Containerized Water Treatment Systems: Importance, Types & Applications

Water treatment projects are not always able to afford the space, construction time, or permanent structures needed for a conventional plant. A small community might need a decentralized water supply, a factory might need extra capacity or a mining site might need process water in a remote location. In such instances, the solution is to have a full water treatment train housed within a movable enclosure, which is known as a containerized water treatment system.

Containerized systems can include pumps, filter equipment, membranes, dosing devices & instruments, piping, valves, and controls—these units can be pieced together before shipment to the site. A good water treatment systems manufacturer can design the systems to meet the feed-water requirements and the quality requirements of the treated water. When it comes to water treatment systems, the container is just the shell – performance relies on what occurs within it, and an experienced water treatment systems supplier can make the difference.

What Are Containerized Water Treatment Systems?

Containerized water treatment systems are packaged in a standard shipping container or other module. They may include, depending on the project, pretreatment equipment, membrane systems, biological units, chemical dosing pumps, instrumentation and automatic controls.

One container is used on some projects; bigger treatment trains can be tied together using multiple containers. There is no single purification method that is called “containerized”. The technology used depends on the quality of the source-water, the contaminant concentration, the flow rate and the desired outlet specifications.

Why Containerized Water Treatment Systems Matter

The greatest benefit is the opportunity to integrate multiple treatments in a package that can be factory installed. This can minimize reliance on extensive civil works, particularly for remote and/or temporary projects. Equipment integration can be completed prior to equipment shipment, though foundations and utilities, feed and discharge connections, and service access are still required.

Also, containerized layouts work for situations with limited land. Components may be grouped in a small facility that would otherwise have to be in a separate treatment facility. Additional modules can be added to the process as required and units can be moved as demanded by the project if applicable.

Main Types of Containerized Water Treatment Systems

Treatment objective should be considered when selecting the system type; do not choose based on the size of the container. Presently, QILEE provides a portfolio of drinking water, purified water, high-purity water, process water, reclaimed water, industrial wastewater & sewage treatment configurations.

Drinking and Purified Water Systems

The systems are for treating surface water or groundwater for potable or general purified water use. Clarification or filtration can be followed by a treatment train of either ultrafiltration (UF) or disinfection or reverse osmosis (RO).

Suspended solids, colloidal material, and microorganisms are addressed with UF and dissolved salts are addressed with RO if necessary.

RO and High-Purity Water Systems

Containerized RO systems are applied when lower dissolved-solids concentrations are needed, such as for brackish water applications or in producing purified water for industrial use.

For applications demanding a purity level greater than can be achieved by RO alone, RO may be used in conjunction with other polishing methods like electrodeionization (EDI). QILEE provides a list of containerized RO and RO-EDI configurations for more stringent water specifications for pharmaceutical, lab, and industrial applications.

Process Water Systems

Water for a particular industrial application is often required and not intended for drinking. Examples include boiler feed, softened water, and ultra-pure water.

Depending on the water chemistry and the requirement for downstream equipment, the arrangement could involve softening, membrane filtration, RO or polishing.

Wastewater and Reclaimed Water Systems

There is no single process to address all industrial wastes, as pollutant loads vary between industrial applications. Biological treatment, physicochemical treatment, membrane separation, or a combination of these may be applied in the containerized system.

Biological processes can be used in conjunction with membrane bioreactor technology in cases of domestic sewage and decentralized wastewater. There may be an additional UF, RO, or polishing process added in reclaimed-water systems if reclaimed water is not to be discharged directly to receiving waters.

Comparing Common Containerized System Types

The same two plants with the same cubic meters per hour rating can require widely different processes because the quality of their feed water and their finished water requirements will vary.

Where Are Containerized Systems Commonly Applied?

Potable water, process water, and/or wastewater treatment without a permanent plant may be required in mining camps, construction sites, and other sites where infrastructure is limited.

Containerized systems are good alternatives for industrial facilities seeking to expand capacity, split off a treatment function from the treatment plant, or implement water reuse.

Modular treatment is an option for municipalities or decentralized projects where there are no centralized facilities or facilities are not sufficient. When projects are built in a temporary location or emergency-response work is done, equipment may be shipped and installed as a package.

What Should You Check Before Choosing a System?

Start with typical water analysis. The process selected may be affected by turbidity, suspended solids, hardness, dissolved salts, organics, microorganisms, and wastewater-specific pollutants.

Next, specify the desired flow rate and desired treated water quality. Outlet requirements shall be specific, measurable and shall be related to the intended use, including either drinking, production, boiler feed, discharge, or reuse.

The power available, climate, chemical storage, operator access, transport dimensions, maintenance space and local discharge requirements can all affect the final layout.

QILEE provides modular setups that are used in various water and wastewater applications. When considering containerized water treatment systems, purchasers should be more concerned about the treatment train, design basis, system maintainability, and water quality to be produced—and not just the size of the container.

Conclusion

Containerized water treatment systems are packaged treatment systems that provide many of the treatment functions that would otherwise be found in a large centralized plant in a smaller format, suitable for remote, space-limited, temporary, expanding or decentralized projects. Their benefit lies in the fact that they are a combination of practical installation and treatment process selection, tailored to a particular water source and end use.

That is why the water treatment systems manufacturer or water treatment systems supplier should be chosen based on engineering requirements, not a standard equipment list. Packaging the treatment system in a container makes it easier to deploy; process design within the container dictates whether it will be able to achieve the water-quality targets of the project.