Dynatec News

Paint Manufacturer Reuses Latex

A paint manufacturer engaged Dynatec to provide a system to separate latex from wastewater and reuse it in the production of paint

The Problem

The company was using a chemically assisted, rotary drum vacuum pre-coat filter that was expensive to operate and created a lot of sludge which was expensive to dispose.

The Solution

The white paint wastewater was segregated from the colors, and processed separately. The concentrate of white latex solids were used in the manufacture of new white paint.

The paint solids from the colored paints can be concentrated to as high as 20% (typical paint contains between 45% and 55% solids) using wide channel ultrafiltration. The paint solids are concentrated and reused to make a grey paint. The water can be discharged to sewer, since it contains no solids, or it can be reused as wash water.

Special circulation pumps are also used to handle the high solids loadings.

Return on investment

The return on investment was high. The latex from the white paint wastewater is reused in the production process for manufacture of new paint. The paint solids from the colored paint wastewater is recovered as a saleable low quality paint product. The cost for disposal of the solids removed by the old chemical treatment system has been reduced by 90%. The wastewater from both processes is discharged to sewer.

Significant Savings:

 No sludge

 Beneficial use for latex

 Water quality for discharge is better

 Much less operator time

 No chemicals

Ultrafiltration excels at the clarification of solutions containing:

 Suspended solids

 Bacteria

 High concentrations of macromolecules including:

 Oil and water

 Fruit juice

 Milk

 Latex

 Whey

 Electro-coat paints

 Pharmaceuticals

 Poly-vinyl alcohol

 Potable water

 Tertiary wastewater

 Some proteins

 Some dyes

 Oils

 Colloidal or emulsified components

Contact Dynatec Systems today to discuss your wastewater solution!

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/technologies/membrane-technologies/ultrafiltration-systems/

Wastewater Reuse – Phosphate Mine

Mining operations can produce a large amount of wastewater in the form of spent liquor that requires treatment. The wastewater stream has a high concentration of contaminants that need to be separated from the water before it can be discharged or reused. Dynatec has provided a system to a phosphate mining operation that treats five million gallons of wastewater per day. The customer was motivated to put a treatment/reuse system to separate a portion of the compounds in the wastewater for reuse. Also, the desired water quality for discharge met requirements for reuse of several water users in the plant.

Dynatec was asked to conduct a pilot to study the feasibility of using membrane technology to purify the wastewater so that it could be reused in mining operations at the site. After several months of piloting, Dynatec was commissioned to supply five ultrafiltration skids, each capable of producing one million gallons per day of permeate. The ultrafilters were a part of the reuse system that also includes nanofiltration and reverse osmosis to produce water and product for reuse.

Due to the highly saturated wastewater stream, the pH of the wastewater was maintained at 1.8 s.u. to keep specific contaminants from precipitating in the membrane systems. The ultrafilters have successfully operated at this pH for over 10 years and their life span has not been negatively impacted by the nature of the wastewater.

The high strength spent liquor is processed through a series of membranes from UF to NF to RO. The customer has found reuse applications for reject and permeate from the membrane systems. The final system has alleviated concerns of future environmental infractions and has saved the customer money.

Contact Dynatec Systems to discuss your wastewater solution.

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/technologies/recovery-and-reuse/

Sanitary Wastewater Expansion

Sanitary wastewater expansion of a previously supplied MBR by Dynatec Systems for a mall was recently completed. The original system treated the sanitary wastewater generated at the mall and wastewater from several restaurants on the property. Recent changes at the mall, including the addition of residential units, resulted in greater wastewater volumes. The expansion was relatively fast and easy due to the modular nature of Dynatec’s UF skids. The permeate meets all requirements for direct discharge to the environment and the compact design fits the limited space available at the mall.

Sanitary wastewater from private communities, industrial and academic campuses, resorts, and various other facilities can be treated to meet discharge permit limits or to meet reuse standards. Dynatec provides systems that accomplish this in a small space and with low operating costs.

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) solutions provided

• Plant expansion
• Improved effluent quality
• Purification for direct discharge
• Existing plant upgrades
• Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) to MBR conversions
• Wastewater reuse for:
  • Cooling tower
  • Boiler
  • Toilet flushing
  • Irrigation applications
• Recovery and reuse of wastewater for:
  • Apartment buildings
  • Industrial campuses
  • Academic campuses
  • Hotels and resorts
  • Golf courses
• Compact wastewater treatment systems
• Containerized/mobile sanitary treatment systems
• Water mining systems

Significant Benefits

• Lower energy cost allows operation in larger plants
• Robust tubular membranes reduce replacement cost
• High mixed liquor concentration reduces tankage required and higher treated water quality
• Small system footprint
• Easily expandable
• Safe automatic clean-in-place system protects operators
• Predictable, consistently high performance
• Remote monitoring – compatible with cell phone or iPad

Contaminants removed from sanitary wastewater

• Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
• Oils and Grease (O&G)
• Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
• Ammonia
• Total N
• Fecal Coliforms

For more information on sanitary wastewater expansion, please contact Dynatec to discuss.

