If you need to meet a sulfate discharge limit, we very likely have a solution for you. Every sulfate situation is different, so your sulfate challenge first deserves a dedicated review from our experts, to see how sulfates may be most economically treated using industrial water treatment technologies.
Once a review is complete, most of our clients’ sulfate removal needs can be classified into high- and low- total dissolved solids (TDS) waters, described below. We have solutions for both, adjusted to your unique wastewater, including our new SulfateSelect solution family for low TDS wastewaters.
High TDS sulfate-laden waters (TDS~80,000–200,000 mg/L) often contain predominantly sodium sulfate: SO42- ~60,000–120,000 mg/L. To treat them, you can take advantage of two unique properties of sodium sulfate:
Low TDS waters (1,500–5,000 mg/L) are often saturated in calcium sulfate: SO4 ~1,800 mg/L. To optimize your costs, you should:
If sulfate and metals are your only treatment concern, then you may be able to avoid brine management costs with our SulfateSelect (patent pending) process.
SulfateSelect is comprised of one or more of the following industrialized product lines:
There are many sulfate treatments available, with different advantages and disadvantages. Factors for consideration include capital and operational costs, solid vs. liquid brine reject for disposal, if the need is seasonal or year-round, and suitability for adverse operating conditions.
Many industrial processes produce or depend on sulfates. Sulfates can be regulated in some discharges and require cost-effective management. Saltworks can help you to monitor and moderate sulfate levels in wastewater flows.
Real-time measurement provides prompt feedback for controls. A real-time sensor can help to optimize your process, reduce risk, and minimize operational and maintenance demand. Saltworks has developed a new real-time sensor—that is simple and robust—to operate in the high-TDS range.
With the growing importance of brine management, modernized chemical softening systems can enable economic ultra-high recovery reverse osmosis, minimizing RO brine volume, disposal costs, and reliability risks.