Industrial Water Reuse Conference: Table Topics
On Wednesday, November 20, 4:30 – 5:30 pm, Industrial Water Reuse Conference attendees will enjoy cocktails and conversations! Participants will network and learn in a small-group setting while rotating between focused topical conversations. Learn more about the table topics below!
How Do We Ensure the Journey to Net Zero Includes the Journey to Water Positivity? (Table 1)
In recent years, the world has seen a growing urgency to address both climate change and water scarcity. However, the focus on water is still often secondary to the journey toward net zero in industry. Additionally, these two critical challenges are sometimes approached independently, missing out on the valuable opportunities that lie in their intersection and in the water-energy nexus.
JEA’s Industrial Pretreatment Enhancement Project in Preparation for Water Reuse (Table 2)
This discussion will explore JEA’s efforts to enhance its Industrial Pretreatment Program in preparation for Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR), with a focus on source water evaluation and control. Key topics will include strategies for managing industrial discharges, collaborating with industries on compliance, and implementing best practices to ensure high-quality reclaimed water influent to the Advance Water Treatment facility. Participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences and insights into effective source control and pretreatment for water reuse.
PFAS in Industrial Water Reuse: Navigating Challenges, Seizing Opportunities (Table 3)
This interactive session explores the complex landscape and opportunities of PFAS management in industrial water reuse. It will dive into industry challenges and innovative solutions, drawing from industrial experience and inviting participants to share insights.
Recycled Water: Balancing Quality, Reliability, and Cost (Table 4)
West Basin Municipal Water District’s extensive experience offers unique insights into the benefits of recycled water in industrial settings. This session will explore financial, regulatory, and sustainability aspects of integrating recycled water into operations, showcasing West Basin’s success in supplying industries like refineries.
Squeeze Every Last Drop: Enabling the Highest Recovery of Membrane Systems Through Scaling and Fouling Mitigation (Table 5)
Maximizing membrane system recovery while minimizing scaling and fouling requires a multi-faceted approach. The goal of water positivity requires that industries explore all the options. Join this topic table for an in-depth technical exploration about improving and optimizing industrial water reuse treatment systems.
Water Reuse in Mining (Table 6)
The mining industry is experiencing a period of significant growth. The demand for minerals and rare earth elements is increasing due to the clean energy transition, expansion of the battery and electronic devices industries, and regional development in response to supply chain challenges. Mining companies are re-thinking water management as activity expands in water-scarce regions and environmental regulations governing water discharges become increasingly stringent. Water reuse is becoming a tool to overcome water scarcity challenges and minimize impacts to the environment and surrounding communities.
Industrial Reuse and Carbon Management/Decarbonization – Water Energy Nexus in Industrial Reuse (Table 7)
World population continues to grow, and the demand for material manufacturing, food, beverage, and agricultural goods as well as data centers is growing rapidly to match the increased population and digitalization needs. Data centers are expanding in size and geographic locations which require high quantities of water and energy for data processing and cooling. This is a big challenge because fresh water supplies are finite. This challenge gets bigger due to climate change driven water scarcity and prolonged drought events. Water reuse is locally available, reliable, sustainable and some cases more economical solution than traditional and other alternative water supplies. In this discussion, we will explore how water reuse can help industries to reduce their dependance on potable water, strategies to use recycled water for cooling and other purposes to reduce carbon footprint and meet their ESG goals. Table participants will have a chance to share their experiences and learn from their peers.
Vermifiltration: Using Worms to Clean Water, Air, and Build Soil (Table 8)
Vermifiltration is an innovative and sustainable technology that uses earthworms in woodchip beds to clean water. This process supports a circular economy by transforming organic waste and wood byproducts into clean water and vermicompost, a high-value organic soil amendment. Applying vermicompost to farmland effectively transfers carbon stored in woody and organic biomass to agricultural soils. This approach reduces environmental pollution from waste disposal, decreases reliance on synthetic fertilizers, and enhances soil health.
