Reclaiming Effluent For Nestle Qingdao

The Client’s Needs

Laixi, the county-city where the Nestlé Qingdao plant is situated, has seen rainfall levels declining drastically (recording a drop of 140 milimetres) over the past 20 years, with rainfall levels reaching only 583mm recently.

With a population of over 5 million, Qingdao faces an increasingly acute and chronic water shortage issue, with per capita water resources allocated to the city at only 12 per cent of the national average. 

As a result, Nestlé decided to build an effluent reclaim system and a COW Water reuse system at the Qingdao plant.

Veolia Solution

Based on Nestlé’s needs, Veolia Water Technologies (Veolia) proposed that Nestlé reclaim 750 m³/day of water mainly from secondary effluent and COW Water to be reused for non-potable purposes and, in response to the issue of limited indoor space, to install a unique BiopROtector to optimize the existing Reverse Osmosis Polisher (ROP) system.
The proposed system also had to meet a stringent water quality requirement —stipulated by Nestlé’s internal requirements.

Veolia installed a biological treatment system with a design fl ow of 1,300 m³/day, and a Reverse Osmosis (RO) system with a design flow of 600m³/day. 

Two processes were also put in place to further treat the effluent: an intermediate disinfection process using UV lamps, and a final disinfection using chemical biocide.

Results

• Reusing 750 m³ of treated wastewater a day for utilities and production.
• Saving 16,500 tons of water a month (equivalent to 6 olympic size swimming pools)
• Reduced total organic carbon (TOC) levels in recovered COW water to <0.3ppm