What Industries Use Water Filtration?
Industrial processes rely on access to clean, properly filtered water. It’s an essential ingredient for consumable goods, and properly treated water is vital for every step of the process. Even outside of the production of consumable goods, filtered water can protect the integrity of heating and processing systems, minimize the risk of contamination, and keep processes standardized. At Spiral Water, we design innovative water filtration solutions for each of our industrial clients so they have continuous access to filtered water. Learn more about the vital role of Spiral Water’s filtration systems in each of these ten major industries.
Food and Beverage Processing
Food and beverage processing facilities across the country trust Spiral Water Technologies’ products to filter wastewater. Water used for batch processing and goods production picks up trace contaminants, and facilities are often left with thousands of gallons of wastewater that would need to be properly disposed of at a high cost. But with on-site water treatment systems, contaminants and chemicals can be removed from the water for more efficient and cost-effective disposal.
Our water filtration solutions can be customized for use in removing total suspended solids (TSS) for breweries, in juice filtration, and in any number of waste streams from food processing.
Indoor Agriculture and Vertical Farming
Vertical farming has the potential to revolutionize the way food is produced and reduce the environmental impact of agriculture. It allows for year-round crop production in urban areas, requires a much smaller land footprint, consumes far less water than traditional agriculture, and also provides a way to grow fresh produce closer to the point of consumption.
Spiral Water filters provide a key component in any water recovery and reuse approach, and are very well-suited to the requirements of vertical farming. Nutrient-rich water used in hydroponic drips can pick up particles and other solid debris during this process. Spiral Water filters can ensure that water is free of these contaminants before being reintroduced into the system so that it does not foul nozzles or disturb the lines. Our filters can also be used to treat wastewater bound for discharge and ensure that it complies with strict community discharge limits.
Industrial and Organic Wastewater Treatment
Our systems set the standard for liquid filtration in industrial wastewater streams. Our products can remove 50% or more of particles sized 20 microns and larger. By filtering industrial wastewater, facilities can reuse that water for industrial processes—thereby reducing total water consumption—and make contamination disposal more efficient.
Land-Based Desalination
Most desalination facilities, whether used for treatment of seawater or brackish water, rely on water filtration processes, from prefiltration to reverse osmosis (RO) systems, to produce clean and potable water suitable for various applications. The use of modular, containerized units has augmented the ability to leverage the power of desalination in locations where the construction of large-scale plants is unnecessary or cost-prohibitive. Either way, the utilization of water filtration technologies in land-based desalination enables the sustainable production of clean water resources, contributing to the provision of reliable and safe water supplies for industries and communities alike.
Maritime Desalination
Desalination systems are vital on both ships and offshore platforms. Spiral Water’s advanced, automatic self-cleaning filters play an important role as pre-filtration in the desalination process by removing particulates prior to the water passing through reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. This protects the RO membrane filters used in desalination, allowing for more effective and efficient desalination and a longer lifespan for RO filter membranes.
Renewable Natural Gas/Biogas
Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) – also called biogas – is an increasingly important, environmentally responsible and renewable (as its name implies) source of energy that results from decomposition of organic matter in anaerobic conditions. This organic matter comes from various sources, including farm animal waste products (e.g., manure).
Water is a component of converting organic waste into biogas. Spiral Water filters can effectively filter this water from wastewater stream, which can be further treated before disposal, and concentrate the solids, which can then be converted to fertilizer and sold.
Spiral Water systems also condition and optimize volatile TSS VSS particle size in feedstocks to anaerobic digesters, resulting in higher production of biogas per a given volume.
Farm Waste Water Recovery System
Farms produce a lot of wastewater from irrigation, cleaning, animal processing, and more. Some of the farm applications for our advanced filtration products include:
- Filtering particles from manure and digested liquids to provide clean water
- Filtering out water to concentrate fertilizers for easier processing and shipping
- Cleaning farm runoff for safer disposal
- Collecting nutrients from farm runoff and concentrating them
These filtration solutions are available for both small and large farms.
Biopharma or Bioprocess Filtration
Pharmaceutical manufacturing relies on Purified Water (PW), a regulated grade of filtered water that has lower levels of particles, bacteria, and cells than found in other grades of filtered water. Manufacturers use PW as an agent for cleaning, as water for injection or an ingredient, or as a solvent. Using PW for these sensitive processes makes the products much safer while simultaneously reducing cleaning and maintenance costs.
Hemp Filters and Wastewater Recovery
Hemp cultivation organizations for medical-grade CBD and hemp fibers rely on clean water. Facilities can test their available water source, determine the right level of purity for their operations, and select the appropriate filtration system.
Water Filtration System for Oil and Gas
Oil and gas production requires large volumes of water. Facilities can turn to water filtration to lower their total water demand for processes like hydrocarbon extraction (both liquid and steam), cooling, well flooding, and having sufficient flowback water. Establishing water filtration solutions for wells and processing centers will continue to become more essential as demand for oil and gas increases.
While the amount of water needed to produce a barrel of oil varies, it is estimated that it can take 5 barrels of water to produce one barrel of oil. As oil wells age, more water is needed to extract the oil. Practices such as injecting water into oil fields via injection wells is a more sustainable solution than tapping into freshwater sources, but this water must be treated before being reused or disposed of.
Hydro Power and Other Power Plant Water Treatment
Advancements in automatic water filtration have impacted the operation of both micro- and large-scale hydroelectric power plants and other industrial applications that must work with high solids water processes.
But with many filters at use in major facilities dating back to the 1960s, what’s needed are scalable and affordable advanced filtration options that address industry-specific needs. These include:
- Better protection of turbine bearing surfaces, pump seals and heat exchangers.
- Protection from invasive species like Zebra and Quagga mussel larvae (which benefits from such advances as Spiral Water Technologies’ filters and automatic purging capability to capture and destroy mussel larvae).
- Protection from algae and ability to handle other upset conditions.
- Removal of grit and sand from well water sources for industrial process make-up and cooling water.
- Robust filter systems to better manage natural water upset conditions.
Spiral Water advanced, automatic self-cleaning filters meet all these requirements. What’s more, they are ideal for wastewater TSS/BOD removal and process bulk solids removal up to 15,000 mg/l TSS (15% by volume), providing continuous 15 to 1500 micron filtration.
Spiral Water Provides Water Filtration Solutions for Major Industries—Including Yours
Spiral Water Tech filtration solutions have the power to keep up with large-scale industrial water demands. Contact our team today to learn more about filtration solutions built for your industry.