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/industries/sanitary-wastewater/

Dynatec Systems provides landfill leachate solution

Kootenai County says leachate treatment pilot succeeded; county to resume processing in March.

Kootenai County Solid Waste reported the final update on a pilot system designed to treat landfill leachate, county Director John Phillips told commissioners at the department’s quarterly meeting on Jan. 6.

Phillips said the county solicited local treatment plants, worked with Jacobs Engineering, and selected Dynatec Systems to provide reverse-osmosis and ultrafiltration equipment. Dynatec completed bench- and pilot-scale testing; a purchase order was issued in May 2025 and the county operated a pilot system for about six months. The treated water was hauled to a regional treatment plant identified in the transcript as HARBS beginning in October 2025 and tested by HARBS and a third-party laboratory, Phillips said. According to Phillips, the water met HARBS’s pretreatment and plant-delivery requirements.

The county determined the pilot successful and completed final payment for equipment in November 2025. Phillips reported the pilot’s total cost, including setup, engineering and operations, was approximately $1,600,000—below the $2,000,000 budget. He said the county has hauled “several hundred thousand gallons” of treated wastewater and that the volume could be approaching 1,000,000 gallons; he described those haul volumes as approximate. Phillips told the board the treatment system is winterized now but is planned to restart regular leachate processing in March 2026, weather permitting.

Why it matters: Leachate is classified as industrial wastewater and can contain PFAS, PCBs and high total dissolved solids (TDS), the director said. Having an on-site treatment capability reduces the county’s dependence on other publicly owned treatment works and provides an option during high-precipitation years when leachate volumes increase.

The county did not provide specific lab reports in the meeting; Phillips invited commissioners to ask questions during the rollout and said staff would continue to update the Board of County Commissioners as operations resume.

Next steps: The system is winterized for the season, and county staff expect normal processing to begin in March 2026, subject to weather and operational checks.

Contact Dynatec Systems today to discuss your landfill leachate solution today.

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/industries/landfill-leachate-treatment/

Upgrades using existing assets

Upgrades using existing assets

When discharge regulations tighten, the need for water reuse grows, or wastewater volumes increase, existing Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) systems often become inadequate.  In order to provide a solution with low capital cost in part by reusing existing assets, existing SBR plants can be converted to Membrane Bioreactors (MBR).  This can usually be done by adding an out-of-basin tubular ultrafilter (UF) to the process. Using a Dynatec out-of-basin UF as part of an SBR to MBR conversion is the most cost-effective and easy to implement way to:

• Improve biological system performance
• Expand capacity
• Handle increase in strength of waste
• Mitigate upsets
• Reduce operator time
• Achieve consistent performance

Dynatec has used existing assets from SBR systems to convert to an MBR at many site including at landfills, food and beverage plants, chemical manufacturing, and automotive manufacturing facilities.

The industrial MBR is the ideal bioreactor configuration for treatment of organic or inorganic contaminants present in industrial wastewaters. MBR’s operate at a higher efficiency while achieving consistent design performance objectives. This makes MBR a more cost effective method of industrial wastewater treatment when performance and tank requirements are considered.

Industrial Membrane Bioreactors Benefits:

• Higher flux
• Lower costs
• Better membranes
• Improved permeate quality
• Less operator attention and maintenance

Applications

Dynatec’s industrial MBR is the ideal biological system for industrial wastewater treatment. It is designed to handle high strength wastewater containing high concentrations of:

• Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
• Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
• Oil & Grease (FOG)
• Volatiles
• Metals
• Ammonia
• Nitrate
• Inorganic

The performance is not affected by changes in sludge settleability like the conventional systems, making it the wise choice for industrial wastewater treatment systems that have difficult-to-treat waste streams. Dynatec’s MBRs can effectively handle industrial wastewater streams that would otherwise be toxic or inhibitory to other biological treatment systems.

Backed by decades of experience with MBRs, Dynatec has developed many unique process solutions necessary for industrial wastewater treatment applications such as:

• Landfill leachate
• Hazardous landfill leachate with metals removal
• Automotive manufacturing wastewater
• Food manufacturing wastewater
• Titanium processing wastewater

 Contact Dynatec Systems today to discuss your wastewater solution.

