SEDL’s LTE® ZLD Tech Delivers 99% Water Recovery, Low Cost

Spray Engineering Devices Ltd. (SEDL), a leading Indian clean-tech engineering company specializing in thermal heat recovery, biomass valorisation, and advanced water treatment, has shared new insights into how its solutions are helping industries achieve water self-sufficiency while converting waste into value.

At the heart of this is SEDL’s patented MVR (Mechanical Vapour Recompression)-based Low Temperature Evaporation (LTE®) technology, designed to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD), caustic recovery, and product concentration. These innovations are proving transformative across the textile, chemical, pharmaceutical, dye, brewery, beverage, and distillery sectors, where industries face mounting pressure to cut freshwater dependence, reduce carbon emissions, and comply with strict sustainability regulations.

Unlike traditional steam-based evaporators that are energy-intensive and costly, SEDL’s LTE® technology leverages MVR to recycle heat within the process, maximizing energy efficiency. It delivers up to 99% clean water recovery at just one-fourth the operational cost of conventional systems. Energy consumption is reduced to 10–25 kWh/m³, significantly lowering carbon emissions and operational costs, while minimizing sludge generation. The process produces a dry by-product with less than 10% moisture, which can be repurposed into value-added products or safely disposed of at TSDF facilities.

Highlighting the impact, Mr. Vimarsh Verma, Director–Operations and Head of Water & Novel Applications at SEDL, stated:
“India’s water challenge is not just about treatment – it is about enabling industries and cities to reclaim, recycle, and reuse water at scale. Through our MVR-based LTE® ZLD and resource recovery systems, we are helping industries achieve water self-sufficiency while creating new revenue streams from by-products. This makes our approach both sustainable and profitable.”

The technology is already yielding measurable results:

Hero Cycles (Ludhiana) achieved 91% water recovery with just 20–25 kWh/m³ power consumption, generating reusable water with TDS < 250 ppm.
Garg Acrylics Ltd. (Ludhiana) and Indorama India Pvt. Ltd. (Baddi) attained 97–99% recovery with lower operational costs compared to steam-based systems, achieving TDS levels of 50–150 ppm.
In pharma and dye industries, SEDL’s systems support compliance with strict regulatory norms while reducing effluent loads.
In distilleries, high-strength effluents like spentwash are treated for water reuse and by-product valorisation.
In breweries and beverages, RO rejects are efficiently treated, enabling reuse of clean water and reducing groundwater dependency.

SEDL’s ZLD solutions align with India’s national priorities. They support the Jal Shakti Abhiyan by promoting water conservation and reuse, and the Make in India mission by ensuring reliable water access for manufacturing. They also strengthen the ethanol blending program by enabling near-total wastewater recovery in distilleries, advancing the government’s waste-to-wealth vision.

With accolades including the National Energy Efficiency Innovation Award (2021) and the CII-National Award for Excellence in Water Management (2019), along with a granted Indian patent and DSIR accreditation, SEDL continues to prove that industrial profitability and water sustainability can go hand in hand.