We were recently asked by one of our customers if we could help another of their factories to reduce the cost of their water disposal. The water was being produced when they cleaned their wood handling machines and was contaminated with water-based glue. They were not only having to pay to have the water taken away, but in an effort to keep costs down, they were having to store thousands of litres until they had a full load for the disposal company.
Storing water takes up a great deal of space as a single IBC has a footprint of around 1.5 square metres alone - but storing waste water has the added issue of potential leaks which could not only cause damage to a factory but could cause an environmental problem and potential involvement of outside agencies. These, along with the disposal cost and a desire to reduce the amount of fresh water they were using, were all considerations for our customer and where they required help.
After consulting directly with the factory concerned, and especially those who were directly responsible for the production and handling of the waste water, we undertook a number of tests and finally proposed our Proco 416P treatment powder along with a treatment system. The system consisted of our Fusion 800 mixing tank, two double diaphragm pumps and two Bigfloc filtration units which housed our Aspifloc MF filtration sacks.
The system is quite a basic one but it meets their requirements perfectly as they produce around 1000 litres of waste water per week so undertake two treatments of around 500 litres each.
After each clean, the dirty water is collected in the Fusion 800 mixing tank which can hold a maximum of 800 litres (hence the very imaginative name) - so after every 2-3 days they have collected their 500 litres and therefore undertake a treatment. The Fusion 800 mixes the waste water and the operator slowly adds the required amount of Proco 416P. After a short while, the glue has separated and the tank is emptied - with the waste water and glue being pumped into the Bigfloc units where the filtration sacks hold the separated glue and allow the water to flow through into the stainless steel holding tanks from where it is pumped into a clean IBC. The water in this IBC is then used to clean the machines and so the cycle repeats.
Our system has enabled the factory:
- to reduce their use of fresh water, for this cleaning process, by over 90% as they now only need to add a very small amount of water which allows for natural wastage during the cleaning process and when filtering.
- to never have more than 800 litres of dirty water in storage compared to over 15,000 litres they had before our system was installed.
- to only pay disposal cost for the Aspifloc filtration sacks - but this is much reduced as it is dry waste and a single bag holds up to 1000kg.
- to be granted permission to dispose of the treated water, direct to drain, should they ever have the need to - due to the filtered water having been tested by their water authority
If you think that we could help your manufacturing process like we have this one, then please
contact us. We can discuss your existing process, what you would like to accomplish, and hopefully work together to make your process easier and better for you and your company.