Solids/Liquid Separation - Making Contaminants Sink or Float

Learn about the various challenges with treating industrial wastewaters in this webinar.

Learn about the various challenges with treating industrial wastewaters in this webinar presented by Evoqua’s Alex McDonald, PhD, and Charles Ross. Our water experts discuss equipment typically used to separate solids from wastewaters, as well as new technologies and methods used to improve the removal of solids and reduce effluent contaminants.

​​​Industrial manufacturing often generates wastewater streams that contain unused raw materials, off spec products, and byproducts of the production process. The types and level of contaminants prevent their discharge to a public wastewater plant or surface discharge without additional treatment processes. To treat this water for discharge or potential reuse, the first step for facilities is often separation of solids from the bulk water using either a settling or flotation process. The choice of settling the solids or using flotation is determined by the types of contaminants.

Solids separations technologies are critical to ensure that a plant meets its effluent guidelines. These technologies also minimize wastewater treatment costs. However, operation and modernization are often overlooked when evaluating ways to reduce opex, capex, and lifecycle cost for the plant.

This webinar will review the common challenges with industrial wastewater streams and discuss the operation of the different types of clarification and flotation systems.

New technologies and case studies will be presented to provide you with insight into how your current wastewater system can be improved to address current and potential future challenges.


Learning Objectives

  • Discover the key solid/liquid separation challenges in industrial wastewater
  • Understand the basis for selecting the right separation equipment
  • Learn the new technologies and methods used to improve the removal of solids and reduce effluent contaminants

Solids/Liquid Separation: Making Contaminants Sink or Float

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About the Presenters

Alexander McDonald, PhD, Business Development, Wastewater, Evoqua Water Technologies
Alex McDonald has more than 30 years of experience in industrial water treatment, including the design, development and implementation of water treatment programs in raw water, cooling, boiler and waste waters for the electric utility and oil refining industries.

McDonald has been a presenter to the International Water Conference, American Power Conference, Electric Power Research Institute, Rural Electric Association, Edison Electric Institute, American Chemical Society, National Association of Corrosion Engineers and Association of Water Technologies.

He is author of more than 20 technical and scientific papers and 16 patents worldwide. McDonald holds a BSc from the University of Guelph and a PhD from the Guelph Waterloo Center for Graduate Work in Chemistry where he was a recipient of the NSERC scholarship.  He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Electrochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a recipient of the Robert A. Welch Fellowship and served as a representative to the Separations Research Program.


Charles (Chuck) Ross, PE, Technical Director, Organic Wastewater Center of Excellence, Evoqua Water Technologies
Charles Ross is a registered professional engineer with 37 years of experience in industrial waste management and wastewater treatment, primarily in the areas of physical/chemical treatment (dissolved air flotation, or DAF) and biological treatment (anaerobic and aerobic). 

In 1987, Ross co-founded and became Vice President of Environmental Treatment Systems™, which became an Evoqua brand in 2016. Environmental Treatment Systems is a major provider of DAF and biological treatment systems. Prior to that, he was on the research faculty of the Georgia Tech Research Institute for thirteen years where he co-chaired the Georgia Tech Food Industry Environmental Conference from 1987-1994. 

Ross is a member of the Water Environment Federation, having served on the Literature Committee. He is an author of more than 40 technical papers and other publications on waste management and environmental monitoring.  Ross has a BSc in agricultural engineering from the University of Tennessee and an MSc in engineering from Georgia Tech.