Auxiliary Strategies for Water Management in Industries: Minimization of Water Use and Possibility of Recycling and/or Reuse of Effluent

Abstract

Water management in industry by minimizing water consumption and effluent generation, reusing and/or recycling as a possibility the economy and conservation of water, energy and economic resources. The characterization of the final effluent allows evaluating how much the treatment is adequate to meet the requirements of the regulations of different countries for recycling and/or reuse and evaluated the possibility of reuse, as well as the choice of effluent treatment methods. In this case, technical, environmental and economic criteria, with a view to complying with industrial reuse regulations, should be evaluated, and a multicriteria analysis (MCA) can be adopted to classify the treatment systems applied in different reuse scenarios, made possible by the combination of multiple processes, with the use of tertiary treatment techniques. It should be noted that the potential for recycling and/or reuse of effluents generated in industry increases when effluents are separated into groups (principle of segregation of effluent streams). As a way of promoting a more sustainable model, the use of reuse systems is promising to reduce consumption, as well as reducing operating costs when treating effluents.