It’s important that the use of water to make products doesn’t result in contamination of waterways. Pulp and paper manufacturing requires a large amount of water, and facilities are often located near rivers or lakes to be close to a good water supply. Once the water is used in the process, it is treated in an effluent treatment plant, and regulatory standards have been established to ensure that the final discharged effluent meets government environmental regulations for the protection of waterways.
EPAT provides water quality data, such as TSS, COD, BOD and AOX, to its users and they can be especially useful to buyers of paper-based products who are tracking the environmental performance of their paper or packaging suppliers.
But what do these acronyms mean and what is their importance?
First, let’s talk about the typical steps in a pulp and paper effluent treatment plant.
The first step is to remove any solids such as fibers and clay that are suspended in the water. This is done in the primary clarifier via a settling process that removes the solids (i.e., primary sludge) which are typically dewatered, mixed with woody biomass, and burned as fuel in a biomass boiler to produce energy and steam for the mill operation. In some cases, these solids can also be used as a soil amendment for agriculture or other alternative uses.
This is followed by biological treatment where microorganisms, oxygen from added air (aerators), and added nutrients as food for the microbial biomass (nitrogen, phosphorus), are used to break down the organic material into carbon dioxide and water. Finally, a secondary clarifier (or polishing basin) removes any solids remaining (mostly biological solids known as secondary sludge) after treatment prior to discharge of the final effluent.
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