Industrial Water Diagnostic
Comprehensive analysis of the site and water integration in production
Project overview
Client: PolyPeptide
Location: Braine-l’Alleud, Belgium Industry: Pharmaceutical (Synthetic Peptide Manufacturing)
Key Results
Smart monitoring
Established a prerequisite for a full water balance by identifying priority meters for real-time remote tracking.
Resilience planning
Analysed climate risks, specifically flooding from the Hain stream and runoff, to build long-term site security.
Recovery potential
Identified multiple opportunities to reuse process water concentrates, potentially substituting 3% of the site's total consumption.
The challenge
Conducting a comprehensive analysis of water sources, process uses, and effluent management to build site resilience.
PolyPeptide operates a continuous, 24/7 pharmaceutical manufacturing site where water is a critical resource. However, the site faced several unknowns: a 22% "gap" in the annual water balance, high city water costs for hard water (38.7 °f), and a lack of automated leak detection. Additionally, with changing climate patterns, the site needed to evaluate its vulnerability to both droughts and flooding from the adjacent Hain stream. To remain competitive and sustainable, the facility required a detailed diagnostic to identify high-impact optimisation levers.
What Revalio delivered
Revalio conducted a deep-dive diagnostic into the site’s entire water cycle, delivering a phased action plan focused on recovery and digital tracking:
Remote monitoring strategy: Audited existing meters and identified new measurement points (sprinkler jockey circuits, reverse osmosis concentrates) to eliminate "unexplained" water loss.
Process water audit: Identified cleaning operations (CIP) and equipment rinsing as the largest consumption points; recommended a dedicated investigation into these high-impact areas.
Recovery engineering: Proposed three distinct opportunities to reuse reverse osmosis concentrates and distiller cooling water, rerouting them to boiler feed tanks or cooling towers.
Rainwater harvesting study: Evaluated the 5,287 m³/year potential of uncontaminated roof and parking runoff to supply non-critical uses like scrubbers and cooling towers.
How the diagnostic works
The approach follows a systematic path from data collection to practical engineering:
Hydric context analysis: Assessing external risks, such as flood zones and climate projections, to ensure production continuity during extreme weather events.
Water balance objectification: Correlating supply data with equipment-specific discharge (distillers, ion exchange units) to calculate the real cost of water at every production stage.
Substitution logic: Matching "waste" water quality with "low-grade" needs. For example, using low-mineral distiller drain water as make-up for cooling towers.
Effluent valorisation: Exploring local treatment for complex mixtures, such as water-acetonitrile, to reduce off-site disposal volumes and associated high treatment costs.
Results
✓ Total recoverable rainwater volume (5,287 m³/year) from roofs and parking areas for site-wide use.
✓ Detailed plan to resolve the 18,851 m³/year unexplained water variance through smart metering.
✓ Proposed shift to phosphonate-based inhibitors to increase concentration cycles, saving 190 m³/year.
✓ Recommendation for CVA tax exemption for unlinked buildings, providing instant savings with zero investment.
✓ Implementation of Shayp AI to protect the site from invisible losses and correlate consumption with production batches.
Is your water cycle optimised?
A diagnostic is the first step toward true industrial resilience. Whether you are facing rising utility costs, strict environmental regulations, or climate-related risks, Revalio provides the analytical depth to find every hidden drop of value in your process.
Discover your optimisation potential with our experts.