Industry focus
Water treatment for pulp, paper and packaging: clean machines, clean discharge
Prosep supplies process and water treatment chemistry for pulp, paper and packaging operations — to improve machine efficiency, reduce deposits, and manage the mill’s substantial effluent load.
A paper machine is a water machine. Water carries the fibre, forms the sheet, cools the drives and raises the steam that dries the product, and the same water carries the deposits, scale and microbial growth that slow the machine down. In a mill, water chemistry shows up directly as machine efficiency.
Deposits on rolls and fabrics mean breaks, downtime and off-spec product, and a fouled system means a slower machine. Prosep supplies process and water treatment chemistry for pulp, paper and packaging operations to improve machine efficiency, reduce deposits, and manage the mill’s substantial effluent load.
The mill
From the wet end to the discharge
Machine efficiency, steam and cooling reliability, and a substantial effluent load — treated as one circuit.
Deposits & machine efficiency
Deposit control chemistry matched to the furnish and the system keeps scale, biofilm and organic deposits off rolls, fabrics and pipework — fewer breaks, more uptime. The chemistry that pays for itself.
Boilers, steam & cooling
Drying capacity is production capacity, so steam reliability is throughput. We cover boiler feedwater, internal chemistry and blowdown, and scale, corrosion and microbiological control on the cooling circuits.
High-volume effluent
Pulp and paper effluent is high in volume and organic load. We design treatment against the mill’s discharge limits, with coagulation, flocculation and clarification doing much of the solids and load removal.
Water reuse
Large water users, so reuse is production economics
Mills are large water users, which makes water cost and security a production issue as much as an environmental one. Reuse schemes, built on the process water and effluent capability together, reduce the freshwater draw and the discharge volume in one move — assess the whole circuit, design to targets, then monitor and optimise.
The programmes
What a mill runs on
Effluent treatment
High-volume, high-load effluent to discharge limits.
View serviceFlocculation & clarification
Solids and load removal at the front of the plant.
View serviceBoiler water treatment
Steam reliability is drying capacity.
View serviceCooling water treatment
Scale, corrosion and microbiological control.
View serviceStandards we work to
Where reuse is viable, treated water returns to the mill rather than the river, cutting both abstraction and discharge — built on the process water and effluent capability together, with Baleen self-cleaning filtration screening fibre-heavy streams down to microns at full flow. Where boiler surfaces have already scaled, a controlled boiler acid clean restores drying capacity before the chemistry holds it. The engagement is the one on how we work.
- DWS discharge requirements
FAQ
Pulp & paper water treatment questions
Can you reduce deposits on our paper machine?
Deposit control is core to mill water treatment. Scale, biofilm and organic deposits on rolls, fabrics and pipework cause breaks and efficiency loss, and a deposit control programme matched to the furnish keeps the machine running cleaner for longer between stops. Less deposit means fewer breaks and more uptime.
Do you handle the high effluent volumes a mill produces?
Yes. Pulp and paper effluent is high-volume and high-load, and the programme is designed against the mill’s discharge limits, with coagulation, flocculation and clarification removing much of the solids and organic load. Where reuse is viable, treated water returns to the mill, reducing both abstraction and discharge.
Is steam treatment really critical in a paper mill?
Drying is done with steam, so steam reliability is drying capacity and therefore throughput. Boiler feedwater quality, internal chemistry and blowdown control keep the steam plant available, which is why it is treated as core production plant rather than a background utility.
Can a mill reuse its treated water?
Frequently. Mills are large water users, so reuse of treated effluent cuts both the freshwater draw and the discharge volume. The viable reuse is established from the site water balance, combining the process water and effluent treatment design.
Machine deposits, steam reliability, or your effluent load?
Tell us which one. We assess the whole circuit, design to targets, then monitor and optimise.