A Midwest feed mill was treating its incoming well water for high levels of alkalinity with amine chemical. Seeking to reduce its chemical treatment costs, it reached out to U.S. Water and its EnergyOut system, an integrated solution to address the alkalinity issue and improve plant efficiency.

U.S. Water representatives completed a plant audit with on-site wet testing to identify ways to improve the makeup water to reduce chemical consumption and boiler blowdown. U.S. Water’s EnergyOut system integrates equipment, service and chemicals to enhance a facility by reducing fuel demand, carbon emissions, chemical use and water discharge.

By introducing a reverse osmosis (RO) unit into the system, 90 percent of alkalinity could be removed, thereby reducing 90 percent of the chemical required to treat the system. As a result, the feed mill saved $34,000 in chemical costs in the first year of implementation.