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MICROBE- LIFT - Technology Helps Pharmaceutical Plant in Saudi Arabia Avoid Shutdown - Case Study
Location: Al-Hayat Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Background:
Al-Hayat Pharmaceutical is an old manufacturing facility that was built in 1972. This company produces the following range of products:
- Antibiotics: (syrup & tablet) including Ciprofloxacin (broad-spectrum) Clindamycin (gram-positive) Ampicillin (broad spectrum)
- Anti-diarrheal product (syrup) a product that contains "Neomycin", a broad spectrum anti- biotic
- Dextrose and Saline solutions.
When the plant was constructed ... ,,/2f there was no plan for a wastewater treatment plant. All industrial wastewater was piped out into the city-draining network directly. Almost 30 years later, new regulations required that the wastewater be pre-treated on site before it is allowed to go through the city drainage system. At that point, it was decided to construct a 500 m3 collection tank, which allows 4.1 days of retention time. The hope was to allow for some of the residuals of antibiotics to precipitate in the bottom of the tank, and cleaner effluent could then be piped to the city drainage system but the system proved unsatisfactory.
On January 10, 2006, a final closure warning letter from the local authorities was received by the top management of Al-Hayat Pharmaceutical stating "Treat your water within the next 60 days or you will be shut down". Two days later, after considering options, the plant maintenance manager, engineer Khalid Al-Hanbali called Nahhas World Business Center for assistance. Nahhas is a distributor for Ecological Laboratories Inc`s MICROBE-LIFT® wastewater treatment technology.
Objective: This plant was given effluent parameters that they must meet to avoid plant shut down. Nahhas agreed to work with Al-Hayat Pharmaceutical to attempt to meet those parameters.
Initial Actions Taken:
