduced due to the lowered waste volumes.
  • Minimal dependence on external resources for water consumption as the majority of water is reused.
  • Contribution towards Improved environmental performance
  • Elimination of administrative fines resulting from environmental pollution.
  • Some processes may recover valuable resources, like ammonium sulfate fertilizer or sodium chloride salt that can be put to other applications.

An enormous volume of wastes and discharges are being generated today and it is increasing at a very fast pace. The heavy contamination of rivers, lakes and other water bodies pose critical challenges and there are possibilities that this phenomenon will make it difficult for nature to assimilate them. Thus, initiatives are required by the respective governments to make regulatory reforms in wastewater treatment. Moreover, systems like ZLD can also play a crucial role in tackling the issue.

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