Biopolymers – a greener solution for wastewater treatment

28th of June, 2024, Industrial, Water & Air

Water treatment with biopolymers is an ecological alternative to traditional chemical treatment. Biopolymers can be used to safely remove hazardous pollutants in wastewater, paving the way for a greener future.

With pollution posing a key threat to the environment, effective water treatment is crucial. Industrial effluents, in particular, require stringent mechanisms for controlling toxic particles and preventing them from being released.

Chemical processes, such as coagulation and flocculation, are widely used to purify waters from contaminants across industries. Chemicals such as polymers and metal-based sulphides are essential coagulants and flocculants for removing unwanted solids and sludge from the treated water. A more recent, organic alternative to traditional chemical solutions is biopolymers and biopolymer composites. Biopolymers provide numerous benefits in water treatment due to their organic consistency and high capacity for removing suspended solids, heavy metals, organic pollutants and other contaminants from water.

Organic and highly effective

Biopolymers are 100% biodegradable, which makes them a viable alternative to inorganic products. Like traditional coagulants and flocculants, they can be used to mechanically remove suspended materials or solidify and purify sludge in wastewater applications. Unlike their synthetic counterparts, which are often primarly sourced from petroleum or coal or consist of heavy metals, biopolymers are sourced from renewable sources, such as plants and microbes.

Infographic Template(19)

Biopolymer-based coagulants and flocculants are a lasting solution for reaching desired water quality with minimal effort. Their strength lies in their organic structure, which allows the removal contaminants without releasing metals or microplastics during the purifying process. This ensures that no materials harmful to the environment make their way into the ecosystem and allows further refining and more applications for the generated biodegradable sludge, offering a sustainable solution in the long run.

Full spectrum of wastewater treatment services

Together with our partners, Haarla offers a range of polymers and biopolymers for water treatment in municipal and industrial water treatment. Our biopolymers are tannin-based and produced entirely from sustainably sourced, certified wood. Usually, very small dosage is needed for the treatment, which also makes it cost-efficient.

Haarla Oy

Haarla experts will help you with compatibility testing, including jar tests with the customer’s influent water, either on-site or off-site. Contact us to ask for trials or samples.

Our biopolymers can be applied to oily or greasy wastewaters, and waters with high levels of heavy metals or solids. They can be utilized in a wide range of industrial settings, from sewage to manufacturing sites and it is efficient for COD removal.

We provide the full spectrum of water treament services with coagulation and flocculation for different needs. In addition, we provide our customers with lab scale onsite trials to test and showcase the product efficiency easily. We also provide consultation for optimizing the process, ensuring efficient wastewater treatment in industrial sites.