For food processors, industrial wastewater surcharges have evolved into a high cost of doing business.
Historically, it has been common for companies to view sewer costs as just another utility line item. Now, that can be upended in short order if a city or water company finds the effluent coming from a facility to be stronger than your average domestic sewage.
That is when surcharges are levied.
A surcharge is an extra fee placed on wastewater that is more expensive to treat. Municipalities and their treatment plants put these in place to make up for the higher price of processing high-strength waste.
For an industrial operation, this means that what was once a routine sewer bill can become a substantial part of overhead.
The trouble is, many do not realize they have a surcharge issue until the invoice is in hand.
How the Numbers Are Put Together
Typically, the calculation is driven by the volume of discharge and the pollutant concentration within it. Some cities will measure industrial output in hundred cubic feet, others in gallons per month.
What they are looking for most often is Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). BOD is an indicator of organic content; the higher the figure, the more oxygen and bacteria the treatment process requires to decompose the waste. TSS, on the other hand, quantifies particulate matter in the water, which puts an added strain on the system.
Then there are factors like pH, heavy metals, and toxic chemicals that can complicate matters and drive up the cost.
Put simply, the greater the volume and concentration a facility puts down the drain, the larger the tab.
Exposure Through Sampling
There is real cost exposure here because the city or utility determines rates based on physical samples they take. In some regions, a composite sample might be gathered over a three-month span to set the rate, while in others, the sampling for surcharge purposes is done at random.
Consequently, the bill may be dictated by conditions on the plant floor during a particular sampling window.
A shift in the production schedule, the raw materials being used, or even the sanitation and chemical protocols can alter the results. A plant could be running the same old operation and still see its wastewater profile change. This is no less true in the food, beverage, or chemical industries, where the product itself or the cleaning process can affect the strength of the waste.
The Cost of Waiting
Waiting to see if a surcharge shows up on the bill is generally the priciest way to handle it. By the time the city has the data to prove the wastewater is high-strength, the additional charges are already in effect.
Non-compliance with wastewater rules is a matter of local regulation, and the consequences can be anything from permit problems and operational curbs to fines and inspections.
In some cases, a business will need to secure a Trade Effluent Consent or the like before it is allowed to put industrial wastewater into the system. There are costs attached to that; permit fees are typically non-refundable and valid for up to 5 years.
One should also expect annual charges for the monitoring and lab work required to prove compliance. Then there are the penalties: in certain jurisdictions, a serious infraction can cost up to $10,000 a day.
But even if a company escapes the fine, the economics can be tough. Water and wastewater rates in many cities go up every year, and as treatment gets more expensive, so do the surcharges.
For an operation running on thin margins, what was once a simple utility expense can become a question of profitability.
Wastewater Control Starts Inside the Facility
To put a handle on those surcharges, it helps to know what is going down the drain well before the city does.
Regular internal monitoring allows a company to head off compliance trouble and overcharges. A close look at how a facility handles its water volume, chemical use, cleaning and production, and the separation of waste streams is warranted.
There are ways to trim the bill. Optimizing for water efficiency and segregating waste are two of them. A plant might separate out high-strength waste from the general flow for different handling. Even minor adjustments in the way things are done can cut down on the pollutant load.
Onsite treatment presents a considerable opportunity as well. With the right system design, pretreatment at the facility can bring BOD and TSS levels down by 85 to 99 percent. In the right application, getting ahead of pollutants before they are discharged can put a 20 to 60 percent dent in the wastewater bill.
It comes down to planning.
Building Wastewater Strategy Into Industrial Projects
Too often, industrial wastewater treatment is an afterthought when it should be part of the discussion when a plant is being designed or expanded.
We see this at DeJong, where upgrades are taking on more importance in our facility planning; the price of doing nothing is no longer something you can overlook.
Whether it is for better controls, a process redesign to reduce waste, or more reliable monitoring, a facility may need to make changes.
The initial outlay requirements for a new system can be hard to swallow for a company accustomed to years of little change. Yet the return on investment is evident in avoided fines and lower monthly operating costs.
For an older plant, we would start by reviewing the current setup, sampling risk, and discharge patterns. On a new build, the wastewater plan becomes part of the design.
We’re seeing some clients recoup up to 20% in their wastewater costs with these upgraded systems, effectively allowing the system to pay for itself over time.
Cities are under pressure to recoup their costs and meet their EPA permit requirements, so these surcharges are not disappearing.
The facilities that make the effort now will be far better positioned to keep their bottom line intact.