A wastewater treatability study is a study or a test that
tells us if the wastewater can be treated and how it needs to be treated. If the study is done correctly, it
will clearly identify the problem you’re seeing in your wastewater stream,
helping ensure the proper treatment solutions are considered.
Let’s
just say, for example, that a plant processes metals—maybe a metal plating
facility like a chrome plater or zinc plater—and all of the sudden, they
realize residual metals are present in their wastewater, which are prohibited
to discharge in just about any receiving watershed or municipality.
The company
performing the study would start by taking a sample of their wastewater,
analyzing it (called a characterization study) so they can identify what they
think is the problem through analytical means.
Once
the treatability study is complete and the problem is identified, sometimes a
plant will opt to test different solutions by initially using some conventional
technologies to remove the contaminants from the solution.
Once they
establish that they can removed the contaminants successfully, they will then
scale up the scope of the technology to sufficiently handle the full scale of
the process.
keep in mind that there is usually more than one treatment
available for your problem. A reputable company will perform the treatability
study and recommend different solution for you.
