SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2013-15

People Overview Self Managed Teams Mechanisation Safety Overview The Parivartan     Journey Progress on     Roadmap Incident Statistics Robust Governance Standardised     Processes Enhanced Awareness Capability Building Safety Infrastructure Safety Audits Quality Overview Top-down    Accountability Quality by Design Quality Culture     Transformation Quality Assurance Quality     Best Practices All Time Audit     Readiness Availability Overview Strategic Sourcing Risk Management Product    Rationalisation Success stories Environment Overview Roadmap Energy Management Emissions Water Waste Case Study KPIs Community Overview Focus Areas Education Livelihoods Healthcare Infrastructure     Initiatives Creating Change     Makers Productivity Overview Productivity Streams Case Study PACE Update Initiatives Engineering Excellence Overview Digitisation Automation Mechanisation Lean Manufacturing Capital Equipment Strategy Predictive Maintenance Continuous Improvement Overview Continuous     Improvement     at Work Best Practices Annexures GRI Index Acronyms Assurance Statement   Summary Report     ENVIRONMENT PERFORMANCE WATER Overview    |    Water Requirment Matrix    |    Water Consumption    |    Water Conservation Initiatives    |    Wastewater Discharge Initiatives Wastewater Discharge Initiatives Overview Ozonation to the Rescue COD Effluent Stream Segregation & Disposal Above Ground Tanks New RO System for Utility Needs New RO System to Treat Bio Treated Effluent New RO System to Treat Bio Treated Effluent We were using an RO System consisting of UF, NF & RO stages. This RO operated at low pressure with spiral wound membrane technology. Its design feed turbidity was less than 5 NTU, whereas the bio treated effluent turbidity was around 50 NTU. Hence, along with RO, we had to chemically treat the effluent with HCl, NaOH & alum to reduce the turbidity of the UF feed. This chemical treatment resulted in 500 TPA of sludge, which had to be disposed in secured landfills. Despite this intensive treatment, we could only achieve a recovery rate of 65%. We took up the challenge to improve the process to treat the bio effluent. We installed a new plate and tube type high pressure RO system, which worked on a single stage, and did not require any UF, NF & RO combinations. It had a high recovery rate of 80-85% and a high design feed turbidity of up to 100 NTU and COD of up to 5,000 mg/l. Thus the need to chemically treat the effluent was eliminated. There was no sludge generation which resulted in reduction of 500 TPA hazardous waste.