The Next 5 Years of NAWI: DOE’s 5-year $75M Reuse Research Program (Table 9)
The National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) is the Department of Energy’s multi-year research program to advance desalination and water reuse technologies and systems. NAWI has been renewed by the DOE for a second 5-year term (2025-2029) with an additional $75M in funding for applied research and pilots of advanced water treatment and reuse systems. NAWI will be specifically focusing on industrial water reuse, with a focus on high-recovery cooling water treatment, semiconductor process water reuse, and campus-scale DPR systems. NAWI is seeking interested industrial partners to host pilots and participate on research teams. Come hear the latest about the NAWI program and how your organization can get involved.
Optimizing Energy Efficiency for Small Flow Water Reuse Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR) Systems (Table 10)
Innovatreat’s miniMBR® system addresses a common problem associated with small flow pressurized cross-flow and immersed cassette-type MBR water reuse technology; energy efficiency.
Conventional small flow industrial water reuse MBR systems experience high energy consumption. Conventional cross-flow tubular MBR’s operate at elevated pressures and liquid velocities which require high pressure energy consuming circulation pumps. Immersed (submerged) MBR’s require extra blowers dedicated to membrane air scour, in addition to the necessary blowers typically required for the biological oxygen demand. The miniMBR®, configured with external tubular inside-out UF membranes in a novel aerated down-flow orientation operates at very low pressures and requires significantly less air for scouring than competing immersed hollow fiber or flat plate membrane systems. This dramatic reduction in operating pressure and air scour volume consumes significantly less energy and improves membrane lifespan.
Prioritizing Research Needs for Industrial Reuse (Table 11)
As industries increasingly seek sustainable solutions to manage water resources, resources for research need to align with this building momentum. This table discussion will focus on helping clarify and prioritize research needs specific to industrial reuse applications. The desired outcome would be to increase and maximize the consideration and implementation of industrial reuse.
To achieve this desired outcome, attendees will discuss:
- Actions that help stakeholders overcome obstacles based on the knowledge and experience of attendees. Attendees will compare the relative effectiveness of the actions intended to address the identified obstacles and conditions.
- Obstacles that hinder the consideration and implementation of industrial reuse for industries and related stakeholders (e.g. municipalities, utilities, regulators, etc.).
- Conditions necessary to accomplish this desired outcome and the obstacles that prevent them. Different categories of conditions might include technical, economic, environmental, and regulatory considerations, recognizing that some conditions are more critical for certain obstacles.
Navigating Brine Management: Strategies for Sustainable Industrial Reuse (Table 12)
As industries strive to meet sustainability and reuse goals, most processes inherently produce brine as a byproduct. Join us for a table topic discussion on brine management and the critical role it plays in enabling industrial reuse projects.
Participants will discuss regulatory challenges, technological advancements, and economic considerations, highlighting the benefits of effective brine management – reducing waste while conserving resources.
This discussion aims to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among stakeholders, paving the way for practical solutions. Join us to contribute your insights, explore best practices, and help shape the future of sustainable brine management in industrial applications.
The Benefits of Closed-Circuit Reverse Osmosis Technology for Industrial Reuse (Table 13)
CRO technology from Desalitec is one of the few proven commercially available high recovery reverse osmosis technologies. With over 200 and counting of operating installations utilizing the technology with over 10 years of commercialized success, the Desalitec team can bank on their experience and pass this knowledge and operational reliability on to their clients. What makes CCRO so reliable and capable of providing recoveries from 90 to 95%? What benefits does CCRO provide in the production of drinking water from feed sources contaminated by PFAS? Join us to learn more.
How Managing Brine Decreases an Industry’s Potable Water Usage (Table 14)
The City of Chandler, AZ in partnership with Intel Corporation saves potable water by reclaiming water from industrial reverse osmosis processes. Discover how the advanced Ocotillo Brine Reduction Facility is able to recover 2.8 MGD from brine to produce a high-quality effluent by cold lime softening, ion exchange, high efficiency reverse osmosis, and brine concentration with final solar reduction. Ascertain the potential benefits of partnering with industry through replacement of potable water demand by recycling a waste brine mitigating its impact on the drinking and wastewater treatment systems in a desert economy.
Water Reuse Research to Enable Energy (Table 15)
EPRI is a research organization that follows the science to help power society toward a reliable, affordable, and resilient energy future. EPRI’s Water Treatment Technologies Program aims to uncover new water solutions – identifying, evaluating, and demonstrating the performance, operability, and reliability of technologies designed to treat process water and wastewater streams for reuse or returning to its original source.
