Feasibility study for reclamation of sewage effluent as a cooling tower makeup

Abstract

As new water resources become increasingly scarce and expensive to develop and as ground water tables keep on going down, the reuse and recycling of wastewater for various purpose are expected to increase greatly in future. This will be particularly so in arid or semi-arid areas or in areas where rapid industrialization or urbanization is taking place. Technology is available today for the reuse of wastewater even for municipal purposes. However, the public health aspects and cost effectiveness have to be carefully evaluated. Public opinion in case of reuse for municipal purposes has also to be taken into account. This project is carried out at Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Company Ltd. (GNFC) to study the feasibility for reclamation of sewage effluent as a cooling tower makeup. Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the consistency of results to scale up the treatment system. This project study demonstrates scale up of treatment system based on the lab scale experimental results. Cost estimation of treatment system has been given on the basis of scale up parameters obtained from secondary data sources.