OVERVIEW
Taiwan faces significant water shortages due to climate change, making it crucial for industries like textile manufacturing to maximize water recovery and reduce waste.
All Way Environmental is a leading water treatment engineering services company in Taiwan, currently working with Everest Textile Co. Ltd., a publicly listed, vertically integrated textile manufacturer. Everest specializes in yarn texturizing, weaving, knitting, dyeing, post-finishing (including printing, coating, laminating), and garment production. With over 300 global business partners, Everest maintains strong relationships with brands such as Nike, Decathlon, Lululemon, The North Face, GAP, POLO, and Patagonia.
Everest has been tasked with the challenge of meeting global sustainability requirements while addressing local water scarcity. To support them in its sustainability mission, ROTEC has provided a Flow Reversal Reverse Osmosis (FR-RO) desalination system, designed to increase water recovery rates at a minimum of 90%, while minimizing operational costs and environmental impact.
Adopting ROTEC’s advanced FR-RO system is part of Everest’s broader sustainability strategy, aimed at reducing water consumption, energy usage, and carbon emissions across its operations.
The plant demonstrated Flow Reversal Technology’s ability to achieve continuous, ultra-high recovery of 90% via municipal wastewater reuse treatment.
Moreover, due to our forward-thinking FR, valuable footprint required for a tertiary wastewater treatment can be reduced, enabling this outstanding membrane technology to become the preferred and most viable alternative in the market.
THE NEED
ROTEC was asked to evaluate a new FR-RO system to treat >100 m3/hour (~ 2,200 m3/day) of feedwater. In response to water stewardship goals from global clients and stricter environmental regulations, All Way Environmental and Everest Textile sought a sustainable solution to achieve 90-92% water recovery while treating high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) and scaling ions and fluctuating COD levels.
THE PROCESS
Our engineers implemented an advanced three-stage RO system, featuring eight membranes per pressure vessel and achieving an outstanding recovery rate of up to 92%. The system integrates a skid with micron filters, an FR-RO, and a CIP and flush skid for efficient cleaning and maintenance. This innovative design optimizes operational performance and maximizes water recovery, delivering exceptional results for the client.
The main challenges in treating this wastewater effluent stream as demonstrated by the customer’s previous conventional RO systems were operational problems involving high CIP frequencies (biofouling growth), high acid consumption and limited recovery up to 80%.
THE RESULT
The project was launched seamlessly and on schedule, delivering a pre-assembled skid following successful factory acceptance testing (FAT) at the ROTEC facility. The unit was shipped and integrated into a new pre-treatment system including an ultra-filtration (UF) unit. Within just two weeks, the ROTEC FR-RO system began producing water that exceeded the quality expectations of both All Way Environmental and Everest. This chemical- and dye-free water achieved an impressive recovery rate of approximately 92%, a substantial improvement over conventional RO systems.
This success not only highlights a major leap in operational efficiency but also reinforces ROTEC’s commitment to sustainability. By maximizing water recovery and minimizing rejected brine, ROTEC FR-RO technology enables All Way Environmental and Everest to significantly reduce its environmental footprint while conserving valuable resources. Our approach emphasizes the importance of advanced water technologies that meet both operational and ecological goals.
ROTEC’s approach highlights the significance of innovative water technologies that achieve both operational efficiency and environmental sustainability.