Green Solutions: Pure Water for Pharmaceutical-Grade Cannabis
Western Cape, South Africa
Our Methodology for Success
At Greenchain Group, we pride ourselves on doing things the right way. This is demonstrated from the first client contact, where we follow a simple method that not only guides our clients but also helps us gather factual data that can be used to conceptualize the solution they need.
Understanding Client Needs: Key Questions
This method typically revolves around three key questions:
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Untreated Water Quality (& Source)
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Volume per day/hr
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Treated Water Quality & Use
Detailed Analysis and Planning
With this high-level information in hand, we can take a more detailed look at client requirements, industry specific trends, regulatory compliance, and other technical details typically associated with water and wastewater treatment solutions.
Case Study: Overcoming Challenges and Finding Solutions
Having done our homework, we have created a solid foundation for decision making when carrying out process designs, as well as mechanical and electrical designs.
The success of this approach has been demonstrated at many of our sites, including at a local pharmaceutical cannabis facility. We were approached by this client nearly three years ago owing to ongoing interruptions and failures associated with their imported Reverse Osmosis (RO) system. While the RO was not inherently flawed, the process design was lacking, and the RO was ultimately not operating within its design specifications nor were the production volumes sufficient.
Our clients explained that their goal was to operate using a borehole as the primary source of water, but they also needed the option to switch over to available surface water sources in the event of failures on the borehole. Given the industry demands and regulatory requirements, we knew that RO would be the final filtration step to deliver high quality water, but the correct pre-filtration process needed to be determined.
Greenchain set out to characterize both water sources before providing any costing or further technological recommendations. This involved water sampling, accredited multiparameter testing, bench scale testing in our facility, and various quality simulations.
The test results showed that pre-treatment would need to effectively and efficiently remove unwanted constituents such as high suspended sediment loads (& colloidal fine-grained silts and clays), iron and manganese, as well as organics (e.g. algae) within the surface water, all of which would rapidly foul the RO and cause other unwanted issues.
Implementation and Success
Greenchain proposed a fully automated coupled Ultrafiltration (UF) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant with primary clarification via flocculation and coagulation. The UF filtered water was also suitable for a wide range of other uses at the facility, which significantly enhanced the overall efficiency of the operation when compared to only using RO water.
As they say though, the proof is in the pudding! Greenchain Group successfully commissioned this plant nearly two years ago, and since then, has been delivering high quality, regulatory compliant UF water at 4000LPH, RO water at 2500LPH to our clients.
Delivering Results
The success of this water treatment plant, as well as our ongoing maintenance of the plant, has allowed our client to focus on their core business, which is growing, nurturing, and marketing their products.
