Ethanol Production Plant Monitors Impacts To Water Supply And Stays In Compliance

Under current ethanol plant configurations, water use for ethanol production ranges from 4.0 to 6.8 gallons of water required per gallon of ethanol produced. With the average new plant producing 120 million gallons of ethanol per year, water yields in excess of 1,000 gallons per minute are required; therefore adequate water supply is essential to the operation of an ethanol production facility. Most ethanol plants in the United States use aquifer systems for their water supply, and an in-depth aquifer analysis must be completed before a plant can be constructed or expanded. Some states require 60-day aquifer yield tests, and plants must continue to monitor impacts to groundwater resources during the life of plant operation.

Summit Envirosolutions, Inc. is a full-service environmental engineering and consulting firm that specializes in environmental site assessments and characterizations. To help environmental professionals use data more efficiently and to better understand project site dynamics, Summit Envirosolutions has developed proprietary Environmental Management Information Systems, including RealFlow® software. To develop an aquifer monitoring system that would help an ethanol plant stay in compliance, Summit Envirosolutions, Inc. worked with In-Situ® Inc. and delivered a total monitoring solution to the ethanol plant.