Waste water

Water is indispensable for most industrial production processes. However, if it becomes contaminated with pollutants as a result of the manufacturing process, industrial waste water cannot be discharged into surface water or the sewage system without further consideration. Also rain water that runs off from industrial sites or through landfills, must first be purified using appropriate purification technology so that it does not exceed legal limits and poses no danger to humans, animals or ecosystems.

DESOTEC has more than 30 years of experience in industrial waste water treatment, purification of leachate and process water treatment with mobile activated carbon filters. Depending on the type of pollutant, inlet concentration, flowrate and other parameters, the individual units can be combined to create a tailor-made filter solution for industrial water treatment that is as convenient as it is cost-saving:

• We take care of all the logistics: you receive one or more pre-filled filter units that you simply rent on a daily basis.
• As soon as the activated carbon is saturated, we replace the entire module - there are no emissions or pollution on site.
• State-of-the-art reactivation furnaces ensure a closed cycle: In most cases, the activated carbon can be recycled in an environmentally friendly way.
• In the process, the contaminants adsorbed by the activated carbon are completely destroyed in accordance with National and European environmental laws.

Applications of mobile activated carbon filters for water treatment

Activated carbon adsorbs a variety of pollutants from waste water, leachate and process water and is also suitable for soil and ground water remediation. In particular, the following pollutants can be significantly reduced through the use of mobile water purification systems from DESOTEC, so that compliance with respective discharge limits is easily possible:

• COD and BOD (chemical and biological oxygen demand)
• TOC (total organic carbon)
• BTEX (volatile aromatic hydrocarbons: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene)
• PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)
• AOX (adsorbable organically bound halogens)
• Persistent organic pollutants or POPs (pesticides, PCBs, residues of medicines, ...)
• Odorous substances and colour molecules

Since industrial waste water often contains numerous different pollutants, each with different physical and chemical properties, it is in many cases necessary to use several water treatment processes in series. Our mobile activated carbon filters can also be used in combination with biological or physicochemical processes as part of a multi-stage water treatment system - whether for pre-treatment, intermediate or as a polishing filter.

Explore our case studies around waste water treatment to see examples of how our mobile activated carbon filters can be used:

COD and BOD

Reducing waste water contamination from plastic recycling

Removing chemical, biological and particle contamination

Mineral oil and hydrocarbons:

Removing oil and hydrocarbons from water in an underground rock cavern

AOX and pesticides:

AOX removal from waste water from the pharmaceutical industry

POP (Persistent Organic Pollutants):

Reducing pesticide residues from the manufacturing of crop protection chemicals

Contaminated fire extinguishing water:

Treating contaminated rain water after a fire at a chemical plant

In our e-book you can learn more about how you can configure your customised waste water treatment system with mobile filter units.

Mobile water purification systems for the industry

As a pioneer in the development of mobile filtration systems, DESOTEC has Europe's largest fleet of mobile activated carbon filters for the treatment of waste water, process water and landfill leachate. With the appropriate activated carbon, our filter modules cover a wide range of pollutant types, inlet concentrations and flowrates. This way, they enable solutions for a wide range of applications that are scalable and in line with customer requirements.

• Plug and play: Our compact MOBICON filter units are ready for immediate use and, thanks to 24/7 service and our own fleet of vehicles, are usually on site within one day.
• No investment and maintenance costs: You rent our mobile activated carbon filters on a daily basis.
• Clean solution: No handling of the activated carbon is necessary on site - when it is saturated, we replace the complete filter model with a unit of the same type.    
• Closed loop: In our state-of-the-art reactivation furnaces, the saturated activated carbon is regenerated and can then be reused.
• Complete destruction of pollutants: The contaminants adsorbed by the activated carbon are completely destroyed in the flue gas purification installation, including a thermal oxidiser, in accordance with National and European environmental legislation.
• Innovations from the European market leader: We continuously develop our filter solutions - so our customers always get the best available technology on site.