In the past, there has been significant attention devoted to the end-of-the-pipe solutions for wastewater treatment. This is largely due to the complexity associated with an analysis of a entire chemical process as opposed to a limited number of aqueous effluent streams. However, it is often possible to identify much more cost effective solutions for water
conservation and reuse when the analysis is not limited to
end-of-the-pipe solutions. This paper introduces a holistic methodology called Water Allocation Design and Engineering (WADE). This approach has been used successfully at two large manufacturing sites within Solutia to reduce wastewater discharges and to reduce freshwater usage. Keywords: water conservation, water recycle, water reuse, wastewater reduction