Salad dressing manufacturer hires SUEZ for wastewater treatment

In addition to a full-time on-site operator, wastewater treatment chemicals and 24/7 support, SUEZ's InSight* asset performance management system will improve data analysis for more effective management of the wastewater treatment plant.

LOWELL, MI, OCT 8, 2018 -- SUEZ, through its Water Technologies & Solutions Business Unit, announced that it recently received a multiyear operations and maintenance contract to manage a new wastewater treatment plant at Litehouse Inc. in Lowell, Michigan. SUEZ will provide an on-site operator, wastewater treatment chemicals, 24/7 technical support and also will employ its InSight* asset performance management (APM) system to use data and analytics to ensure that the plant operates at the highest levels of reliability, efficiency and output. In addition, SUEZ is coordinating the sludge handling for the wastewater treatment plant, which will be commissioned in early October.

Litehouse Inc. is a leading manufacturer of refrigerated salad dressings, dips, sauces, herbs and cheese. The company previously sent its wastewater to a treatment plant that is no longer operational. This forced Litehouse Inc. to haul the raw wastewater to a neighboring municipality's wastewater treatment plant. In order to find a more environmentally friendly, long-term solution, Litehouse Inc. decided a new wastewater treatment plant would allow them to better manage the overall treatment, while helping them to avoid transportation costs.

Litehouse Inc's' new wastewater plant will treat 74,000 gallons of wastewater per day using primary treatment, an equalization (EQ) tank and Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) system. Once treated, the wastewater will be discharged at the city of Lowell Wastewater Treatment Plant, a facility that is also operated by SUEZ.

"This new solution enables us to eliminate the cost of hauling wastewater and reduces the fees for discharging of the water. By having SUEZ manage our new wastewater treatment plant, we can concentrate on our business of making salad dressings and dips, while SUEZ uses its expertise to run the plant," said Greg Halfmann, director of engineering and facilities, Litehouse Inc. "We also feel that our new wastewater treatment process is more environmentally friendly and does not negatively impact the city of Lowell and its surrounding areas."

"SUEZ is providing a single-source solution for the treatment of Litehouse's wastewater from the operations and maintenance contract for on-site wastewater treatment and is sending the treated wastewater to the municipal wastewater treatment plant, which is also operated by SUEZ. Our service expertise and InSight APM technology will increase performance and productivity, optimize wastewater treatment and allow Litehouse Inc. to focus on their core competencies," said Kevin Cassidy, global leader, engineered systems, SUEZ -- Water Technologies & Solutions.