Overview - What ISO 22447:2019 covers
ISO 22447:2019, "Industrial wastewater classification", defines a standardized, hierarchical framework and coding system for classifying industrial wastewater from all types and sources. The standard groups waste‑streams by industry type (Level 1) and by water quality parameters (Level 2) - physical, chemical and biological characteristics - and assigns a specific code that captures both the producing industry and the waste‑stream quality. It is intended to support treatment selection, industrial water reuse, regulatory reporting and commercial communication.
Key technical topics and requirements
- Two‑level hierarchical classification
- Level 1 (industry type): two‑letter codes (alphabetical order, A–Z then a–z) identify industry categories (e.g., mining, manufacturing, food processing). The standard lists recommended codes for many industry types and allows extension for new types.
- Level 2 (water quality): water quality parameters (pH, TSS, TDS, COD, BOD, TN, TP, TOC, etc.) are encoded with four‑digit parameter codes; multiple parameters are joined with hyphens.
- Code structure and conventions
- Level 1 + Level 2 concatenation produces a hierarchical identifier for each waste‑stream.
- If a parameter is irrelevant to a given industry type it may be omitted; if a parameter must be acknowledged without a measured value, a default code (0a) is allowed.
- Defined terms and measurement references
- The standard provides definitions for commonly used parameters (BOD, COD, TSS, TDS, TKN, TOC, turbidity, etc.) and references related ISO measurement terms and methods.
- Guidance material
- Annex A includes informative case studies illustrating classification and reuse scenarios.
- Applicability
- Designed for all industrial wastewater types and intended to be adapted by governments, industry and technology providers.
Practical applications - who uses ISO 22447:2019
- Environmental regulators and policy makers: to harmonize discharge and reuse classification, improve permitting and monitoring frameworks.
- Water and wastewater engineers / consultants: to select treatment trains and design systems based on a standardized waste‑stream code and parameter set.
- Industrial facility operators: to characterize process effluents, identify reuse opportunities and benchmark treatment performance.
- Equipment/technology vendors and service providers: to communicate capability and tender for projects using a common wastewater coding language.
- Procurement, trading and legal teams: to standardize specifications in bids, contracts and cross‑border collaboration.
Related standards and context
- Prepared by ISO/TC 282 (Water reuse), Subcommittee SC 4 (Industrial water reuse). The document references established ISO terms and measurement standards for water quality parameters, enabling interoperability with analytical and compliance methods.
Keywords: ISO 22447:2019, industrial wastewater classification, wastewater coding, water quality parameters, industrial water reuse, wastewater treatment, waste‑stream classification.