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/technologies/membrane-bioreactors/mbr-conversion-r…pgrade-solutions/ ‎

MBR Leachate Treatment System

Prior to employing the Dynatec MBR leachate treatment system, the landfill was hauling all of their leachate. In 2010, the facility spent over $4,500,000 hauling 10,350 truckloads of raw leachate.

The landfill leachate was pumped from four different pump stations each with a different landfill contributory area. Analysis of the historical data showed the size of the contributory area and age of the landfill area played significant roles in flow and leachate quality. A few historical trends were identified and used to predict flows in a future landfill development scenario.

The MBR leachate treatment system was designed for the peak nitrification requirements of the influent. A large SRT (solids retention time) was selected to target the slowly biodegradable COD found in leachate due to long chain organic molecules that are more difficult to remove.

The system was designed with flexibility in mind. The MLSS can be increased to 20,000 mg/L in the system without affecting the oxygen transfer efficiency thanks to the jet aeration system selected, which enables the long SRT.

Dynatec’s industrial MBR is the ideal bioreactor configuration for treatment of organic or inorganic contaminants present in industrial wastewaters. MBR’s operate at a higher efficiency while achieving consistent design performance objectives. This makes MBR a more cost effective method of industrial wastewater treatment when performance and tank requirements are considered.

Industrial Membrane Bioreactors Benefits:

• Higher flux
• Lower costs
• Better membranes
• Improved permeate quality
• Less operator attention and maintenance

Contact Dynatec Systems today to discuss your landfill leachate treatment system.

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/industries/landfill-leachate-treatment/

MBR Discharge and Reuse

High quality discharge and reuse from MBR – Cereal Plant

Since the plant produces a food product, ultimate water quality was vital. The two-stage membrane system (MBR + RO) and final sterilization with ultraviolet (UV) treatment provided the quality assurance that plant management required. In addition, the membranes used in the MBR system are external to the aeration basin and are tubular. This type of membrane is much less susceptible to failure than the immersed type.

This process combines aerated biological treatment with an out-of-basin ultrafiltration (UF) system. In combination with reverse osmosis treatment, Dynatec was able to provide the client with the necessary assurances that the water quality would not be compromised, and that the water would be suitable for process purposes, such as boiler feed water.

System Advantages:

The system provides many advantages for the operators and owners
Redundant membrane skids for ease of operation and cleaning.
Simple automated cleaning operations with membranes in place
High mixed liquor concentration ensures lowest possible sludge production and requires smallest possible footprint
Simple, low maintenance system
Long-lasting tubular membranes with 0.03 μm membrane, ensuring removal of bacteria and viruses

The MBR configuration has proven to be optimal for treatment of many industrial wastewaters when treatment efficiency is an important consideration.

The MBR is the ideal bioreactor configuration for treatment of organic or inorganic contaminants present in industrial wastewater treatment systems. MBRs operate at a higher efficiency while achieving consistent design performance objectives. This makes MBR a more cost effective method of industrial wastewater treatment when performance and tank requirements are considered.

Bioreactor systems such as the conventional activated sludge system, sequencing batch reactor system and trickling filters are typically designed for operation at a lower volumetric removal rate, requiring larger tanks and more space. These conventional systems often experience upsets that inhibit settling and therefore require much more operator attention than a membrane bioreactor.

The MBR has proven to be optimal for treatment of many industrial wastewater treatment systems because it is less susceptible to upsets. The MBR’s performance is not affected by changes in sludge settleability like the conventional systems, making MBR a wise choice for industrial systems that have more difficult to treat waste streams. Dynatec Systems has over 42 years experience in dealing with difficult to treat industrial wastewaters using membrane filtration.

Contact Dynatec Systems today to discuss your wastewater solution.

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/industries/food-and-beverage/cereal/

Reuse Water in Juice Plant

Reuse water ability in a new treatment system was needed in a juice processing company for other plant processes. The high strength wastewater, with a COD of 16,000mg/L, needed to meet stringent effluent criteria to make this possible.

Reuse water in juice plant

The solution, provided by Dynatec, includes a membrane bioreactor (MBR) followed by a double pass reverse osmosis (RO) system. The permeate meets all limits for BOD, COD, metals, TSS, and TDS.

Reuse water systems have been provided by Dynatec Systems to many industries. The ability to recover and reuse water has many benefits.

• Saving on water costs
• Saving on wastewater disposal charges
• Decreased environmental impact
• Protection from regulatory changes
• Decrease dependence on water provider/source
• Ability to expand without affecting water demand
• Overcome water scarcity issues
• Consistently high-quality for water reuse

Ultrafiltration (UF), Membrane Bioreactor (MBR), Nanofiltration (NF) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) are employed by Dynatec for water reuse projects. Water recovery and water reuse has been successfully implemented with industrial and sanitary wastewater streams for:

• Cooling tower make up
• Boiler feed
• Irrigation
• Toilet flushing
• Direct potable reuse
• Cleaning/wash applications
• Rinse processes
• Painting processes
• Other plant processes

Reuse water systems provided by Dynatec Systems: 

• Resorts, hotels, and retirement homes
• Golf courses
• Automotive companies
• Food and beverage companies
• Apartment buildings
• Landfills
• Mines
• Metal finishing plants
• Aerospace companies

For more information, please contact us today.

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/technologies/recovery-and-reuse/

Anaerobic digester and aerobic MBR followed by RO for whiskey manufacturer

Anaerobic digester and aerobic MBR followed by RO provided by Dynatec Systems.  A whiskey manufacturer needed a wastewater treatment system to reduce very high organic content BOD and COD.  As well as, solids content TSS of the wastewater stillage to achieve the demanding final treated water discharge standards.  A membrane filter is used for pretreatment prior to the anaerobic system.  The tubular membrane filter employed with the biological system is not dependent on the settling characteristics and produces very high-quality effluent.

The equipment was containerized to make the implementation as easy as possible.

Membrane bioreactors offer a unique and effective solution for the treatment and reuse of industrial wastewater in industries such as landfills, automotive, aerostructures, distilleries and dairies. Our industry-leading designs and innovation also deliver superior performance for sanitary wastewater and biological nutrient removal applications.

The MBR configuration has proven to be optimal for treatment of many industrial wastewaters when treatment efficiency is an important consideration.

The MBR is the ideal bioreactor configuration for treatment of organic or inorganic contaminants present in industrial wastewaters. MBRs operate at a higher efficiency while achieving consistent design performance objectives. This makes MBR a more cost effective method of treatment when performance and tank requirements are considered.

Bioreactor systems such as the conventional activated sludge system, sequencing batch reactor system and trickling filters are typically designed for operation at a lower volumetric removal rate, requiring larger tanks and more space. These conventional systems often experience upsets that inhibit settling and therefore require much more operator attention than a membrane bioreactor.

The MBR has proven to be optimal for treatment of many industrial wastewaters because it is less susceptible to upsets. The MBR’s performance is not affected by changes in sludge settleability like the conventional systems, making MBR a wise choice for industrial systems that have more difficult to treat waste streams. Dynatec has over 42 years experience in dealing with difficult to treat industrial wastewaters using membrane filtration.

For more information on anaerobic digester and aerobic membrane bioreactor followed by reverse osmosis, please contact us today.

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/technologies/membrane-bioreactors/mbr-conversion-r…pgrade-solutions/ ‎

Landfill Leachate Treatment Expansion

Dynatec supplied two new Ultrafiltration systems for a landfill leachate treatment expansion project. These skids are part of an expansion at an existing leachate treatment plant. The existing Dynatec system treats 250,000 gallons per day. This expansion will allow them to filter 500,000gpd on average. The primary target contaminants at the landfill are heavy metals. The existing UF system has allowed the landfill to successfully reach their discharge limits for metals. Due to this success, they have contracted Dynatec as the leachate production has increased.

Dynatec Systems industry-leading tubular ultrafiltration (UF) system is used to treat a broad range of industrial wastewater by separating insoluble components from waste streams. As a cost effective and simple solution for separating insoluble components and colloidal contaminants from a waste stream, wastewater UF offers significant advantages over conventional separation. It is a useful process that does not require chemicals or much space to separate insoluble contaminants.

UF is a pressure-driven process that removes the following from wastewater and other solutions:

• Emulsified oils
• Metal hydroxides
• Colloids
• Emulsions
• Dispersed material
• Suspended solids
• Other large molecular-weight materials

Ultrafiltration systems are also capable of concentrating:

• Bacteria
• Some proteins
• Some dyes
• Colloidal or emulsified components

Ultrafiltration systems excels at the clarification of solutions containing:

• Suspended solids
• Bacteria
• High concentrations of macromolecules including:
  • Oil and water
  • Fruit juice
  • Milk
  • Whey
  • Electro-coat paints
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Poly-vinyl alcohol and indigo
  • Potable water
  • Tertiary wastewater

Ultrafiltration offers the following advantages over conventional separation:

• No chemical required
• Very little labor required
• Simple mechanical process
• Less sludge
• Ability to concentrate the retentate for beneficial use
• Less space required
• Overall lower operating costs

Tubular Configuration:

• Higher permeate rate
• Lower rates of fouling
• Higher concentration of retentate
• Easier to clean
• Longer membrane life
• Low operating cost

https://www.dynatecsystems.com/industries/landfill-leachate-treatment/

Contact Dynatec for your landfill leachate treatment solution today.