OUTLOOK
Industry Has an Important Role in Development of Water Quality Programs Nicholas J. Lardieri
Scott Paper Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 19113 We are rapidly approaching an important deadline in the field of water quality. I refer to the date of June 30, 1967, by which time the states must submit to the Secretary of the Interior water quality criteria and a n implementation plan for all interstate waters. Most of us are aware, through direct participation, of the great activity these requirements of the Water Quality Act of 1965 have engendered. The state agencies have been doing a remarkable job in meeting their obligations in this matter. Public hearings on criteria have been mostly completed and many states are in the process of resolving the conflicting views of water users prior to the formal submission of the criteria. Those of us who have been involved in the recently completed Delaware Estuary Comprehensive Study cannot help but feel some regret over the present activity. Our disappointment is that, owing to lack of time, parts of the methodology used in the study for developing water quality criteria for the Delaware Estuary will not be more universally applied at this time. We believe these techniques provide a rational basis for determining the appropriate water quality objectives and program for a given area. Water quality conditions and objectives are dynamic. Water quality is constantly changing as a result of use
and natural causes and objectives altered in accordance with the needs and desires of society. Thus, while a Delaware Estuary-type analysis may be of limited value in establishing our immediate goals the concept can be extremely helpful in guiding subsequent water quality management programs. This article deals primarily with the role of our Chester, Pa., plant and other industries in the Delaware Estuary Comprehensive Study. The waste treatment facilities at the Chester plant also will be described as they contain a number of unique features. The mill is located on the Delaware River at Chester, Pa. It produces approximately 800 tons per day of tissue, towels, and other sanitary convenience products on 10 paper machines. The bulk of the furnish is virgin pulp, although there is a 115-ton-per-day bleach plant for processing internally recovered fibers, paper broke, and unbleached pulp. Close to 16.8 million gallons per day of water is withdrawn from the Delaware River for industrial processes. Pennsylvania Sanitary Water Board requirements
The effluent requirements for Pennsylvania pulp and paper mills since 1950 have been based on raw waste standards. These values were developed as a joint effort between the Pennsylvania Sani-
Pennsylvania Sanitary Water Board raw waste standards and effluent requirements for Chester plant _ _Production (Tons/ day)
Paper Mill Bleach Plant Total
800 115
...
Sumended Solids Allowable Raw Waste discharge (Lb./ (Lb./ day) day)
(:ti{ 40 16.5
...
32,000 1,840 33,840
380 Environmental Science and Technology
... ... 10,150
BOD ~~
Raw Waste (Lb./ day)
12.8 19.0
. ..
10,200 2,190 12,390
’
Allowable .Discharge (Lb./ day)
... ... 8050
tary Water Board and the industry over a 2-year period. The raw waste standards state the 5-day BOD and suspended solids per ton of product expected in wastes from well-run plants employing good housekeeping and recovery methods. The use of the characteristics of normal raw wastes from various manufacturing processes is based on the principle of comparable effort in waste treatment by various members of a particular industry. Having established a reasonably attainable standard for raw wastes, the reduction required by the Sanitary Water Board is applied to the normal raw waste for each type of waste rather than to the individual wastes produced by any particular establishment. The paper industry’s experience with the operation of this kind of regulation has been very satisfactory. The raw waste standard concept recognizes that pounds of BOD and suspended solids rather than concentration are the significant effluent parameters. The system encourages maximum internal reuse and recovery and is an equitable method of evaluating performance of plants producing similar products. We have been disappointed that the concept hasn’t been more widely understood and adopted. For the Delaware River in the stretch from Philadelphia to the PennsylvaniaDelaware line, the Sanitary Water Board has required primary treatment, which is defined in terms of the raw waste standard as “. . the settleable solids in the plant effluent as discharged to the waters of the Commonwealth shall not exceed 2 % ; the suspended solids shall not exceed 30%; and the population equivalent shall not exceed 6.5% of the standard characteristics afore-said.”
Water quality standards were developed for the Delaware Estuary Comprehensive Study through the cooperation of industry, private sector, and local, state, and national authorities
With respect to suspended solids, these requirements mean that suspended solids discharged to the stream cannot exceed 12 pounds per ton of paper or less than 0.6% of production. Recognizing that a portion of the suspended solids is nonsettleable, we can easily see that this is an extremely rigid requirement. Allowable 5-day BOD discharge is slightly below 10 pounds per ton of paper.
Pennsylvania Sanitary Water Board raw waste standards for pulp and paper mill., Population Equivalent Per Ton of Product Based on 5-Day BOD
Pounds of Suspended Solids Per Ton of Product
l) L l ? c i l i A T I S I I J E G L A 5 S t N t 1.11 L O N D E Y \ E Q
“Aa”: S u b g r o u p “Ab”.
Waste water disposal
Phase I. The waste water disposal facilities at the Chester mill are composed of both suspended solids recovery and strictly disposal units. The system now installed has resulted from continuous research and development starting more than 20 years ago. Phase I of the system was installed in 1949 and consists of a waste collection system and four Waco precoat vacuum filters, each with a capacity of 1000 g.p.m. The feed to the Waco filters consists of excess filtrate from the vacuum filter savealls on the 10 paper machines. Saveall filtrates prior to treatment on the Waco units are used primarily in consistency regulators, on wire and felt showers, and as vacuum pump sealing water. The Waco filters are 8 feet in diameter X 14 feet wide with a fine mesh stainless steel wire 32 feet long. Twenty to 25 tons of fiber per day are used as a precoat, and both precoat and recovered fibers are bleached for subsequent manufacturing use. The filtrate is discharged directly to the Delaware River. Phase 11. Following a period of intensive research and development, the Chester plant installed its Phase I1 facilities in 1960-61. This equipment consists essentially of a 150,000 gallon collection tank, three Permutit flota-
1
Tissue Paper Glassine Paper
75
I
I
80 30
25
40 15
50 20
200 290 60 325 135
235 350 65 350 160
L i
Subgroup “Ba” Subgroup “Bb”. S u b g r o u p “Bc”. Subgroup “Bd”. S u b g r o u p “Be” __ ~~
-
iir
I
VI
-:) GRCJIJF
i
;J
-
Fiber Paper Asbestos Paper Felt Paper I n s u l a t i n g Papers Specialty Papers __. ____
UARSE -
’
_ _4 P F r
-
800 125 210 2250 1000
850 185 230 2500 1200
90
120
~~
-.
~
1
l35-
~~
~
50 -
~~
IN 1 k G R A r ED ‘
