Zero liquid discharge plant in Egypt cuts freshwater demand by 70%

Aquatech and the Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company (ETHYDCO) recently commissioned Egypt's first integrated zero liquid discharge (ZLD) plant in Alexandria which recycles and purifies wastewater and has reduced the facility's demand for freshwater by 70 percent.

“We are proud to be associated with this groundbreaking project, which brings Aquatech’s unparalleled expertise and experience in zero liquid discharge solutions into sharp focus," Aquatech Principal Process Engineer Robert Sweetman said. "Aquatech can point to more than 160 ZLD installations on six continents. We are an innovator in ZLD technologies and a pioneer in hybrid ZLD. This experience and capability make us uniquely positioned to help customers across all segments of industry achieve increasingly strict environmental goals.”

ETHYDCO uses the Alexandria facility to produce ethylene and other petroleum derivatives and feeds the plant a composite mix of treated effluent and Nile River water.

Aquatech uses a microfiltration system and high efficiency reverse osmosis (HERO). These methods achieve 97 percent recovery across membrane systems and are followed by QUA Fractional Electrodeionization (FEDI), which produces high quality, demineralized water, a two-stage thermal system and a sludge treatment system, reducing the demand for freshwater.