Cutting fluctuations in Unaccounted Effluent to 16% through daily monitoring and expert intervention

A Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) in South India was facing wide variations in the effluent volumes received from its 72 member industries. While the expected average effluent discharge from each industry was around 20 m³/day, nearly 50% of this flow remained unaccounted for. To address this challenge, our Forbes Marshall Digital partnership with this CETP began in March 2024 with a shared objective to improve effluent accountability and establish a more cost-effective treatment process using EverSense for WaterMAP.

The plant used EverSense for WaterMAP, a Forbes Marshall Digital solution to decrease the gap in effluent discharge measurement. The goal being to decrease the Unaccounted-for-Effluent (UAE) between the tanneries and the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) from 50% to below 10%, reducing overall cost of treatment to the CETP.

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a graph showing variations in effluent received and released by a CETP

PROBLEM

Continuous measurement gap of 800 to 900 m3/day between effluent released by industry and that received at CETP. The measurement recorded at each industry discharge point was less than that received at the CETP, and there was no mechanism to correctly charge the industry letting out this effluent discharge.

Frequent downtime based on market demand and production load within these member industries caused unscheduled discharge flows. The sudden maximum or part flow (which could be less than the minimum required flow) through the flow meter impacted its calibration. members disrupting consistency in treatment.

Unscheduled and uneven discharge from member industries, creating sudden load fluctuations and operational strain on the CETP. Some industries store their effluent in an open tank on their premises to allow the water to evaporate, before discharging the more concentrated chemicals to the CETP. This thicker chemical sludge can choke their flowmeter, resulting in more electricity costs, with much less discharge occurring, amongst other issues.

Equipment issues such as non-return valve (NRV) failure and pump choking caused by concentrated effluent blocking the filter suction mechanism, leading to fluctuating flow and backflow into the sump (the common effluent collection tank).

High treatment cost of the CETP due to inefficiencies in managing fluctuating and unaccounted effluent loads.

SOLUTION

RTru fitted at each of the 72 member industries plants to provide data on status of the flow of effluent.

Sequentially controlling the effluent discharge for each industry over cloud to maintain the CETP load.

Making sure all industries release the effluent at rated flow rate to avoid flow meter inaccuracies at lower flow rate. Monitor the flow meter diagnostics and define the accuracy of the measurement.

Maintaining the uptime of the entire network at above 95% minimising the probability of data loss.

Through digital connectivity, the user receives an alert when the flowmeter needs to be cleaned (as against having to follow a fixed monthly maintenance schedule).