How Industries Are Treating Their Wastewater

Industrial processes generate large volumes of wastewater, with up to 40% disposed of without treatment. To combat this, companies are adopting Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD), a process that uses advanced wastewater treatment technologies to recover all water and reduce contaminants to solid waste, aiming to eliminate liquid wastewater discharge. However, the cost of implementing ZLD is a significant challenge. New technologies such as electrodialysis, forward osmosis, and membrane distillation have emerged as alternatives that can handle higher salinities and consume less energy than traditional methods.

Despite the drawbacks of ZLD, such as the generation of solid wastes and high investment costs, its adoption is growing due to environmental regulations and costs. The future growth of ZLD will depend on regulatory incentives that outweigh its economic disadvantages.